Border Patrol Shows Off New Robots

Photo Credit by ArizonaLatinos.com

By Francisco Romero

In a game of Cat and Mouse, the United States Border Patrol is used to following organized crime’s innovative ways of transporting drugs or smuggling undocumented immigrants.

Today the federal agency put on a display that puts them ahead, at least for now, of those trying to avoid them underground.

Border Patrol agents unveiled their newest weapons. They showed off three newly purchased robots. Equipped with 360-degree cameras, the wireless robots can navigate through man made tunnels and the drainage system in order to detect illegal activity along the Nogales, Arizona – Nogales Sonora border.

“We are pro-actively using the robots to get into places agents have difficulty getting in,” mentioned Nicloe Ballistrea, spokesperson for the Border Patrol. “Our first goal is to keep our agents safe and also look into possible threats or illegal activity inside the tunnels.”

Border Patrol’s main goal is to find, explore and ultimately destroy any drug tunnel. Since 1990 there have been 168 tunnels found along the United States – Mexico border, 99 of those tunnels have been found in the Nogales border area making it ground zero for illicit tunnels in the country.

The cost of the three robots ranges around $100 thousand dollars.

Two of those robots will be used in the Nogales area while the third one will be shipped to San Diego, California.