Customs and Border Protection (CBP) is in the process of creating a program office for tunnel detection technology but the agency still needs to show how it will consider the needs of another Homeland Security agency with responsibility for illegal cross border tunnel activity and complete the proper documentation, the Department of Homeland Security Inspector General says in a recent report.

Since 2008, CBP has been exploring potential technologies that can detect illicit tunnels, first through market research of commercial technologies and currently through pilot projects to evaluate commercial and Defense Department technologies. The market research didn’t turn up any technologies that meet the agency’s needs and the pilot programs are ongoing, the IG says in its report, CBP’s Strategy to Address Illicit Cross-Border Tunnels (OIG-12-132).

Even if the pilot projects result in suitable technology, the existing CBP tunnel detection program does not factor in the needs of another DHS agency, Immigration and Customs Enforcement, whose Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) office has responsibility for investigating individuals and criminal organizations engaged in illegal tunneling activity, the IG says.

“If the program does not take into account the needs of both components, there is an increased risk of not achieving the Department’s goal of disrupting criminal organizations that engage in cross-border smuggling,” the report says. It adds that CBP’s use of detection technology can’t interfere with HSI’s investigative efforts.

As for the documentation that DHS requires, only a draft Mission Needs Statement (MNS) has been prepared. The MNS identifies CBP’s needs and capability gaps aren’t required to consider interdependencies of other components, such as HSI, which need to be addressed, the IG says.

An Analysis of Alternatives also hasn’t been prepared but CBP has contracted for a study that is expected to be completed during the summer of 2013 with a final completion date of next September, the IG says. An Integrated Product Team led by CBP and consisting of representatives from HSI, Border Patrol, the DHS Science and Technology branch and other stakeholders also plans to draft a Concept of Operations document that will describe how any acquired technology will be used, the report says.

The use of cross-border tunnels, which are primarily for drug smuggling, has risen dramatically since 2008, the IG says. Since 1990, more than 140 tunnels have been found, with an 80 percent increase in tunneling activity since 2008, it says.

Without a capability to detect tunnels, criminals may continue to build them, the IG warns.

Given that the illegal tunnels are a DHS issue and that strategies to combat their use need to be developed jointly, the department needs to ensure it designates an authority on these strategic decisions, the report says. The IG suggests that the DHS Under Secretary of Management determine this authority but that office believes it is the Office of Policy that should be responsible for addressing this matter, according to the report.