Pubdate: Wed, 21 May 2014
Source: Sun-Sentinel (Fort Lauderdale, FL)
Copyright: 2014 Sun-Sentinel Company
Contact: http://drugsense.org/url/mVLAxQfA
Website: http://www.sun-sentinel.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/159
Author: Franco Ordonez, McClatchy Washington Bureau
Page: 14A

PILOTS SAY BORDER AGENTS GO TOO FAR IN NAME OF SECURITY

WASHINGTON-The young pilot from Miami was trying to impress a woman 
with a lunch trip to Key West.

The 45-minute flight was just long enough to take in the scenery, but 
not so long that Aron Banks had to worry about lulls in the small 
talk. In the air, the 23-year-old explained how his plane's avionic 
system works. He pointed to the blue and turquoise waters. His date 
admired the shapes of the rip currents.

Everything was great until they landed in Marathon. That's when, 
Banks said, more than a dozen federal agents with body armor and 
assault rifles surrounded him and his plane.

The agents with U.S. Customs and Border Protection asked for his 
permits. They asked him why he was flying from Opa-Locka to the 
islands. They pressed him to search the plane. Banks refused, but he 
said the agents didn't take no for an answer. Banks said an agent 
repeated the question again while squeezing his gun and inching it 
out of his holster.

"I'm like, 'You know, bro, I'm not authorizing anything, but you do 
what you need to do.' And then he starts searching the airplane."

The agents found no drugs or weapons, Banks said. They did find $700 
in cash, which Banks says he keeps for emergencies.

After about an hour and a half, the agents said Banks could go, he 
recalled. They told him they were just doing their job trying to keep 
everyone safe. But Banks still felt like a drug runner. He figured 
his date felt that way about him, too.

U.S. Customs and Border Protection officials say searches of general 
aviation aircraft are a critical part of the fight against drugs and terror.

The agency's Office of Air and Marine on Monday denied Banks' version 
of events. The encounter, which customs officials said lasted 20 
minutes, was because of an error on the flight plan. The search was 
allowed, and the agency said in response to McClatchy's questions 
that there were only three federal agents and that no weapons were 
ever drawnn or used to intimidate.

Banks is far from alone in accusing border officials of excessive 
shows of power. Many leisure and business pilots across the country 
say too many private citizens have been caught up in what they argue 
are warrantless searches that can be emotionally scarring- and 
possibly illegal.

"We're opposed to drugs and drug runners and illegal uses of 
aircraft, but we do feel very strongly that when you do a police 
action like your plane comes to a stop on a runway and it's 
surrounded by eight SUVs, police get out, guns drawn, body armor, 
dogs, you need to have a reasonable suspicion that illegal activity 
has occurred or is about to occur," said Ken Mead, general counsel 
for the Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association.

The pilots' association, which represents more than 350,000 pilots 
and plane owners, says it has collected more than 50 cases in which 
members-despite never crossing a U.S. border-were searched by U.S. 
Customs and Border Protection agents or local law enforcement 
"without probable cause or reasonable suspicion of illegal activity."

The association met last month with Border Patrol officials in 
Washington to discuss pilots' concerns. U.S. Customs and Border 
Protection Commissioner R. Gil Kerlikowske assured them the agency 
would conduct a comprehensive review of the searches, the association said.

The agency has not responded with comments for this story.

None of the flights in which planes were searched crossed any 
borders, Mead said. He said that much like drivers on the nation's 
highways, pilots should not have to worry about having gun-toting 
agents tapping on their plane windows asking to search their plane.

The complaints that border agents are conducting egregious and 
intimidating searches of U.S. citizen pilots and plane owners come at 
a time when the U.S. Customs and Border Protection agency is under 
increased scrutiny. McClatchy and other news organizations have 
chronicled the deaths of at least 21 people, a trend that has led to 
criticism that the Border Patrol has expanded too quickly to ensure 
proper training of new agents.

Democratic Rep. Beto O'Rourke of Texas and Republican Rep. Steve 
Pearce of New Mexico introduced legislation in March that would 
impose more levels of oversight and accountability on U.S. Customs 
and Border Protection.

Responsibility for detecting and identifying potential air threats of 
domestically flown general aviation aircraft falls under the U.S. 
Customs and Border Protection's Air and Marine Operations Center.

General aviation aircraft is a popular means of transporting drugs 
across the country. Customs and border agents have seized 1,600 
pounds of marijuana and 72 pounds of cocaine over the past two years, 
according to an agency report.

The attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, have heightened awareness of how 
planes can be used as weapons.

On Feb. 18, 2010, the pilot of a small plane intentionally crashed 
into the Internal Revenue Service office in Austin, Texas, killing 
the pilot, an IRS employee and injuring 13 others.

Sen. Pat Roberts, R-Kan., has sought more information from border 
protection officials about the encounters with general aviation aircraft.

In response to the senator's concerns, Kerlikowske wrote last month 
that any action taken is predicated on the "totality of the 
circumstances" amounting to reasonable suspicion or probable cause. 
He pointed out that federal law allows agents to inspect a pilot's 
operating license and related documents without any level of suspicion.

"That is not to say the CBP exercises these authorities unrestrained 
or without considerations for the rights of citizens," he wrote in a 
response letter.

Kerlikowske said encounters are very limited. Of the hundreds of 
thousands of flights last year, federal agents tracked 428 general 
aviation aircraft, according to U.S. Customs and Border Protection. 
Law enforcement approached 38 of those planes, of which 17 resulted 
in violations, including 12 seizures of drugs, weapons or money, 
Kerlikowske wrote.

Agents monitor domestic flights for odd flight patterns and 
questionable practices, Kerlikowske wrote. They may make contact with 
a pilot based on "an abnormal flight profile" or a tip from other law 
enforcement of possible criminal activity.

In Florida, Banks said he also knows that the agents are simply doing 
their job. He's glad they're there to make it safer for him and 
others to fly their planes.

But he said it was wrong for federal agents to use their firearms to 
assert authority, intimidate and coerce him into doing things he 
didn't want to do. "It's not right," Banks said. The agency said in 
its response Monday that officials were unaware of any intimidating 
behavior toward Banks.

The experience might have wrecked his chances with the woman, who 
also was shaken up by the experience, Banks said. He said she now 
prefers to remain just friends. "She's like, 'Who am I flying with?' 
" Banks said. "It was a first date. Thanks for screwing it up, guys."
- ---
MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom