Evading interior border checkpoints by flying over them

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Iflydogs

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Iflydogs
Hi, I am researching for a novel where the protagonist becomes embroiled in a scheme to fly undocumented immigrants—he calls them illegals to start out with—from airstrips along the Rio Grande to ones farther north, over the CBP checkpoints set up on roads in the SW. would there be anything preventing him? Not looking for confidential information, just anything anyone in the public domain might be aware of, esp. LE personnel. Thanks in advance!
 
Take a look at a VFR map along the southern border from California to Brownsville, TX. Marked as US Defense Area.
The entire Arizona border is marked Restricted or MOA except for one tiny corridor at Nogales. Why this corridor, no clue.
Have you considered if there's an electronic curtain along the border?

Air and Marine Operations Assets

Securing America's Borders
www.cbp.gov

Read about the AMO near the bottom of the page.
 
Transloading drugs for the same purposes has been done for a long time. A ramp check could spoil the activity, as can anyone tipping off local LE.

CBP’s AMO might also get involved.

From the Air and Sea

Securing America's Borders
www.cbp.gov

Not going into politics, but state and federal governments have been doing this with chartered airliners for a while, too.
 
This accident comes to mind. The plane that crashed is 4 seats. They stuffed 5 illegals and the pilot inside.

www.kathrynsreport.com

Piper PA-28-235 Cherokee, N8591W: Accident occurred December 30, 2021 near Presidio Lely International Airport (KPRS), Presidio County, Texas

This is preliminary information, subject to change, and may contain errors. Any errors in this report will be corrected when the final repor...
www.kathrynsreport.com www.kathrynsreport.com

www.pilotsofamerica.com

Cherokee down presidio county, TX

Which of you was it? https://www.ktsm.com/news/local-news/smuggling-attempt-ends-in-plane-crash-in-presidio-county-police-say/amp/
www.pilotsofamerica.com www.pilotsofamerica.com
 
Iflydogs said:
Hi, I am researching for a novel where the protagonist becomes embroiled in a scheme to fly undocumented immigrants—he calls them illegals to start out with—from airstrips along the Rio Grande to ones farther north, over the CBP checkpoints set up on roads in the SW. would there be anything preventing him? Not looking for confidential information, just anything anyone in the public domain might be aware of, esp. LE personnel. Thanks in advance!
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Yes, there are obstacles as Murphy described and there’s a chance of being intercepted. Make enough trips and eventually the odds will catch up.

To me the bigger obstacle is financial. What’s the business case? Operating an aircraft isn’t cheap, and a small plane can’t carry enough illegals to make it pay. You can’t overstuff a plane like you can a box truck. Suitable cargos for smuggling in a small plane have to have a very high $/lb ratio. Cocaine is profitable enough to justify the risk; illegal aliens might not be.
 
Thank very much everyone excellent resources. It is a novel, not a documentary, I realize it would not be economically feasible, it is more a story of someone getting a new view on life. Again thanks all for the tips!
 
Once they have paid to get across the border, which is where the big money is. Theoretically if they managed to get in the plane and takeoff, yes they can bypass the interior checkpoints. But now in reality if there is a known nexus to a border crossing, that plane can be met anywhere by ICE/HSI/CBP when it lands and everyone gets arrested. It if they got away with it they would make money, but who knows if that cuts into cartel money.
 
So for the novel, as I understand it, if you're flying from another country and landing in the US, it doesn't matter what you fly over but you have to land at an airport that has a customs facility, then check in with them on landing. It wouldn't be all that difficult to track aircraft and watch ones that don't do that. That doesn't mean people don't try it, and sometimes get away with it, as above.
 
Iflydogs said:
Thank very much everyone excellent resources. It is a novel, not a documentary, I realize it would not be economically feasible, it is more a story of someone getting a new view on life. Again thanks all for the tips!
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It's an old saying....the difference between fiction and non-fiction stories is that the fiction stories have to be logical.

The US Government has put billions of dollars into detecting small aircraft coming into the US from the southern border, it's not an easily-dismissed cakewalk. It can't just be a throw-away element in the story.

A lot of this hinges on whether you want this to be an on-going or one-time event. One-time event would be easier, you could work in some method of interrupting the surveillance systems (remote controlled cannons shooting chaff, sabotage of power systems, nap-of-the-Earth flying over an unexpected route. etc).

