Fentanyl scanners that were sitting idle for lack of federal funds can now be installed at the border to catch smugglers

Fifty-six scanning systems that can detect fentanyl in personal vehicles at southern U.S. border crossings will now be installed because of $200 million in new funding that was approved by Congress after NBC News reported the scanners were sitting unused in warehouses.

Ninety-five percent of the fentanyl U.S. law enforcement seizes is discovered in personal vehicles driven across the border by U.S. citizens, according to Department of Homeland Security officials, and the scanners are the strongest tool the Biden administration has to detect fentanyl in vehicles.

After the NBC News report, two senators, three House members and two state attorneys general called for additional funding to install the scanners that had been previously requested by DHS. Funding to finally install the machines came through the House Homeland Security appropriations bill, which Congress passed in late March.

The 56 that will be installed because of the new funding will be in place by 2026, according to a senior Customs and Border Protection official. Thirty-one scanning systems are already in place, and 27 are under construction. All of the scanners were appropriated in 2021.

DHS says that once the scanners are in place, 40% of all personal vehicles crossing the border will be scanned. Now, fewer than 5% of personal vehicles are X-rayed, according to DHS officials.

At ports of entry without scanners, customs officers have to rely on their own intuition to detect something amiss and hold vehicles for further inspection.

Since 2021, the U.S. government has struggled to install fentanyl scanners at ports of entry. Critics have applauded the progress but say it’s still just a drop in the bucket.

Bobby Watt was at CBP for over 30 years and oversaw