The border patrol from Canada's American neighbours had a big year along the Michigan-Ontario border.
U.S. Customs and Border Protection, a division of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, released the 2019 fiscal year report Wednesday from its Detroit field office and came out on top in two key areas. Officers at the Michigan points of entry led the nation in seizures of both unreported currency and biological specimens.
The report covers statistics from operations at the Ambassador Bridge and Windsor-Detroit Tunnel in Detroit, Detroit Metropolitan Airport, the Blue Water Bridge between Port Huron and Sarnia, and the International Bridge between the two Sault Ste. Maries.
Officers at the Michigan points of entry seized over $7.8 million in unreported cash, leading the country's border operations. In 2019, 549 people were arrested for various offences, and 62 firearms were seized.
CBP agriculture specialists also had a busy year, seizing 2,043 pests and preventing the entry of potentially destructive plant and animal terrors that may pose a threat to the region's agriculture industry. Specialists also led the nation in the biological terrorism interceptions with a variety of dangerous viral and disease-laden specimens stopped at the border.
Drug smuggling is still a big problem along the border. Last year, agents seized 600 pounds of cocaine, 13 pounds of methamphetamine, 495 pounds of illegal cannabis, and ten pounds of fentanyl, enough to kill a whopping 1.5-million people, according to the CBP.
Christopher Perry, director of the CBP's Detroit field operations, said the challenge has gotten more prominent in the past year.
"During this challenging year, our officers assigned around the Detroit field office worked countless hours to safeguard the American homeland at and beyond our nation’s borders," said Perry. "Our officers steadfastly enforced the laws of the United States while fostering our nation’s economic security through lawful international trade and travel, which is vital to Michigan and the Great Lakes region."
In 2019, agents at the Michigan checkpoints screened a daily average of 17,000 passenger vehicles, 6,500 commercial vehicles, 29 commercial aircraft and 15 cargo trains. The Ambassador Bridge remains the busiest commercial border crossing between Canada and the U.S.
