Big Gap in Customs Staffing

Federal law enforcement officers have taken to calling Southern California, New York-New Jersey and south Florida the Bermuda Triangle of cargo theft. But with Southern California poised for massive expansion in trade capacity, why do the New York and Miami offices of the U.S. Customs Service have twice as many agents as Los Angeles? The situation poses a risk to our regional economy.

The special agent in charge of the Los Angeles customs office oversees a Nicaragua-size area stretching from Monterey and the San Luis Obispo County line east to Las Vegas and southern Nevada and south to San Diego County. L.A.-Long Beach handles more than twice the port traffic of New York or Miami, but only 149 customs agents and intelligence analysts are assigned to cover the ports and the huge jurisdictional region.

Conservative estimates place international cargo theft losses at $1 million a day in Los Angeles, Orange, Riverside and San Bernardino counties. That figure comes from the Cargo Criminal Apprehension Team, a multi-jurisdictional task force hosted by the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department.

Rep. Stephen Horn (R-Long Beach), chairman of a House subcommittee that recently held a hearing on performance of the U.S. Customs Service, has led the region’s campaign for more agents. But he will need help from the rest of the California delegation, since both south Florida and New York-New Jersey will press their own cases for more funding.

The south Florida situation gives urgency to Horn’s request. Insurance brokers are expressing qualms about insuring south Florida-bound container cargoes, and some manufacturers have halted shipments there because of rampant theft. Southern California, the nation’s most important hub of global trade, cannot allow the theft problem to rise to that level.

Just as crucial is the drug problem. Customs estimates that roughly 130 tons of cocaine are annually shipped through the Los Angeles area. Los Angeles is also considered the major shipment point for heroin smuggled in from Southeast Asia, Southwest Asia and Mexico. Furthermore, an estimated 52 regional and international money-laundering organizations operate here.

The full California delegation should support Rep. Horn’s demand for more agents to block smuggling and theft.