Customs opens a unique air cargo facility near Los Angeles International Airport to speed up package inspections – Daily News

2021-12-13 16:10:40 By : Mr. Juwen Liang

The customs inspectors in Los Angeles have seen all this.

"From live baby cobras hidden in potato chip cans, live exotic sea turtles in cookie boxes, to mummified hands shipped from Africa," U.S. Customs and Border Protection spokesperson Jaime Ruiz (Jaime Ruiz) ) Recalled.

But finding all this can be time-consuming. When ordinary consumers can receive their things, it will slow down.

Now, the first centralized facility in the United States dedicated to discovering drugs, counterfeit goods, and other illegal goods in goods destined for the United States will simplify the screening process for packages from abroad. Officials said that when it opens two miles north of Los Angeles International Airport on October 1, it will enable international express delivery to reach its destination faster.

Ruiz said that the new aviation customs checkpoint at 5235 West 104th Street will replace 87 other locations that were previously used to store packages suspected of containing illegal items while awaiting inspection by customs officials.

Some of these stations are 11 miles from the airport.

This means that goods may have to wait days or as long as a week before the agent shuttles from one warehouse to another before they can begin to inspect them.

On Thursday, September 16, 2021, the U.S. Customs and Border Protection was on display during the grand opening of the nation's first dedicated centralized inspection facility at Los Angeles International Airport. The new facility will speed up the arrival of e-commerce goods internationally, while effectively intercepting illegal goods. (Photo by Hans Gutknecht, Los Angeles Daily News/SCNG)

On Thursday, September 16, 2021, during the grand opening of the country's first dedicated centralized inspection facility held by the United States Customs and Border Protection at Los Angeles International Airport, counterfeit goods seized from China were displayed. The new facility will speed up the arrival of e-commerce shipments internationally while effectively intercepting illegal goods. (Photo by Hans Gutknecht, Los Angeles Daily News/SCNG)

On Thursday, September 16, 2021, during the grand opening of the nation’s first dedicated centralized inspection facility held by the U.S. Customs and Border Protection at Los Angeles International Airport, CBP Director David Tapia spoke about the counterfeit seized commodity. The new facility will speed up the process of digitization. Commercial goods arrive internationally while effectively intercepting illegal goods. (Photo by Hans Gutknecht, Los Angeles Daily News/SCNG)

On Thursday, September 16, 2021, during the grand opening of the country's first dedicated centralized inspection facility held by the United States Customs and Border Protection at Los Angeles International Airport, counterfeit goods seized from China were displayed. The new facility will speed up the arrival of e-commerce shipments internationally while effectively intercepting illegal goods. (Photo by Hans Gutknecht, Los Angeles Daily News/SCNG)

On Thursday, September 16, 2021, during the grand opening of the country's first dedicated centralized inspection facility held by the United States Customs and Border Protection at Los Angeles International Airport, a counterfeit Covid-19 vaccination card was seized on display. The new facility will speed up the process of digitization. Commercial goods arrive internationally while effectively intercepting illegal goods. (Photo by Hans Gutknecht, Los Angeles Daily News/SCNG)

On Thursday, September 16, 2021, during the grand opening of the country's first dedicated centralized inspection facility held by the United States Customs and Border Protection at Los Angeles International Airport, drugs seized in the soul of counterfeit Gucci shoes on display. The new facility will speed up the arrival of international e-commerce goods while effectively intercepting illegal goods. (Photo by Hans Gutknecht, Los Angeles Daily News/SCNG)

On Thursday, September 16, 2021, during the grand opening of the country's first dedicated centralized inspection facility held by the United States Customs and Border Protection at Los Angeles International Airport, counterfeit goods seized from China were displayed. The new facility will speed up the arrival of e-commerce shipments internationally while effectively intercepting illegal goods. (Photo by Hans Gutknecht, Los Angeles Daily News/SCNG)

On Thursday, September 16, 2021, during the grand opening of the country's first dedicated centralized inspection facility held by the United States Customs and Border Protection at Los Angeles International Airport, counterfeit goods seized from China were displayed. The new facility will speed up the arrival of e-commerce shipments internationally while effectively intercepting illegal goods. (Photo by Hans Gutknecht, Los Angeles Daily News/SCNG)

On Thursday, September 16, 2021, during the grand opening of the nation's first dedicated centralized inspection facility held by the United States Customs and Border Protection at Los Angeles International Airport, cigarettes seized in the air filter on display. The new facility will speed up the process of digitization. Commercial goods arrive internationally while effectively intercepting illegal goods. (Photo by Hans Gutknecht, Los Angeles Daily News/SCNG)

On Thursday, September 16, 2021, the United States Customs and Border Protection at Los Angeles International Airport grandly opened the country's first dedicated centralized inspection facility. Carlos C. Martel, director of the Los Angeles Field Office, delivered a speech. The new facility will speed up the arrival of e-commerce goods internationally, while effectively intercepting illegal goods. (Photo by Hans Gutknecht, Los Angeles Daily News/SCNG)

