8 December 2008

Drone to Patrol Part of Border With Canada

This article is excerpted from the 8 December 2008 edition of “The New York Times”.

[US] Federal Customs and Border Protection authorities are preparing to launch unmanned aircraft patrols from [North Dakota], the first time such monitoring will occur along the nation’s northern border.

A Predator B aircraft, delivered to Grand Forks on Saturday, will make runs along the northern edge of North Dakota using sensors that can provide video and detect heat and changes to landscape, Customs and Border Protection officials said. …

Along the entire northern border, Customs and Border Protection officials make about 4,000 arrests and intercept about 40,000 pounds of illegal drugs each year.

For the moment, though, the flights from Grand Forks will remain mostly along the 300 miles of the upper edge of North Dakota and a slim part of Minnesota, Mr. Stanton said….