March 27, 2009 (Updated)

Border Enforcement Security Task Forces

U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) is the largest investigative agency in the Department of Homeland Security. ICE is charged with enforcing a wide array of laws, including those related to securing the border and combating criminal smuggling.

Our nation's southern border has experienced a dramatic surge in cross-border crime and violence in recent years due to intense competition between Mexican drug cartels and criminal smuggling organizations that employ predatory tactics to realize their profits.

In response to this trend, ICE has partnered with federal, state, local and foreign law enforcement counterparts to create the Border Enforcement Security Task Force (BEST) initiative, a series of multi-agency task forces developed as a comprehensive approach to identifying, disrupting and dismantling criminal organizations posing significant threats to border security. The task forces are designed to increase information sharing and collaboration among the agencies combating this threat on both sides of the border.

BEST incorporates personnel from ICE; U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP); Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA); Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives; Federal Bureau of Investigation; U.S. Coast Guard; and the U.S. Attorney's Office along with other key federal, state, local and foreign law enforcement agencies. Participating in BEST on the southwest border is the Mexican law enforcement agency Secretaria de Seguridad Publica. Canadian Border Services Agency and the Royal Canadian Mounted Police participate in BEST along the northern border.

There are currently 11 BESTs in place throughout the United States, located in Laredo, Texas; El Paso, Texas; San Diego, Calif.; Rio Grande Valley, Texas; Blaine, Wash.; Buffalo, N.Y.; Yuma, Ariz.; Phoenix, Ariz.; Tucson, Ariz.; Imperial Valley, Calif.; and Los Angeles/Long Beach, Calif. Additional BESTs are being implemented in Miami, Fla., and Newark/New York.

The United States, Mexico and Canada work jointly under the Security and Prosperity Partnership (SPP) for North America. BEST is one of several working groups that was established or expanded to implement the SPP. The participating agencies aid with the collection and analysis of intelligence and coordinate and collaborate on investigative efforts to identify and dismantle smuggling organizations. BEST has been highly successful in combating violence in the Laredo area, which served as an impetus for the expansion of the program.

Results of BEST

This coordinated approach has led to significant successes:

In fiscal year 2008 (FY08), BEST teams were responsible for a total of 1,000 criminal arrests and 1,256 administrative arrests—a 35 percent increase over the previous year's total. In addition, BEST investigations in FY08 resulted in 401 indictments and 392 convictions.

BEST teams also made significant seizures of drugs and assets in FY08, seizing approximately 1,803 lbs. of cocaine; 52,420 lbs. of marijuana; 121 lbs. of methamphetamine; 25 lbs. of crystal methamphetamine; 850 lbs. of ecstasy; 66 lbs. of heroin; 46 lbs. of hashish; 20 lbs. of opium; 432 weapons; 299 vehicles; four boats; four properties; and more than $8.8 million in U.S. currency and monetary instruments.

The BEST initiative has substantially enhanced partnerships between U.S. and foreign law enforcement agencies along the border. In Texas, the heightened cooperation with Mexican law enforcement resulted in the successful return of criminal fugitives being sought in both countries, including the removal to Mexico of one of that nation's Top Ten Most Wanted fugitives after his arrest in El Paso in 2007.

Border-related arms and ammunition smuggling investigations in Texas and Arizona have led to numerous criminal arrests and the seizure of thousands of rounds of ammunition and multiple firearms, including a cache of AK-47 assault rifles destined for Mexico.

ICE will continue to establish new BESTs in areas where transnational criminal organizations exploit vulnerabilities along the nation's border. These new task forces will focus on all aspects of the enforcement process, from interdiction to prosecution and removal. The goal of the expansion is to strengthen the program's ability to dismantle the leadership and supporting infrastructure of the criminal organizations responsible for perpetrating violence and illegal activity along our borders and in the nation's interior.