Cheryl Davies, Port Director of Los Angeles International Airport, delivered a speech at the grand opening of the nation's first dedicated centralized inspection facility for the United States Customs and Border Protection at Los Angeles International Airport on Thursday, September 16, 2021. The new facility will speed up the arrival of e-commerce goods internationally while effectively intercepting illegal goods. (Photo by Hans Gutknecht, Los Angeles Daily News/SCNG)

On Thursday, September 16, 2021, the U.S. Customs and Border Protection opened the nation’s first dedicated centralized inspection facility at Los Angeles International Airport, announced by Tony Gregory, CEO and CEO of Custom Specialized Services Speak. The facility will speed up the arrival of international e-commerce goods while effectively intercepting illegal goods. (Photo by Hans Gutknecht, Los Angeles Daily News/SCNG)

On Thursday, September 16, 2021, during the grand opening of the country's first dedicated centralized inspection facility held by the United States Customs and Border Protection at Los Angeles International Airport, counterfeit goods seized from China were displayed. The new facility will speed up the arrival of e-commerce shipments internationally while effectively intercepting illegal goods. (Photo by Hans Gutknecht, Los Angeles Daily News/SCNG)

On Thursday, September 16, 2021, during the grand opening of the country's first dedicated centralized inspection facility held by the United States Customs and Border Protection at Los Angeles International Airport, counterfeit goods seized from China were displayed. The new facility will speed up the arrival of e-commerce shipments internationally while effectively intercepting illegal goods. (Photo by Hans Gutknecht, Los Angeles Daily News/SCNG)

On Thursday, September 16, 2021, during the grand opening of the nation’s first dedicated centralized inspection facility held by the United States Customs and Border Protection at Los Angeles International Airport, CBP Director David Tapia talked about seized counterfeit goods , Including forged law enforcement badges. The facility will speed up the arrival of international e-commerce goods while effectively intercepting illegal goods. (Photo by Hans Gutknecht, Los Angeles Daily News/SCNG)

"This is obviously an inefficient use of resources, because CBP personnel spend more time traveling between warehouses than checking goods, which will eventually delay the release of legal goods." On Thursday, September 16, CBP Los Angeles office scene Operations Director Carlos Martel (Carlos Martel) said at a news conference held at the new test center.

The new building is leased by Custom Specialized Services, a private company that has nothing to do with customs agencies. Ruiz said the company refurbished and equipped the building for free and hoped to recover the cost by charging customers for transportation inspections.

The huge 40,000 square foot warehouse has more than a dozen large loading areas that can hold goods. It is equipped with the most advanced X-ray machine, allowing agents to view the inside of the package from all directions without having to open the package. Mattel said that once the facility opens, the CBP agent stationed in the facility should be able to handle more than 15,000 shipments per day

Mattel said: "By innovating the way we do business, CBP is contributing to the reopening of the economy following what may be the worst economic disruption in decades."

He added that international transactions via the Internet are still a fast-growing part of the global economy. Mattel said that from October 1, 2019, to the end of the 2020 fiscal year on September 30, 2020, agents handled 53 million e-commerce shipments arriving through Los Angeles International Airport. This number represents an increase of 657% over the 7 million such deliveries handled by CBP during the same period last year.

So far this fiscal year, more than 131 million e-commerce shipments have been inspected by CBP agents in Los Angeles.

Once Air CES opens, most packages that arrive at Los Angeles International Airport and are marked for inspection should be cleared within a few hours, as long as no illegal items are found inside. If contraband is found, it will either be destroyed or seized as evidence, and some items will be auctioned publicly.

Ruiz said that illegal goods were shipped from all over the world, and about 80% of the goods confiscated by agents came from China. Ruiz said that counterfeit shoes, clothing and clothing are the most common contraband among the screened goods.

CBP agents also often find cosmetics containing dangerous amounts of lead, counterfeit power adapters that may be problematic, and other things that may pose a danger to unsuspecting consumers.

On display in the Air CES building on Thursday were fake COVID-19 vaccination cards, opium hidden in the soles of fake Gucci slippers, and even fake FBI, DEA, U.S. Marshal and Secret Service badges.

Note: This story has been corrected to indicate that the warehouse is leased by Custom Specialized Services, not owned. 

I was at a new inspection facility, a warehouse about 2 miles from Los Angeles International Airport, where drugs hidden in water heaters, opium in the soles of fake Gucci slippers, and other contraband intercepted by U.S. customs and border patrol agents were displayed for the media. Show off. @DailyBreezeNews pic.twitter.com/T78QVBOT8S

— Eric Anthony Licas (@EricLicas) September 16, 2021

Get the latest news every day!

We invite you to use our comment platform for insightful conversations on issues in our community. Although we do not pre-screen comments, we reserve the right to delete any illegal, threatening, abusive, defamatory, slanderous, obscene, vulgar, pornographic, profane, indecent, or other information or material that is offensive to us at any time, and disclose that it meets the law , Regulations, or any information required by the government. We may permanently block any users who abuse these conditions.

If you see an offensive comment, hover your mouse over the right side of the post and pull down the arrow that appears to use the "Mark as inappropriate" feature. Or, contact our editor by sending an email to moderator@scng.com.