Border Patrol conducts largest tactical operation in its history

NEW ORLEANS--The Border Patrol conducted the largest tactical operation in its history on Sept. 5 after Hurricane Katrina hit in support of local law enforcement, officials said.

The operation consisted of flying Blackhawk helicopters loaded with elite agents into the city in order to secure a perimeter for 24 hours, all without any rehearsal.

With local law enforcement personnel and resources severely depleted because of the storm and subsequent flooding, the New Orleans Police Department asked the Customs and Border Protection bureau to help secure the city's second and fifth districts, where gunshots had been heard.

The Border Patrol's tactical unit took the mission, said Charles Sears, who is executive officer for the agency's hurricane relief operations and a Border Patrol Tactical Unit agent.

"A single car with two officers in it is hardly prepared to deal with guerrilla-style warfare and being shot at from different locations," he said.

Within six hours, the agency had assembled a team of 87 agents from BORTAC and SWAT units, five Blackhawk helicopters and 20 vehicles.

The Blackhawks took off from CBP's air and marine operations center in Hammond, La., which had been converted into a forward operating command post for all CBP hurricane relief efforts.

The Blackhawks picked up agents in Baton Rouge and flew them to two different landing zones in the city, where other agents with Border Patrol vehicles were waiting.

"It was an absolute textbook case of the deployment of assets," Sears said.

The operation ended without incident; no gunshots were fired at the agents and they did not encounter any resistance.

"We wanted to deploy enough assets to be self-sustaining for 24 hours and move in with a show of force," Sears said. "We believed that if we deployed, in two different locations, a large contingent of well-trained and armed agents, that we would get the upper hand."

The operation was one example of how federal law enforcement agencies have responded to assist local law enforcement, both in New Orleans and the surrounding parishes, since Hurricane Katrina struck.

Sears said the operation also represents what kind of capability CBP will have when it officially reorganizes its air operations on Oct. 1. On that date, CBP's Air and Marine Organization and Border Patrol aviation assets will become CBP Air, one force to support all operations.