>> CBP Air
and Marine Operations
performs a unique law enforcement mission
that is specifically suited
to achieve a secure maritime border.
With Marine agents and vessels stationed
from San Diego to Puerto Rico,
AMO has the distinct task
of protecting the many vast waterways
along our nation's borders.
These uniquely qualified
and highly experienced agents
operate on the coastal waters
as well as the high seas,
securing our nation's borders
from threats approaching the United States.
Each agent undergoes rigorous training
in the safe operation
of high speed interceptors,
pursuit techniques,
and boarding tactics,
all underpinned by the Air and Marine
Operations' goal of interdiction
from superior seamanship.
But their capabilities go beyond their technical skills.
Their broad arrest authority,
skills in all aspects of investigations
and their deep connection
and partnership with many federal,
state and local law enforcement agencies
is unparalleled in the maritime environment.
CBP Air and Marine Operations in the maritime environment
has several unique capabilities.
One, I think, is our ability
to operate autonomously in small units,
and to respond to threats immediately;
the second is our vast array of authorities
in which we're empowered by Congress to operate.
>> Turn around! Hands up! Turn around!
>> We also come with a set of skills,
law enforcement skills and backgrounds
that make us unique,
so we can bring those skillsets,
not just to operate the boat,
but to do advanced things such as advanced interdictions,
detecting, deterring,
working with local partners
with a Marine task force for investigations.
>> You know, the dynamics of the job change every day.
We could be doing a surveillance one day;
we could be in plain clothes working
in an unmarked boat.
The flexibility that our job provides us is just one more tool
that we have to do things
differently than other agencies. >> All right,
[INAUDIBLE]!
>> Aside from being a mariner and an investigator,
one of my other roles is,
I'm actually a center operator aboard different aircraft
that the agency has,
so I'm able to be underway on the vessel one day
and be up in the air the next day,
and might be working on doing
an investigation a third day.
>> You know the guy up in the plane, you know him by first name.
He knows the guy driving the boat by first name.
And it's because we work together all the time.
And nobody else has that relationship
between their services and their agencies like we do.
>> When you look at the quality of our agents,
most of our agents come onboard the job
already have come from a career in the past.
They already have the maturity level that they need.
This is why they're entrusted by the agency
to make those hard decisions,
to make the decisions to fire warning shots
or disabling fire at a boat
20 miles off shore in the middle of the night.
That's why the senior leadership of Air
and Marine entrust these agents to make those decisions,
because they've demonstrated that they have the maturity level
and the expertise to do that type of mission.
>> Our goal as a Marine interdiction agent
is to get the entire organization,
not just the single smuggler on the boat
with the one load of drugs;
we want to get the resources that are supporting him.
>> If we didn't have each other's resources,
we would not be able to disrupt and dismantle those organizations.
We have to bring all the forces to bear,
whether it's just the criminal investigators,
or the Air Marine operators
who have these tools at their disposal, boats
as well as aircraft, that we can identify,
disrupt and dismantle these organizations.
>> Where we differ from many is,
since we have agents onboard the boats,
we can start interviews immediately off shore.
We can begin the phone tag process
where we're getting other agencies onboard,
ICE, DEA,
we can get the U.S. Attorney's office
on board. It's a huge thing.
You know, we can continue the case on from there.
We can facilitate a controlled delivery.
We can roll right into shore to wherever they were supposed to go.
We can roll with a case
from the time it was interdicted
until the last person is arrested.
>> Target's at the parking lot.
>> Point five on the water, echo.