Feds eye security boost at local port

NORFOLK

The Department of Homeland Security is considering adding a security team at the port of Hampton Roads to conduct more in-depth, proactive investigations into smuggling and related offenses, the department's assistant secretary in charge of Immigration and Customs Enforcement announced Tuesday.

"We've been taking a hard look at the port here because it is the third-largest on the East Coast," John T. Morton said during an interview at The Virginian-Pilot. "It makes a lot of sense to do it here."

On Tuesday, Morton toured Norfolk International Terminals and the Coast Guard's regional headquarters in Portsmouth. Like ICE, the Coast Guard is a part of the Homeland Security Department.

Creating a Border Enforcement Security Team here would combine resources from ICE, Customs, the Coast Guard, port police and local police similar to the Joint Terrorism Task Forces, the Justice Department's regional teams created in response to the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks.

The ports have long been a concern among law enforcement. Only about 5 to 10 percent of goods entering the port here are inspected by hand, although all cargo containers are scanned for radiation.

"We've uncovered fairly significant smuggling," Morton said, citing finds in other ports of illegal military equipment and millions in counterfeit goods. In September, Customs agents here discovered 15,000 counterfeit Gucci shoes in an incoming cargo container.

Currently, ICE runs 17 Border Enforcement Security teams, mostly along the southern and northern borders, but also at the ports in New York, Miami and Los Angeles. ICE has received funding for three more to be located elsewhere.

Funding for the new teams beyond the 20 remains a question. Morton said if he cannot get Congress to approve the funding he will attempt to create teams without it.

Morton, a Loudoun County native, graduated from the University of Virginia School of Law before embarking on a career in government service - first with the Department of Justice, where he initially handled immigration litigation - before serving as a prosecutor in the U.S. attorney's office in Alexandria from 1999 to 2006.

Tim McGlone, (757) 446-2343, tim.mcglone@pilotonline.com