Protectors of Independence Since 1789 

Protectors of Independence 

The story of the United States Customs Service is the story of America itself. In 

1789, the Congress of a new and almost bankrupt democracy looked to a fledgling corps 

of Customs collectors to locate and collect the funds Congress needed to run the country. 

For the first 125 years of this nation’s history, Customs was the government’s primary 

source of income. When it opened for business, Customs administered 59 ports of entry 

with an annual collection of $2 million dollars. Revenues collected by Customs paid for 

the purchase of the Louisiana and Oregon Territories, Florida and Alaska, for the 

building of the transcontinental railroad and for the construction of the U.S. military and 

naval academies. 

 As foreign trade flows into the U.S. increased, however, so did the flow of 

contraband. From the very beginning, Customs collectors tasked with generating revenue 

were also responsible for enforcing the Tariff Act and other laws that regulated the entry 

of goods into this country. In the years that followed, the Customs mission grew broader, 

and given the scope of their duties and enforcement authority, Customs collectors became 

important figures. Today, the more than 20,000 men and women who fill the Service’s 

ranks are at work on our borders and beyond, employing state-of-the-art technologies and 

techniques to shield America from contraband and terrorism at home, and partnering with 

foreign governments and Customs organizations around the world to build the border 

regimes we need to ensure security and the free flow of trade. 

How an organization created in 1789 to collect revenue generated by “tariffs and 

tonnage” has become a frontline agency in the war against drugs and terrorism — as well 

as a world-class servicer of free trade —is a story worth telling. How Customs plans to 

meet future challenges, to work productively with its constituents in the U.S., and to 

reach out to its counterparts abroad is a story that’s still being written. The challenges 

facing Customs in the 21st century are very different from the ones that confronted James 

Madison, who first proposed the agency’s creation, or Alexander Hamilton, who headed 

the first Treasury Department. What hasn’t changed is the sense of purpose that Customs 

continues to bring to its mission or the agility with which the agency approaches new 

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tasks and growing responsibilities. After more than 200 years of operation, the men and 

women of the United States Customs Service remain the nation’s protectors of 

independence, a corps of highly trained and skilled professionals who stand ready 24 

hours a day, 365 days a year in defense of the right to “life, liberty, and the pursuit of 

happiness.” 

 

The Collection of Revenue 

The 1st Congress of the United States lost no time in creating revenue-producing 

legislation — the Tariff Act of July 4, 1789. The Act, which established a tariff and a 

system for collecting duties, was hailed by the press of the day as a “second Declaration 

of Independence” — that’s how important the legislation was to the public and their 

elected representatives. On July 31, 1789, officials in Washington established the first 

Customs districts and ports of entry. They created the process by which Customs officers 

would be selected and their duties established. 

The first vessel to arrive at the port of New York under the new Customs law was the 

brigantine Persis, from Leghorn (Livorno), Italy, on August 5, 1789. Commanded by 

James Weeks, she was consigned to one James Seton, who paid the first duty ever 

collected by U.S. Customs — $774.71. New York’s Collector of Customs was John 

Lamb, one of the heroes of the wartime capture of Fort Ticonderoga from the British. 

Lamb and other Revolutionary War heroes appointed to Customs positions by President 

Washington were the first in a long line of prominent persons to hold Customs posts: 

Herman Melville, author of Moby Dick, was a Customs officer in New York. Pat Garrett, 

the sheriff who finally caught the infamous outlaw Billy the Kid, held a Customs post in 

El Paso. President Theodore Roosevelt appointed Edwin Arlington Robinson, the 

American poet, to the Customs Service. President William Howard Taft subsequently 

appointed Matthew Henson, who accompanied Admiral Peary on their famous expedition 

to the Arctic in 1909, to the Customs Service. Other famous Customs officials include 

Presidents Ulysses S. Grant and Chester Arthur, and author Nathaniel Hawthorne. 

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During the first year of operation, U.S. Customs collected $2 million dollars in duties. 

Some of this money paid down Revolutionary War debt; other funds were directed 

toward national defense and public works. 

In 1801, Customs revenues paid Barbary pirates a one million-dollar ransom to free 

captured American seamen. (Piracy became Customs province again in 1970, when the 

Service was assigned the responsibility of halting an epidemic of skyjacking.) 

