Border agents begin inspecting U.S.-bound trucks in Mexico

TIJUANA, Mexico – U.S. authorities began working Tuesday on Mexican soil for the first time to inspect trucks bound from Tijuana to the United States as part of a new enforcement program intended to reduce congestion and speed cargo across one of the nation’s busiest border crossings.

The joint inspections by U.S. and Mexican officials were launched after Mexican lawmakers overcame resistance and approved changes to the country’s firearms law to permit foreign customs and immigration officials to be armed on the job.

“The benefit is very simple – avoid double inspection,” Mexican Treasury Secretary Luis Videgaray said at the joint facility in Tijuana’s Mesa de Otay section, a few blocks from the crossing.

Inspections by U.S. officials initially will be limited to agricultural products deemed low risk for carrying pests or disease.

Truckers arriving at the former electronics plant stop at separate windows staffed by Mexican and U.S. inspectors who decide if they must pull aside to have cargo scanned. If cleared, they can drive through a walled area into San Diego.

In October, Mexican officials began inspecting Mexico-bound electronics, automotive and aerospace parts alongside U.S. counterparts at Laredo International Airport in Texas.

Later this year, U.S. authorities plan to begin inspecting trucks of U.S.-bound computers in San Jeronimo in the Mexican state of Chihuahua, near the border cities of Ciudad Juarez and El Paso, Texas.

Cargo has long been inspected in the U.S. and in Mexico – an exercise that can take several hours. The new “pre-inspection” facilities effectively meld two stops into one.