User:Greg Schulte/sandbox/US Customs Patrol

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The US Customs Patrol was a unit of the United States Treasury Department that existed from 1855 to 1860, from 1885 to 1948, and from 1971 to 1985. Officers were known variously as "Line Riders", "Mounted Inspectors", "Customs Border Patrol Officers" and "Customs Patrol Officers." The US Customs Patrol was originally created to patrol the US-Mexico border in Texas after the Mexican War of 1846-1848. The main responsibility of the "Line Riders" was to keep Mexican cattle from being smuggled into Texas and sold in competition with US cattle. Collectors of US Customs in Texas were empowered to hired local cowboys and pay them a daily wage to patrol the border. The Line Riders had to provide their own horse and firearms. They were not uniformed but carried a commission from the collector empowering them to enforce applicable customs laws. The Civil war ended the first Customs Patrol.

Re-established in 1885, the Line Riders were again tasked with keeping out Mexican cattle. To that was added the responsibility for keeping out smuggled Mexican cigars and alcohol. Since there was no immigration patrol force at the time, responsibly was given to the Line Riders to apprehend Chinese aliens who had entered Mexico by ship and were attempting to illegally enter the United States. By the turn of the 20th century this function was taken over by the US Immigration Service, eventually morphing into the United States Border Patrol in 1924.

The enactment of Prohibition in 1920 assigned greatly increased responsibilities to the US Customs Service, which was renamed the Bureau of Customs in 1927. The Harrison Narcotic Act of 1914 also made the importation of opium, heroin and cocaine illegal. Customs Patrol units were established on the Canadian border and in Florida for the first time to intercept "rum runners" and attempt to keep smuggled alcohol from entering the United States. After the US Border Patrol was established in 1924 the two by then uniformed units worked side by side. Customs Patrol Officers were tasked with keeping out all contraband such as alcohol and narcotics. The Border Patrol Inspectors were assigned to keep out illegal aliens. When Prohibition ended in 1933 the Customs Patrol switched to keeping narcotics from crossing the border. During World War II several former Customs Patrol Officers such as Carl Eiffler and Lee Echols joined the Office of Strategic Services (OSS) and became some of American's best intelligence officers. They were valuable to the OSS because they knew how to operate outdoors in tough conditions, how to develop informants, evaluate information and take independent action.

In a cost cutting measure in 1947 the Customs Patrol was merged into the Customs Agency Service, the investigative arm of the Bureau of Customs. In 1971 the Customs Patrol was re-established on the borders in reaction to the great increase in marijuana smuggling from Mexico. Customs Patrol Officers wore dark blue uniforms with a US Customs patch on their left shoulder, a federal badge on their chest, and black gun belt, carried Smith and Wesson .357 magnum revolvers, and drove blue and white marked patrol cars. Air and marine enforcement units used aircraft and vessels to patrol the skies and seas around the US in an effort to interdict contraband. The third revival of the Customs Patrol was disestablished in 1985 and most Customs Patrol Officers became Special Agents of the Office of Investigations of the US Customs Service. For the first part of its existence, the Customs Patrol was the only force guarding the land borders of the United States. The Revenue Cutter Service, later renamed the US Coast Guard, had been on duty since 1798 to guard America's coastline.

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