Maritime fencesU.S. constructing $4.3M maritime fence to stop smugglers

To prevent drug traffickers and human smugglers from entering the United States via boat, border authorities are constructinga steel and concrete barrier 300 feet out into the Pacific Ocean just south of San Diego.

The new maritime fence will cost $4.3 million to build and replaces an aging line of rusted and uneven posts.

“It was falling apart, it was out of alignment, it looked like a bad set of teeth,” said Ralph DeSio, a spokesman for Customs and Border Protection, in reference to the old ocean fence.

“This is going to be much more aesthetically appealing to that area, but it also strengthens our abilities to prevent those dangerous smuggling attempts along that shoreline,” DeSio added.

When completed the new fence will stand at eighteen feet tall and will sport a special coat of protectants to help make it more resilient to the salty Pacific Ocean with its punishing waves. According to DeSio, the concrete and steel barrier will last for an estimated thirty years.

In recent years, an increasing number of traffickers and immigrants have sought to enter the United States by slipping through the old barrier.

In 2009 two smugglers were caught trying to swim through the fence with marijuana bundles piled high atop a surfboard. Meanwhile, last February, two illegal immigrants in wet suits were caught with self-propelled underwater dive scooters.

Drug traffickers have also increasingly taken to trying to smuggle narcotics in open-topped fishing boats, travelling as far as Los Angeles and Santa Barbara. Since last October, there have been fourteen such incidents.

The new barrier is expected to be completed by March.