Surveillance system credited in St. Clair River smuggling arrests (The Detroit News)

Surveillance system credited in St. Clair River smuggling arrests
Charles E. Ramirez / The Detroit News
Last Updated: October 27. 2010 12:12PM

Harrison Township— Immigration and customs enforcement agents are investigating three separate incidents of illegal alien smuggling on the St. Clair River this month, officials said today.

The agency said it was able to detect the activities with its $20 million high-tech surveillance system, which went into operation along the St. Clair River this year.

In the most recent case, agents using the system tracked a small boat entering U.S. waters in Algonac at about 11 p.m. on Tuesday. The vessel docked in the city's downtown area and three people got off and ran across M-29, according to Andrew Patterson, a Border Patrol agent spokesman.

Agents responded and were able to arrest all three subjects, he said.

In the second case, which happened this past Saturday, agents watched a subject being dropped off by a boat near a restaurant in Algonac.

Officers arrived on the scene and arrested the man, who turned out to be an illegal alien who had been previously deported. Agents in nearby Clay Township stopped the vehicle suspected of being involved in the smuggling attempt and found several thousand dollars in Canadian currency on the driver, Patterson said.

And the first incident occurred on Oct. 16 when agents spotted a suspicious vessel traversing U.S. waters in Clay Township in St. Clair County, he said.

Agents also received information about a vehicle that appeared to be waiting for the vessel in the area.

The officers found the vehicle, pulled it over and discovered one of the men in the car was an illegal alien. They also recovered $56,000 in U.S. currency, four stolen handguns and an assortment of jewelry after a search of the vehicle, Patterson said.

The U.S. Customs and Border Protection agency calls the technology it uses to monitor the U.S. border along the St. Clair River its Remote Video Surveillance System.

The system consists of a network of cameras and 11 towers along the river and was designed to help the agency fight terrorism, combat drug trafficking and keep illegal immigrants and contraband out of the country. Each tower has four cameras, two for monitoring the border during the day and two for nighttime hours.