EL PASO, Texas — Customs and Border Protection has accelerated the installation of high-throughput drive-through non-intrusive inspection portals across primary cargo lanes, aiming to dramatically scale vehicle scanning rates along the U.S.-Mexico border.
EL PASO, Texas — Standing alongside commercial cargo lanes at the Santa Teresa Port of Entry, senior CBP Office of Field Operations officials unveiled the latest deployment of multi-energy portal (MEP) non-intrusive inspection systems designed to screen commercial tractor-trailers without halting cross-border commerce.
Historically, non-intrusive inspection of commercial cargo required trucks to pull out of primary traffic flows into secondary inspection bays, where stationary or mobile gantry scanners spent up to fifteen minutes examining a single conveyance. The new drive-through MEP portals allow commercial trucks to pass through high-energy X-ray arches at speeds up to ten miles per hour.
High-Throughput Radiography and Material Discrimination
The system utilizes low-dose dual-energy X-ray technology that safely bypasses the truck cab while penetrating dense steel cargo containers. The resulting radiographic imagery discriminates between organic substances—such as narcotics, agricultural goods, and human stowaways—and inorganic structural components like machinery and auto parts.
Images are beamed in real time to remote adjudication centers, where trained CBP image analysts review density anomalies in under two minutes while the driver approaches the primary inspection booth. If an anomalous density pocket is detected within a false trailer wall or floor compartment, the vehicle is seamlessly flagged for physical devanning.
Meeting Congressional Mandates Without Economic Gridlock
The rollout directly supports congressional directives under the Securing America’s Ports Act, which mandates that CBP work toward scanning 100 percent of commercial cargo conveyances entering through Southwest land ports. With over five million commercial trucks crossing the southern border annually, achieving high inspection rates without creating multi-hour border logjams has long challenged border strategists.
“These multi-energy portals change the fundamental math of border interdiction,” said Pete Flores, CBP Director of Field Operations for San Diego. “We can inspect ten times the volume of freight in a fraction of the time, keeping legitimate manufacturing supply chains moving while closing the concealment gaps exploited by transnational cartels.”