CBP Commissioner W. Ralph Basham toured the Port of Los Angeles/Long Beach before meeting with California dignitaries and the media. “The technology we have deployed enhances our critical mission of preventing terrorists or others from attempting to smuggle weapons of mass destruction through U.S. borders,” Basham said.

Commissioner Basham was joined for a tour of American President Lines operations by Rep. Dana Rohrabacher (R-Calif.), CBP Los Angeles Field Director Kevin W. Weeks and CBP Los Angeles/Long Beach Port Director Todd A. Hoffman.

The Security and Accountability for Every Port Act, or SAFE Port, was signed Oct. 13 by the President and calls for modernized inspection technologies, codifies two CBP global port security programs and instructs the Department of Homeland Security to make plans for expedited resumption of trade should an attack impact a port.

In addition to the radiation portals, other sophisticated equipment used at LA/Long Beach by CBP in its layered enforcement strategy includes large-scale, non-intrusive X-ray technology that can scan an entire sea container within two to three minutes, and personal radiation detection devices that are assigned to all front-line officers.

“Nearly all containers currently exiting this port via truck and rail are screened for nuclear and radiological materials, and by January we will be at 100 percent,” Basham said. “The mobile radiation portal monitors provide CBP with a tactical edge to conduct screening operations, as they can easily be deployed anywhere, including supporting state and locals to secure a major event.”

Los Angeles/Long Beach harbor, covering 15,000 acres, is the nation’s biggest and busiest seaport complex. About 45 percent of all sea containers arriving in the U.S. come through LA/Long Beach. Since June 2005, CBP has installed 85 radiation portal monitors at 14 shipping terminals within Los Angeles/Long Beach harbor. Eighteen mobile portal monitors have been delivered and six more are expected by the end of this year.