MEXICO CITY: Black Hawk helicopters and truck sized X-ray machines typically deployed along the US Mexico border have been brought to the Super Bowl venue to assist with security.
US Customs and Border Protection (CBP) showed off the technology as it helps with Super Bowl security at the University of Phoenix stadium, Arizona.
Richard Kerlikowske, CBP commissioner, was on hand for a demonstration of the agency’s Black Hawks and large mobile X-ray machines that are used to detect contraband and explosives.
The helicopters and X-ray machines were from Tucson and Nogales, some of the busiest spots in the nation for the smuggling of drugs and immigrants.
Kerlikowske said Arizona’s border with Mexico still has adequate security while some equipment is used in Glendale for the Super Bowl.
It’s not just the technology that will help keep the big game safe, but the expertise behind it. The real key about this equipment is the people who operate them, Kerlikowske said.
The CBP is also deploying about 100 officers who will assist other federal and local law enforcement agencies. The X-ray machines are mobile and the size of a large truck.
The X-ray machines are in heavy use at the Mariposa Port of Entry in Nogales, one of the busiest ports of entry for commerce in the country. They slowly pan outside a semi truck while operators inside the X-ray machine look for anomalies.
The X-ray machines will have scanned an entire semi trailer within a few minutes, looking for contraband and explosives.
The Black Hawks are used by the CBP for a variety of missions, including rescuing border crossers who become sick or injured. They’ve also recently been commonly used to arrest so-called scouts, or men who act as lookouts in the desert for drug and human smuggling organizations.
