Feds test new speedboat to outsmart smugglers

By Alexia Campbell | South Florida Sun Sentinel
2:00 PM EDT, June 16, 2009

FORT LAUDERDALE - South Florida, long a hotbed for smuggling, is the testing ground for a new weapon federal agents hope will give them the edge: a high-tech 1,400-horsepower boat that can see in the dark and spit a hail of bullets from a pair of mounted machine guns.

U.S. Customs and Border Protection on Tuesday started trying out the 43-foot Advanced Concept Technical Demonstrator, a four-engine speedboat that can hit 75 mph.

"It's always a cat and mouse game," said marine interdiction agent Jeff Lane. "We need to keep up."

One of the agents' favorite features on the new boat is the mounted camera with 360-degree vision. It has infrared and night vision technology with a powerful zoom to help them creep up on boats filled with contraband.

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Demonstrating the Demonstrator Photo "You can see who you're dealing with and if they're armed," said Lane. "That's huge."

The boat's top speed is a big improvement over the current fleet's 60 mph maximum.

It also comes with two mounts for MK-48 7.62 mm machine guns. That's another feature the older boats don't have.

But the most popular feature is the shock-absorbing seats.

Interception agents like Lane suffer chronic back and joint pain from the jarring high-speed chases through choppy waters, he said.

The division hopes to replace its 13 aging boats in South Florida in two years, said Troy Fontaine, director of test and evaluation for the agency's Air and Marine Division. The new boat costs $550,000 and carries a four-person crew.

Outsmarting drug traffickers trying to reach South Florida has always been a challenge, said Lane.

Now, human smuggling is a bigger concern.

Since January, customs agents have intercepted 155 migrants, 2,800 pounds of marijuana and 215 pounds of cocaine destined for South Florida.

New technology helps agents stay one step ahead of traffickers, said Lane.

Sleek boats won't stop smugglers from putting so many lives in danger, said Marleine Bastien of Haitian Women of Miami, a group that advocates refugee rights.

But at least it will send the message that people are watching them.

"The smugglers are unscrupulous, all they care about is money." Bastien said. "We encourage any plan to discourage them."

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