Headquarters staff provides operational and administrative management and oversight of the laboratory system.
Science Officers plan, coordinate, and execute support operations in three major areas: trade enforcement, Weapons of Mass Destruction recognition and interdiction, crime scene investigations, and forensics. Science Officers also issue technical opinions, provide advice on World Customs Organization issues, and manage CBP Gauger/Laboratory Accreditation program.
General engineers and project managers acquire and deploy the latest non-intrusive inspection systems available. They also maintain performance schedules and expenditure rates, perform contract acceptance functions, provide site surveys, site preparation, and installations.
Location and Contact Information
U.S. Customs and Border Protection
Laboratories and Scientific Services
CB-03 Mail Stop #1110
Washington, D.C. 20229-1110
Voice:(202) 344-1060
Fax:(202) 344-2060
Email:lab-hq@cbp.dhs.gov
Service Area
The INTERDICT Science Center is a centralized facility that provides scientific support to CBP Headquarters, LSS Laboratories, ICE Homeland Security Investigations, and the greater DC Metropolitan area for their controlled substance identification requirements.
Location and Contact Information
DirectorU.S. Customs and Border Protection
INTERDICT Science Center 22001 Loudoun County Parkway Mail Stop #1253
Ashburn, VA 20598-1253
Background
The LSS Integrated Narcotics Trafficking Evaluation and Response Center for Detecting International Chemical Threats (a/k/a INTERDICT Science Center) was originally established in 1970 as the U.S. Customs Service Research Laboratory which then became the DHS Springfield Laboratory in 2005. In 2018, the laboratory was rebranded to become the INTERDICT Science Center in response to provisions with Congress' International Narcotics Trafficking Response by Detecting Incoming Contraband Act (a/k/a INTERDICT Act) that provided U.S. Customs and Border Protection with funding to ensure it had the resources to prevent, detect, and interdict unlawful importation of fentanyl and other synthetic opioids, narcotics, and psychoactive substances.
Service Area
The New York Laboratory, services the greater New York City area including the New York Seaport, JFK Airport, the Port of Newark and Perth Amboy.
Location and Contact Information
DirectorNew York Laboratory
U.S. Customs and Border Protection
1100 Raymond Blvd.
Newark, NJ 07102
Voice: (973) 368-1900
Fax: (973) 368-1905
Email: lab-ny@cbp.dhs.gov
Service Area
The Chicago Laboratory services Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska, Ohio, Wisconsin, Connecticut, Delaware, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, Vermont, and New York, except the New York Metro area.
Location and Contact Information
DirectorChicago Laboratory
U.S. Customs and Border Protection
610 South Canal St., Suite 400
Chicago, IL 60607
Voice: (312) 983-9300
Fax:(312) 886-2210
Email: lab-ch@cbp.dhs.gov
Service Area
The Savannah Laboratory services ports from Philadelphia, PA to Key West, FL.
Location and Contact Information
DirectorSavannah Laboratory
U.S. Customs and Border Protection
1425 Chatham Parkway
Savannah, GA 31405
Voice: (912) 447-6500
Fax: (912) 447-6506
Email: lab-sv@cbp.dhs.gov
Service Area
The Houston Laboratory (Southwest Regional Science Center) services to Ports of Entry and Border Patrol Sectors in the following eight states: Alabama, Tennessee, Mississippi, Louisiana, Arkansas, Oklahoma, Texas, New Mexico. This geographic area contains 80 percent of the border between the United States and Mexico.
Location and Contact Information
DirectorHouston Laboratory (Southwest Regional Science Center)
U.S. Customs and Border Protection
4150 Interwood South Parkway
Houston, TX 77032
Voice: (281) 560-2900
Fax: (281) 372-0642
Email: lab-ht2@cbp.dhs.gov
Service Area
Los Angeles Laboratory services all of Southern California, Southern Nevada, including Las Vegas, Arizona, and the California-Mexico border in these areas.
Location and Contact Information
Director Los Angeles LaboratoryU.S. Customs and Border Protection
3265 North Lakewood Blvd.
Long Beach, CA 90808
Voice: (562) 354-2200
Fax: (562) 354-2208
Email: lab-la@cbp.dhs.gov
Service Area
The laboratory services the northern two-thirds of California, as well as the states of Oregon, Washington, North Dakota, South Dakota, Minnesota, Alaska, Hawaii, Colorado, Utah, Nevada, Montana, and Idaho. Major ports located in this service area include San Francisco, Portland, Seattle, Blaine, Anchorage, Honolulu, and Denver.
