Security, please: from stolen cars to anthrax, the port police and customs agents are ready to save the day—and possibly a few lives - Sea///State of the Ports 2003

South Florida CEO, March, 2003

Concerns about improving security at the Port of Miami began well before the current worries about terrorists shipping in weapons of mass destruction. One of the early motivations for the installation of the ports' gamma ray inspection program--known as Portal Vacis, for Vehicle and Cargo Inspection System--was to stop car theft. At the time (the mid 1990s), more than 40,000 cars a year were being stolen in Miami-Dade County. One reason for the rampant theft, says Miami-Dade Police Lt. Greg Terp, was the ability thieves had to smuggle stolen vehicles out through the port.

By 2000, the system had helped cut car thefts in the country almost by half, to 21,000 vehicles. "It's been a great success," says Terp, who commands the Miami-Dade Multi-Agency Auto Theft Task Force. "Now, every outgoing container entering our security gate is scanned."

Since 9/11, of course, far more nefarious contraband is being searched for, both coming and going, and the gamma ray system has been adapted to search for things besides cars. The early experience with electronic detection devices, however, has put the Port of Miami "in the forefront, not only in the US, but in the world" in terms of security solutions, says Terp.

Customs senior special agent Zachary Mann agrees, nothing that South Florida has become an international training center for US Customs agents specializing in search operations as US ports.

"About 250,000 containers arrive every year at the Port of Miami. We examine the documentation on 97 percent, and through a targeting process, we examine about 9 percent physically or with gamma," he says. "Historically, it was drugs in and illegal profits out. Since 9/11, we're refocused to do live operations to look for hazardous materials, and weapons of mass destruction."

So far, says Mann, "To my knowledge we haven't found anything at the major sea or air ports that appeared to be chemical or biological warfare. We do have ongoing investigations to determine if what we have seized is or is not related to terrorist activity. We do believe that there may be a connection."