One of Mullins' assignments that day was a shipment of garments from Mongolia. As he examined the shipment, he noticed the overall poor assembly quality of many of the garments. Front and rear pockets had been sewn on crooked, with flaps also slightly askew. The waistband elastic was bunched up and the elastic itself was weak. Belt loops were poorly placed, and zippers were crooked.

Setting off an intercontinental investigation
To the untrained eye, the garments might have appeared of sufficient quality for entry into the commerce of the U.S. But to Mullins, the garments reeked of forced child labor, leading him to enter a Commercial Memo of Information Received (MOIR) into the Treasury Enforcement Communications System (TECS). Staff in the North Florida CMC Enforcement Evaluation Team reviewed the MOIR and referred the case to the Textile and Transshipment Branch, Office of Field Operations, Headquarters.

The next office to play a part in this success story was the Office of Fraud Investigations, Office of Investigations, Headquarters. That office relayed the concerns Mullins' examination had raised to the Office of the Customs Attaché, in Beijing, China. The attaché then visited the suspect factory in Mongolia, and confirmed that the factory was using forced child labor.

The case was recently highlighted at a meeting of the Department of the Treasury's Committee on Forced Child Labor Enforcement. "SI Mullins' actions in a significant case such as this reinforces the importance of thorough examination techniques, technical experience, attention to detail, and cooperation within the agency," says Jeffrey O. Baldwin, Director, Field Operations, North Florida CMC.

A reputation for diligence
Mullins began his career with U.S. Customs in 1980, following a career as a police officer in the Panama Canal Zone. After assignments as a Customs Patrol Officer in Nogales and Inspector in Miami and Charleston, he settled in Tampa. There, he has worked in the CES for the past eight years, where he has built a reputation for diligence and thorough examinations. "Earl's character is such that he will not stop until he is satisfied no violation has occurred," says Denise Crawford, Area Port Director, Tampa.

Over the years, Mullins has been involved with an assortment of agencies, companies, and issues. These issues include work with U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service on a criminal case involving smuggling coral from the Philippines, the Food and Drug Administration on the importation of inferior surgical instruments and contaminated food, and Underwriters Laboratory on counterfeit labeling.

As important as all of these and other issues are to Mullins, none are as close to him as the issue of forced child labor. We congratulate SI Mullins on behalf of all the people he serves, but especially on behalf of the children he has helped to protect.