Naval Criminal Investigative Service (NCIS), the “FBI“ for the United States Armed Forces, is a vital part of law enforcement and locating illegal substances being transported in the Middle East. They find themselves active involved in tasks like contraband detection and counter piracy on a daily basis. These agents are based out of the NCIS office near the Red Sea and help pursue piracy and those involved in transporting illegal drugs or other contraband both on sea as well as on land.
The team expects to be involved in a variety of tasks. These agents are responsible for knowing how to do everything. They may be chasing drug smugglers off the coast of Pakistan one day and then debriefing those who have been victims of Somali pirates the next day. They can be found doing a board-and-search mission one day and the next day they may be briefing diplomats on their findings. They are a truly talented group of agents.
Many people think piracy ended in the early- to mid-1800s, but the fact is piracy began again in 2005 when the Somali Civil War caused many to become pirates. The new breed of pirate began raiding the busiest shipping lanes where ships were transporting goods through the Suez Canal to India.
Today’s piracy doesn’t differ that much from that of old, however it is now more terrorism and strong-armed robbery than in the past. Countering this type of piracy means there must be rapid, multi-national and multi-agency response to it. NCIS serves as the law enforcement advisors to the task force in the region which was created in 2008.
Since the task force was created, they have patrolled over 2 million square miles. These include the waters in the Gulf of Aden, the Indian Ocean, the Red Sea and the Arabian Sea. The mission of the task force is very much like that of previous task force which was used to provide maritime security operations.
When the agents board a ship suspected of piracy or smuggling, they use equipment designed and manufactured by Campbell/Harris Security Equipment Company (CSECO) to interdict drugs in the Arabian Sea and Indian Ocean. The agents use equipment such as the Buster Contraband Detector and Density Meter, FV Series Fiberscope and the new Perfect Vision V20 Videoscope Inspection System. They may also use the PN-Series Inspection Probe Kit, Leica Laser Range Meter® or the PM-10 Extension Inspection Mirror with High intensity Flashlight.
CSECO is proud to be able to supply the some of the contraband detection equipment used by these agents. The agents have seized 15 tons of narcotics since their mission started in May 2012.