Location and Contact Information
DirectorSan Francisco Laboratory
U.S. Customs and Border Protection
630 Sansome Street, Room 1450
San Francisco, CA 94111
Voice: (415) 844-5744
Fax: (415) 844-5757
Email: lab-sf@cbp.dhs.gov
Service Area
The San Juan Laboratory services the ports of Puerto Rico and the United States Virgin Islands.
Location and Contact Information
Director San Juan LaboratoryU.S. Customs and Border Protection
651 GSA Center, Road #28 Km. 3.9
Guaynabo, PR 00934
Voice: (787) 729-6967/6968
Fax: (787) 729-6650
Email: lab-sj@cbp.dhs.gov
Service Area
The San Juan Laboratory services the ports of Puerto Rico and the United States Virgin Islands.
Location and Contact Information
Director San Juan LaboratoryU.S. Customs and Border Protection
651 GSA Center, Road #28 Km. 3.9
Guaynabo, PR 00934
Voice: (787) 729-6967/6968
Fax: (787) 729-6650
Email: lab-sj@cbp.dhs.gov
Service Area
The Interdiction Technology Branch is a centralized facility that provides technical support to CBP Headquarters and field personnel in the areas of Innovation, Digital Forensics, and Inspection Technologies.
Interdiction Technology Branch
U.S. Customs and Border Protection
Laboratories and Scientific Services
1331 Pennsylvania Ave., N.W., Suite 1301A
Washington, D.C. 20229
Voice: (202) 344-1060
lab-itb@cbp.dhs.gov
Functions
The LSS Interdiction Technology Branch (ITB) is the engineering, testing, digital forensic, and innovation wing of LSS, staffed by general engineers, physical scientists, and digital forensic experts. ITB provides CBP with a technical capability that ensures CBP frontline mission operators have the best and most advanced high-technology law enforcement equipment available. ITB front line support provides assessments, testing, technology deployments, performance testing and forensic testing for law enforcement operations in the areas of Digital Forensics, Inspection Technologies, and Innovation Technologies that enable CBPs Mission.
ITB’s Rapid Technology Assessment (RTA) activity rapidly assesses inspection technologies and other mission systems for CBP’s operators and partner law enforcement entities. RTAs assess, analyze, and report on technologies and systems to provide immediate, actionable independent information for data-driven decision making. RTA focus areas include non-intrusive inspection (NII) systems, counternarcotics and chemical-identification systems, digital forensics capabilities, and new/emerging innovative technologies with a high focus on fentanyl and other novel psychoactive substance detection. The RTA program is a critical technical asset providing RTA results to over 30 law enforcement partners at the federal, state, local, and international-partner levels.
In the area of Digital Forensics, ITB operates the state-of-the-art Ashburn Tier III Digital Forensic Laboratory, which provides advanced forensic analysis and assessment capabilities of Digital Forensics evidence and technologies used by CBP and other law enforcement entities. These capabilities enable and enhance the mission focus on alien smuggling, terrorist activities, intelligence gathering, countering transnational criminal organizations, countering narcotics smuggling, and other illicit activities. Further, ITB oversees LSS’s National Digital Forensic Program and Technical Direction, providing LSS’s nationwide Digital Forensic Analysts with the most up to date tools, technologies, techniques, and procedures.
ITB performs testing related to commissioning and deployment of Radiation Portal Monitors (RPMs) and CBP’s mission-essential Port Radiation Detection, Inspection, and Evaluation (PRIDE) system.
ITB manages the LSS Innovation Team which researches, evaluates, and operates state-of-the-art and innovative technologies for CBP’s mission in collaboration with the CBP Innovation Team as well as the Innovation Teams from the Office of Field Operations (OFO), United States Border Patrol (USBP), and Air and Marine Operations (AMO). These technologies have included detection of cross-border tunnel threats, countering illicit communication and identification systems, and underwater inspection of suspect threat vectors. The LSS Innovation Team develops data-visualization dashboards, enhancing data-driven decision-making capabilities by providing a comprehensive overview of workload, forensic case counts, case age, potential chokepoints, and performance against established key performance indicators.