Have 'Weapons of Mass Effect' Been Found in San Diego? 'Yes

A curious interview by a local San Diego news station has some people wondering if terrorists are sneaking "weapons of mass effect" (WMEs) into the country through the sunny city's ports. And while the idea may seem implausible, statements made by a port official, and the attempt by a public affairs official to direct his answer, appear to suggest WMEs have been found in San Diego.

While local ABC affiliate KGTV (ABC 10) was investigating San Diego port security last week, the news station interviewed Al Hallor, the assistant port director and an officer with Customs and Border Protection (CBP). During the conversation, reporter Mitch Blacher asked if Hallor's office had ever found any WMEs in San Diego. Hallor admitted that while such devices have not been found at the port of San Diego, they have been found.

But almost immediately after giving that answer, Hallor and Blacher were interrupted by a public affairs official from CBP, forcing Hallor to try and clarify his answer. Still, the clarification was telling:

After the interview, CBP issued a statement regarding Hallor's answer. But the statement doesn't clarify as much as appear to cover up, and only addresses nuclear devices:

CBP has not specifically had any incidents with nuclear devices or nuclear materials at our ports of entry. CBP is an all-threats agency. The purpose of many security measures is to prevent threats from ever materializing by being prepared for them. And, we must be prepared to stop threats in whatever form they do materialize at the border, whether it’s an individual or cargo arriving by land, air, or sea. Regardless of what the contraband or threat is, we’re being smart, evaluating, and focusing in on anything or anyone that is potentially high-risk.

We were able to show you first-hand one example of how we evaluate segment risk, inspect, etc. in the cargo environment by air and sea here in San Diego. This is one portion of the CBP mission, and hopefully gives you some examples of how much has evolved in the past decade, with the new technologies we have at our disposal. This, coupled with document requirements at the border, advanced passenger and cargo information, better information sharing, and many other measures help us to secure the border - and each measure doesn’t work individually or in a vacuum, but rather in the layered security that we were able to demonstrate one facet of.

(H/T: Gateway Pundit)