Thermal Imaging Equipment used Along US-Mexico Border to Stop Drug Smugglers!

Thermal Imaging Equipment: From the Army to the National Guard to you!

I just read a really cool story about Homeland Security getting a little help from the US National Guard to stop drug smugglers from entering the country. The National Guard regularly patrols the waters along the border, and this is an area largely open to illegal immigrants and drug smugglers. While security along the land border has increased, it is difficult for Homeland Security to place additional personnel in boats along the water, so the National Guard is using their advance optical equipment to help spot drug smugglers and illegal immigrants.

Case in point: about a week ago a small fishing boat called a panga that had 4 undocumented passengers and over 1 ton of marijuana was discovered by National Guardsmen, who notified Homeland Security. Homeland Security agents were able to arrest both the men on the boat and the states-side smugglers who were waiting for the boat, and seice the panga and marijuana.

The panga was darkened, which made it nearly invisible to the naked eye; even advanced light-amplifying night vision devices had trouble picking up the boat. Fortunately, a darkened boat is still visible to thermal imaging devices. National Guardsmen were using thermal imagers originally designed for use by Army soldiers in Iraq. Rather than amplifying ambient light, a thermal imagers looks at infrared energy and produces an image called a thermogram. Dependent on the quality of your thermal imager you will be able to make out varying degrees of detail. So if you have a top quality L3 Thermal Eye Thermal Imager you will see a lot of detail and be able to make out various people, animals or heat-producing vehicles.

Thermal imaging is especially useful on the sea, as there is often a degree of fog or mist in the air, and these airborne particles can make the image from a traditional night vision device obscured. In clear conditions you will see a lot more detail and with greater depth-perception with regular night vision, so if you wanted to use one of these high tech low light optics you should consider what you’re trying to see and what the conditions are likely to be.

Personally, I’m a big fan of the L3 Thermal Eye X200XP Thermal Imager. It’s the next generation of an L3 Thermal Eye model used extensively in Afghanistan and Iraq. The X200XP minimizes the effects of bloom (overly bright spots from really hot spots) and can detect human activity up to 1500 feet away! It’s the perfect tool for enhancing your situational awareness when it counts most.