‘Smoke bomb’ closes U.S. border crossing

By Joseph Cyr
Staff Writer
    HOULTON — Motorists looking to cross the border Sunday evening were detained for nearly two hours after customs officials found an individual trying to bring a home-made “smoke bomb” into the United States.
    At approximately 3:30 p.m., a 22-year-old Canadian citizen, whose name was not released, arrived at the Houlton port of entry looking to cross into the United States. During the course of an inspection a Customs and Border Patrol officer discovered a suspicious device in the trunk of the man’s vehicle that resembled a homemade bomb.
    “With the assistance of local, state, federal and international partners, the port and the border remained secure at all times and was allowed to resume normal traffic operations at approximately 6 p.m.,” said Michelle Benson-Fuller, public affairs specialist with Customs and Border Patrol. “Due to the training and vigilance by CBP officers, immediate action was taken to isolate the suspicious device and establish a perimeter for the safety of individuals in the area. Subsequently, the individual was secured and detained, and all local, state, federal and international partners were notified of the situation.”
    Benson said for the safety of the traveling public, all north and southbound traffic was rerouted to nearby ports of entry with the assistance of the U.S. Border Patrol, Houlton Police Department, Houlton Fire Department, Canadian Border Services Agency, the Royal Canadian Mounted Police and Brunway. Staffing levels at the alternate ports were in place to process the increase in traffic as expeditiously as possible.
    At approximately 5 p.m., the Maine State Police Bomb technician arrived at the Houlton port to assess the suspicious device. Using a water cannon, the device was rendered safe at 5:42 p.m. and by 5:49 p.m. CBP was cleared to resume normal traffic operations at the Houlton port. A bomb technician also searched the individual’s vehicle with a canine trained to sniff out explosives. That search produced negative results.
    Further investigations by CBP, local, state and federal agencies determined the suspicious device to be a homemade smoke bomb that was constructed by the individual, Benson-Fuller said. The individual was summonsed for misdemeanor transportation of fireworks, and assessed a $500 penalty for one gram of marijuana that was also discovered and seized during the inspection process. Subsequently, the individual was refused entry and returned to Canada.
    “With the assistance of our local, state, federal and international partners, the port and the border remained secure at all times during this ordeal,” Benson said. “Normal operations resumed at approximately 8 p.m.”
    “Our primary focus was the safety of our employees, the public and securing our border,” said Port Director Chris Sullivan. “Due to the rapid response of our officers and our law enforcement partners, we were able to accomplish all three and we were able to resume normal operations as quickly as possible.”
    Sullivan further added, “I commend everyone involved for bringing this situation to a timely resolution and personally thank the traveling public for their patience and support during this incident.”
    For information on port hours and wait times, please visit the CBP Border Wait Times website (http://apps.cbp.gov/bwt/).