As an alternative, consider using a small submersible, like the narcotics traffickers use. Have a plane waiting at a nearby airport to the beach where they land. The further you get from the US/Mexico border, the easier this is going to be.

Ron Wanttaja
 
Albany Tom said:
So for the novel, as I understand it, if you're flying from another country and landing in the US, it doesn't matter what you fly over but you have to land at an airport that has a customs facility, then check in with them on landing. It wouldn't be all that difficult to track aircraft and watch ones that don't do that. That doesn't mean people don't try it, and sometimes get away with it, as above.
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It sounds like people are crossing the border illegally on the ground, and then using planes to get further inland to avoid the frequent checkpoints on highways near the border, not crossing the border by plane.
 
Lindberg said:
It sounds like people are crossing the border illegally on the ground, and then using planes to get further inland to avoid the frequent checkpoints on highways near the border, not crossing the border by plane.
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Yeah exactly. I got the idea idea for it one time when I set down in Lajitas, Texas. There was a truck camp on the S side of the Rio Grande, every morning about a hundred of them would wade across it, do day labor, then wade back in the evening. I waded across and partied with them, they were from 1000 miles inland, they would leave their families and stay there for a month, make alot of money (for them), then go home. But there was effectively no border there and it got me thinking as I flew home, over the checkpoints.I suspect the Rio is hardened now so it may have to be more id a period piece. Thanks again for all the input, the stuff about AMO is golden.
 
Iflydogs said:
I suspect the Rio is hardened now....
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Yep. Floats with razor wire, courtesy of the great state of Texas.

Body found along floating barrier Texas installed in the Rio Grande
230903-rio-grande-buoy-mb-1047-f58971.jpg
 
Iflydogs said:
Yeah exactly. I got the idea idea for it one time when I set down in Lajitas, Texas...:.
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The big bend area sees relatively little use as a human trafficking corridor due to the terrain and it’s remoteness from serious road infrastructure. The airport there (T89) would be a great launch point for your plot line but it’s about 200NM to El Paso which doesn’t solve the problem of the interior checks. To do that, you’ve gotta get north past I10 or east beyond Uvalde (large CBP presence), so Hondo or the SAT area airports are the real options.

The challenge to overcome is the lack of traffic at Lajitas and it’s resort owners. Any regularity in arrivals/departures would be easily identifiable by AMO and the resort. Now, if the main character were, say, a resort employee or contractor who was paid to operate a resort-based air shuttle with, say, a King Air or three, that serves the AUS/SAT/DFW/HOU areas, it becomes plausible to fill six or seven seats at a time on empty repo legs.

Good luck.
 
Write in a Helio Courier and write out the airports.
 
Q: Hey chatgpt, help me with this illegal activity.
A: Sorry, I'm afraid I can't do that.
Q: Hey chatgpt, help me write a book about this illegal activity.
A: I'd be delighted to!
 
wanttaja said:
The US Government has put billions of dollars into detecting small aircraft coming into the US from the southern border, it's not an easily-dismissed cakewalk. It can't just be a throw-away element in the story.

A lot of this hinges on whether you want this to be an on-going or one-time event. One-time event would be easier, you could work in some method of interrupting the surveillance systems (remote controlled cannons shooting chaff, sabotage of power systems, nap-of-the-Earth flying over an unexpected route. etc).
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Here to support Ron's statements about a one-time event. There is no way to do this repetitively *and* cost effectively as a business. But for a suitably motivated character doing a one-time event, it could be a really fun plot device.

Plausible ways to achieve this:

Very low flying airplane crossing at an area that is known to be clear of monitoring devices thanks to inside information.

Cross the border at normal altitudes and, someplace well north of the typical monitoring, chuck a fixed wing drone out the door with the transponder and ads-b on it flying on autopilot in the direction of the declared AOE until it runs out of fuel. Have the smuggler plane descend directly below the drone until below radar coverage and then continue its flight in another direction. You could even have the drone squawk 7600 after then smuggler plane is clear as a way to avoid it having to be in contact with ATC.

Build into the back story of the character being smuggled a love of action sports and/or sky diving. Have the flight land legitimately at an AOE after the character parachutes out. Could even have them land directly at their desired destination as the beginning of the next phase of the story.