From 1789 until 1913, when Congress passed the first federal income tax law, the 

Customs Service provided the U.S. Government with most of the revenue the government 

needed to meet its operating costs. By 1835, Customs revenues had reduced the national 

debt to zero — no small accomplishment. By 1860, Customs collections accounted for 90 

percent of all the money raised for government operations. 

Revenue from duties and tariffs underwrote America’s rapid expansion as one territory 

after another was added to the original cluster of 13 states. The opening of the West, the 

purchase of the Louisiana and Oregon Territories, the addition of Florida and Alaska, the 

construction of the national road from Cumberland, Maryland, to Wheeling, West 

Virginia; the Lewis and Clark Expedition and the Transcontinental Railroad — all were 

funded by a single agency — U.S. Customs. Customs collections even built the U.S. 

military and naval academies, and the capital city of Washington, D.C. Although the 

Internal Revenue Service provides the government with the bulk of its revenue today, the 

Customs Service continues to supply the treasury with the second-largest amount of 

monies deposited annually in the general fund — approximately $23 billion. 

Regulators and Protectors of Our Borders 

Throughout its history, the Customs Service has been responsible for eliminating 

smuggling, one of its most hazardous assignments. In 1808, when Customs officials were 

trying to stop the smuggling of dress goods along the Vermont-Canada border, merchants 

threatened to kill any Customs collector who attempted to enforce the laws. 

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It was in 1808, as well, that the infamous Black Snake, a ferryboat smeared with tar and 

turned into a smuggling ship, invaded Lake Champlain. For months, the Black Snake, 

manned by a crew of desperados, scorned Customs officers and carried load after load of 

potash across the border from Canada. Determined to put an end to this traffic, U.S. 

officials dispatched the Fly, a 12-oared cutter manned by a committed crew of American 

military men. 

 

On August 2, 1808, one of the officers assigned to the Fly and a group of his men 

boarded the pirate ship. During the ensuing melee, three infantrymen were killed, and a 

lieutenant was severely wounded. In a last determined effort, Sgt. Johnson and a 

detachment of soldiers captured the Black Snake’s crew. All were jailed at Burlington, 

Vermont, and indicted for the killing of three Government officials. Three of the 

crewmembers were found guilty; one, Cyrus B. Dean, was hanged two weeks later. 

When American pioneers moved West, Customs inspectors accompanied the early 

settlers, enforcing U.S. laws and territorial statutes relating to revenues, immigration, and 

smuggling. 

In mountain states along the northern border, primitive enforcement conditions prevailed 

well into the 1920s, easing only with the coming of the automobile and later, aerial 

surveillance.

Mounted Customs officers along the southwest border faced difficult terrain and 

desperate smugglers. Officer Robert Rumsey was one of many killed in the line of duty. 

In 1853, the Secretary of the Treasury authorized the appointment of mounted Customs 

inspectors for the newly created Paso del Norte district. The mounted patrol was 

responsible for 1,900 miles of border along the Gulf of Mexico, the U.S.-Mexican border, 

and the Pacific Ocean. Among these early mounted Customs officers were members of 

the First U.S. Calvary, better known as Teddy Roosevelt’s “Rough Riders.” 

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In the West, where Customs has had a continuing presence since the territory’s 

acquisition, Custom’s officers managed to preserve the San Francisco Customhouse flag 

during the devastating earthquake of 1906. 

With the passage in 1920 of the 18th Amendment — prohibiting the importation, 

possession, and sale of liquor — smuggling in the U.S. reached a new high. 

Criminal gangs known as “bootleggers” worked the borders with boats, trucks, and 

planes. 

Customs countered with seizure after seizure of contraband alcohol. When the 

rumrunners were caught, Customs officers often confiscated their transport vehicles, 

along with the liquor they carried. During prohibition, in fact, the U.S. Customs air 

interdiction fleet consisted wholly of aircraft seized for liquor smuggling. 

First on Many Fronts 

Customs contributions to the nation go far beyond the collection and return of revenue to 

the treasury. It was the Customs Service that taught the fledgling American Government 

how a federal agency should operate. That task fell to it by default: Customs was not only 

the first fully formed agency, but for years, it was far and away the largest. 

By 1792, the Customs workforce totaled nearly 500 people — 80 percent of all Treasury 

employees. The Post Office, the next largest agency, employed only half that number. 

Because Customs had such a large workforce and could be counted on to assume a wide 

array of responsibilities, Congress would turn to it time and again to take charge of the 

nation’s needs. 

