Just 100 yards or so north of the Mexican border, we stand in the middle of southbound lanes on the I-5 freeway. Here agents from Customs and Border Protection along with ICE agents are conducting a random outbound operation. The idea is to grab any guns or cash headed south to fuel the Mexican drug cartels and ongoing brutal war.

Like millions of Americans, I have come to this port of entry in San Ysidro (the largest in the world) several times as a kid with my family intent on a day of being a tourist south of the border. For many, those days are now gone as violence steals the fun of buying cheap curios and enjoying Mexican culture in this historic border city.

When officers run one of these outbound, or southbound operations, they literally have to walk into southbound traffic and stop cars on foot. There are no barriers to speak of and no checkpoints on the American side to protect those tasked with protecting our borders. This lack of security worries the San Ysidro Port Director Oscar Preciado.

As he talks with us, he glances over his shoulder at the operation and notes there’s not much there to protect his men and women standing in the street. Sure the cars have now backed up as the operation begins, but if one was to make a run for it, there’s little to stop a driver other than a body.

These searches only happen periodically because of a lack of infrastructure and manpower. Agents number one priority is stopping the flow of drugs and possible threats to our national security heading northward. As Oscar says, “If we had the resources we would like to be here 7-24, you know, the resources, the infrastructure, but we don’t so we need to be unpredictable. We need to try to catch them off guard, come in, hit them hard, then pull back and do that off and on.”

In the last two months, the situation has gotten a tad better with the introduction of Mexican troops now somewhat patrolling the Mexican side of this checkpoint. Both the Americans and our their Mexican colleagues want to stop money and guns and there has been some success. President Calderon and his supporters have to be excited about the possibility of more help now pledged by the Obama administration. More money spent here and more eyes will certainly help stem some of the flow.

As this operation approaches 20 minutes in length, agents also have to deal with spotters. People who will line the last overpass (or first overpass depending how you look at it)  and surrounding buildings and call smugglers using their cell phones warning on both sides of the border about this operation and random checkpoint. As soon as the operations ends, the phones are again in use.

Just a few feet to the east, ongoing northbound operations continue. The checkpoints coming into the states are huge and soon will be expanded even more. An SUV and a car are quickly pulled aside after a drug dog gets a hit. Inside pound after pound of marijuana is pulled out of door panels, spare tires, anywhere it can be stuffed. Within seconds a field test reveals that it is dope.

This is a slow day actually down here. A chess game with multiple players and multiple boards. The common line in the sand, the U.S. Mexico border once welcome to tourists, now all but a warning of ongoing threats a few feet to its south.