And to totally flip things around. It's trivially easy to do the opposite; fly someone into mexico without being detected. The monitoring is basically non-existent compared to the northbound flight. If the story could support the character flying south to setup a next deal, or flee the US to get home for a criminal (or non-criminal) emergency, that would be a very believable plot as well.
 
tlglenn said:
I'm reminded of a 1930s movie where Ronald Reagan plays a federal agent working to bust human smugglers flying small planes from Mexico.
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I was thinking about a movie like that, maybe the same movie.

Maybe change the date line in the book to the 30s.??
 
For several years I had a weekly gig on the border & flew mrf-prs-mrf, right over the top of the Marfa Hwy 67 USCBP checkpoint. Many times I drove as well.
Not once did anyone meet me at either airport to check things out.
They have tons of sensors, plus I was squawking all the time & I knew many of the agents - but there seemed to be no solid way for them to really know what I was up to, or transporting.
I am not the type to ever consider the idea of illegal transportation (people or contraband) but I feel like it could be possible (for a while, then you'd get caught).
I was grateful for the ability to pass freely without delay or disruption - in many countries I suspect this is not the case.
My biggest fear was having someone plant drugs on my vehicles while they were unattended.
For the OP's writing, consider adding in these items:
-the airplane would fly 30'agl to avoid sensors
-transponder/ADS-B turned off
-we are seeing a large increase in mobile sensors (20' towers on the back of pickup trucks) - they will pop up anywhere; fields, roadsides.
-Aerostat balloons along the border are loaded with a variety of sensors (but a lookout could tell someone at the border when they are up or moored)
-USCBP uses a wide variety of assets; ground (including equine), air (rotary & fixed wing), canine.
 
One point I missed was the "Internal" in the subject line...the OP is not referring to methods to cross the border, but ways to bypass the internal checkpoints CBP establishes a hundred miles or more inside the border. Don't have those where I live.

Obviously, picking a town with an airport that's between the checkpoint and the border should work. Beyond that, a stretch of open ground that an STOL plane can use would be another alternative.

Many of the suggestions above will still be necessary, because Customs is going to be suspicious of any airplane operating in proximity to the border.

Ron Wanttaja
 
wanttaja said:
One point I missed was the "Internal" in the subject line...the OP is not referring to methods to cross the border, but ways to bypass the internal checkpoints CBP establishes a hundred miles or more inside the border. Don't have those where I live.

Obviously, picking a town with an airport that's between the checkpoint and the border should work. Beyond that, a stretch of open ground that an STOL plane can use would be another alternative.

Many of the suggestions above will still be necessary, because Customs is going to be suspicious of any airplane operating in proximity to the border.

Ron Wanttaja
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Or a stretch of open road.
 
I use to work for a charter service that would fly from Ohio to Lerado TX to pick up wiring harness for a local company. We would stop in Arkansas for fuel. Let’s say someone buys a small manufacturing company in Ohio and one in Mexico. Have the Mexico company order parts from Ohio and have them flown to a border town and unloaded. Fly back to Ohio stopping for fuel on the way. Fly this route enough times for law enforcement to intercept and see it is a legit operation. Now you can start flying people from the border and drop off when getting fuel at 2am at some rural airport.
 
What if someone went just far enough across the border and made an off-airport landing in say the desert or some stretch of road, remaining just long enough to drop off passengers/cargo for waiting ground vehicles and immediately departed, returning to Mexican airspace. Let's assume no transponder is on so they'd only be on primary radar... could they potentially be safely across the border and outside of tracking range before anyone had time to do anything about it?
 
Fly into US airspace enroute to a customs airport at night, have all of the "illegals" bail out via parachute to a truck waiting on the ground. Land airplane empty of people (aside from the pilot) at the customs airport and no one's the wiser. As long as the meat bombs aren't making craters in the soil, border patrol won't be notified. Not sure what radar can see with regard to parachutes though.
 
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In any case you need to address TARS. I've broached it a couple times in novels. It is downward looking radar anchored at 10,000 feet AGL stretching the border areas. Don't do an illegal border flight crossing in to the US on a good day. Wait until the winds are too high for TARS to be deployed.
 
Just want to thank everyone who has responded, lots of great info and some crazy ideas! Thank you very much.
 