When America needed lighthouses, for example, to guide ships safely past treacherous 

shoals, it turned to Customs to build those lighthouses. From 1791 to 1850, Customs 

supervised the construction of more than 300 lighthouses, from the Great Lakes to the 

Gulf of Mexico. 

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When America needed a system to honor the debts owed its Revolutionary War heroes 

and to provide them with pensions, it turned to Customs as the first “veterans 

administration.” When America needed to provide for the relief of sick and disabled 

seamen, it turned to Customs as the first “public health service.” 

When America needed armed revenue cutters to patrol its shores, it turned to Customs to 

direct those ships, making Customs the first “Coast Guard.” When, in 1930, America 

needed to devise a system of “uniform authentic weights and measures,” to ensure for 

merchants and consumers alike that a pound was indeed a pound, it turned to Customs as 

the first “bureau of standards.”

When masses of immigrants began seeking refuge in America, Congress turned to 

Customs to manage the influx. It was the first “Immigration and Naturalization Service.” 

More than 140 years ago, when this country began its first battle against pornography, it 

was the Customs Service that Congress called on to protect the public. More than 100 

years ago, when unscrupulous counterfeiters began to target American-made products, it 

was Customs that first came to the defense of America’s manufacturers. 

Nearly 80 years ago, when drug abuse first showed itself as the corruptive force it is, it 

was Customs who rushed to the frontlines, determined to defend the nation by using its 

people and technology to fight the war on drugs. 

In 2001, after the attack on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon, Customs 

immediately joined forces with law enforcement agencies in the United States, and with 

law enforcement and intelligence organizations around the world to combat global 

terrorism. The Customs mission quickly expanded as Customs officers on the nation’s 

borders, at its ports, and at posts overseas directed the agency’s resources toward counterterrorism and Homeland Security. 

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Today’s Customs Service 

The keyword for the U.S. Customs Service at the dawn of this century is “more.” More 

international travelers, more conveyances, more cargo and, unfortunately, more 

opportunities for those who choose to break our laws. Today’s Customs Service is a 

critical player with a significant responsibility for maintaining national security. Customs 

is tasked with the enforcement of over 400 laws and regulations, many of which are 

enforced on behalf of other Federal agencies. 

Narcotics Interdiction 

Since the 1960s, Customs officials have faced the overwhelming challenge of fighting the 

influx of illegal narcotics into the United States — opium, heroin, hashish, marijuana, 

amphetamines, various “designer drugs” like ecstasy, and a wide array of illegal narcotics 

that routinely make their way to our shores. 

The staggering – and ever-increasing – number of conveyances, cargo and passengers 

arriving into the United States each year present Customs with complex targeting and 

interdiction challenges, requiring an effective application of intelligence, investigative 

and operational approaches. 

Trying to curb the flood of illegal drugs has proven an ambitious task, yet, through 

diligence, close inspection, and sophisticated technology, Customs has given an excellent 

account of itself in fighting the flow of illegal drugs into the United States. The U.S. 

Customs Service leads the nation’s law enforcement agencies in terms of the number of 

illegal narcotics seized and suspects apprehended. Recently, in one 12-month period, 

Customs seized an astonishing 1.4 million pounds of narcotics bound for domestic 

distribution. 

Customs interdiction efforts, and its unique position on the nation’s borders, allow the 

agency to gather the statistics it needs to report the epidemic use of specific drugs. In 

recent years, sizable seizures of cocaine and new synthetic drugs, such as ecstasy, have 

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tipped law enforcement authorities to the latest “drugs of choice,” as well as to the 

techniques criminals use to smuggle them. 

A distinctive, high-profile tool in Customs drug fight is its force of drug detector dogs, 

their trainers, and the Customs officers who work with these canine detectors. 

Customs narcotic detector dogs were first used on a wide scale in 1970. These canine 

detectors save countless man-hours in locating narcotics in vehicles, mail, 

unaccompanied baggage, on cargo ships, and throughout Customs facilities. A dog and 

his handler can check 500 packages in 30 minutes — an incredible accomplishment, 

given the fact that it would take an examiner several days to inspect the same number of 

packages. At border points, a detector dog can inspect a vehicle in about two minutes, 

while the same search by a Customs inspector would take at least 20 minutes. With their 

skill and efficiency, these amazing canines have saved passengers and importers 

countless delays clearing Customs, while at the same time keeping deadly narcotics off 

the nation’s streets. 

