A Los Angeles Times article this morning highlights the Border Enforcement Security Task (BEST) Force, a group made up of several different agencies that has been working to keep the Ports of Long Beach and Los Angeles safe since October. The BEST Force operates on Terminal Island and has already made some pretty alarming discoveries. Cue Times writer Louis Sahagun:
Since it was quietly deployed at the nation’s busiest harbor complex in October, a new anti-smuggling task force has seized 140 pounds of cocaine bound for Australia, dozens of weapons headed for Mexico and 20 pounds of meth stashed in cars en route to Hawaii.
That’s pretty impressive stuff, especially when considering the extents the would-be smugglers took, as well as the sheer amount of illegal goods that nearly made it into our Ports.
“They packed 64 kilos inside the pedestals, then poured concrete around them,” Schoch said. “The pedestals were packed inside one of thousands of shipping containers on a vessel.”
In a separate case, BEST officers intercepted two caches of weapons that investigators determined were bound for Mexico. They included a grenade launcher, numerous semiautomatic AR-15s, a sawed-off rifle, bullet-proof vests and a silencer that authorities said were destined for drug cartels in Mexico.
Security has always been a major issue at both Ports – both protection from danger and prevention of illegal activity. In the Times piece, an LA County Sheriff’s Chief describes how he once considered the Ports a weak point in homeland security, but increased intelligence from agencies like BEST have eased his fears.
By Ryan ZumMallen, Managing Editor
Disclosure: The Port of Long Beach is an advertiser of the lbpost.com.