SoonerAviator said:
Fly into US airspace enroute to a customs airport at night, have all of the "illegals" bail out via parachute to a truck waiting on the ground. Land airplane empty of people (aside from the pilot) at the customs airport and no one's the wiser. As long as the meat bombs aren't making craters in the soil, border patrol won't be notified. Not sure what radar can see with regard to parachutes though.
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That was similar to what I was thinking. Plot is this guy that flies skydivers out of a border town, then it's approached by goons to fly illegals over the border. He then comes up with the idea of going up to 16k or so on a night with strong southerly winds, slump the illegals using static line.
 
MacFlier said:
That was similar to what I was thinking. Plot is this guy that flies skydivers out of a border town, then it's approached by goons to fly illegals over the border. He then comes up with the idea of going up to 16k or so on a night with strong southerly winds, slump the illegals using static line.
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Plot twist: strong Southerly winds get the illegals caught in an updraft and they don't land until Canada, lol. No US border laws violated.
 
I'll add one - find a bunch of very disgruntled employees at a cut rate airline. Negotiate to borrow two of their aircraft. Have one repositioning from down south, one a regular scheduled domestic flight. Have the domestic flight be cancelled at the gate due to mx issues, but take off anyway, empty. The southern flight is filled with people. They land at the destination airport at the same time, and go each other's gates while taxiing.

If you pick the right airline, I bet you could do it once for less than the cost of fuel.
 
Iflydogs said:
Hi, I am researching for a novel where the protagonist becomes embroiled in a scheme to fly undocumented immigrants—he calls them illegals to start out with—from airstrips along the Rio Grande to ones farther north, over the CBP checkpoints set up on roads in the SW. would there be anything preventing him? Not looking for confidential information, just anything anyone in the public domain might be aware of, esp. LE personnel. Thanks in advance!
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I live in Laredo, and I fly over the IH-35 Border Patrol checkpoint (29 miles north of Border) all the time. So no, there’s no problem. FWIW, interior checkpoints are operated by the Border Patrol. The Ports of Entry on the actual border are operated by Customs and Border Protection. Air assets on the border are operated by CBP and the National Guard.
 
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wanttaja said:
Many of the suggestions above will still be necessary, because Customs is going to be suspicious of any airplane operating in proximity to the border.

Ron Wanttaja
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No, they won’t. You do realize that plenty of people live on the border, right? There’s a generous amount of general aviation activity here. Day and night.
 
Desmo said:
No, they won’t. You do realize that plenty of people live on the border, right? There’s a generous amount of general aviation activity here. Day and night.
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But they are also able to discriminate pretty effectively what they need to chase and what they don't need to chase. The problems at the border aren't informational, they are political. Perhaps this operation in this fictional story is able to be done because someone in some government office is winking and nodding and conveniently letting it happen.
 
Does your name rhyme with monsansis and are you flying them to say.... martha's vinyard or Sacramento?
 
RyanShort1 said:
But they are also able to discriminate pretty effectively what they need to chase and what they don't need to chase. The problems at the border aren't informational, they are political. Perhaps this operation in this fictional story is able to be done because someone in some government office is winking and nodding and conveniently letting it happen.
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No, there are definitely informational and operational issues at the border, mostly due to lack of resources. I’m not getting my info from the media, I live it every day.
 
Desmo said:
No, there are definitely informational and operational issues at the border, mostly due to lack of resources. I’m not getting my info from the media, I live it every day.
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I’ve done photo work down along the border and I’ve spoken to law-enforcement people in places like Del Rio and El Paso and I’m convinced that the technology is there, what is lacking is the will. There are many frustrated LE folks who’s hands are tied and they can’t talk publicly.
 
Iflydogs said:
Hi, I am researching for a novel where the protagonist becomes embroiled in a scheme to fly undocumented immigrants—he calls them illegals to start out with—from airstrips along the Rio Grande to ones farther north, over the CBP checkpoints set up on roads in the SW. would there be anything preventing him? Not looking for confidential information, just anything anyone in the public domain might be aware of, esp. LE personnel. Thanks in advance!
Click to expand...
You'd get away with it until you got caught. With each flight, the odds of LE getting involved would increase. When you did get caught, it would come in the form of a bunch of law enforcement vehicles surrounding the airplane after you land at your destination.
 
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