Technological advances like mobile and fixed truck x-ray systems assist in Customs 

search for illegal substances and expedite the movement of cargo from Customs facilities. 

These devices provide an accurate, detailed look at cargo in a fraction of the time needed 

for a manual search, allowing a greater number of conveyances to be searched and 

released. 

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Customs narcotics interdiction efforts also extend beyond our nation’s shores. Customs 

fleet of aircraft, equipped with sophisticated surveillance and tracking devices, 

coordinates with their high-speed boats to thwart smuggler aircraft as they drop payloads 

of narcotics off the American coast. Customs air-wing also coordinates and participates 

in counter-narcotics missions over high-activity areas like the Caribbean and certain 

South American countries. 

Trade Fraud

Customs special agents are some of the finest criminal investigators in the world. Their 

expertise in border investigative methods and techniques has allowed them to solve 

increasingly complex crimes. Customs has investigated every type of smuggling activity 

imaginable, from the smuggling of narcotics to the illegal import of endangered animals 

and Rembrandt paintings. Customs is also responsible for preventing the illegal export of 

munitions of war, international money laundering schemes, undervaluation schemes, 

cargo theft and international conspiracies, neutrality violations, and child pornography. 

Another initiative established by Customs is the Forced Child Labor Command Center, 

which monitors the importation of prohibited goods manufactured by forced or 

indentured child labor. 

Cybersmuggling

With the arrival of the Internet, Customs took on a new role and became a lead agency in 

the enforcement of laws designed to eliminate criminal activity conducted in the New 

World of cyberspace. Among the most heinous crimes investigated by Customs 

Computer Investigation Specialists is child pornography. In addition to developing and 

implementing the strategies used to track cyber-pornographers, Customs investigators 

routinely provide training and expertise to prosecutors and law enforcement officials both 

here and abroad. Despite the relative newness of this type of crime, Customs efforts have 

already led to hundreds of arrests in child pornography cases. Other Internet crimes that 

Customs tracks include the many forms of telemarketing fraud — bogus investments, 

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charities, prize offers, and travel packages — that continue to plague the American 

consumer. 

Intellectual Property Rights

To secure the rights of creative individuals and those who have a vested interest in their 

works, Customs protects Intellectual Property Rights (IPR). IPR can be a copyright, 

which protects original creations of “authorship”, such as books, paintings, music and 

movies; trademark, which is a design, slogan, brand name or configuration used to 

identify products as originating from a particular source; patent, which is issued to 

protect a novel or useful invention, or trade name, used to identify a specific business or 

occupation. Each year, trade in counterfeit or pirated merchandise in violation of IPR cost 

industry billions of dollars and nearly 750,000 jobs. 

Science and analytical research assist Customs officers in their efforts to stop these illegal 

and fraudulent activities. The Customs Service maintains eight laboratories in the U.S. 

and San Juan, Puerto Rico, where sophisticated equipment analyzes certain imports to 

determine their appropriate classification. These scientific findings provide key, accurate 

evidence in the effort to prosecute IPR violators. 

Commerce 

Customs currently processes over $1 trillion (total imports) in trade each year. Given an 

increasing volume of annual trade and new security concerns triggered by terrorist 

attacks, Customs faces unprecedented challenges to its ability to support the flow of free 

trade. Customs is depending on new manpower and policy initiatives and a heightened 

level of international cooperation to assist the effort, but a significant investment in new 

technology, as well as in continued research and development, is key to Customs 

continued ability to carry out its historic trade mission. 

A new Automated Commercial Environment (ACE), presently in development, will rely 

on account management to streamline the commercial import process, lowering the cost 

of trade compliance and increasing customer service for the trade community. Inspectors 

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will use this system to make paperless cargo clearances as well as targeting noncompliant cargo for examinations. 

Customs current automated system (ACS) helps brokers, Customs agents, the 

enforcement community, and ultimately, users, perform a variety of functions— services 

ranging from the assessment and collection of users fees to obtaining instant information 

on new or changing import quotas, monitoring high-risk shipments and exchanging 

enforcement information nationwide. Additionally, computer technology has increased 

and accelerated Customs role as registrar of statistics vital to U.S. trade, commerce, and 

security. New proposals for ensuring the security of air and sea-borne cargo are also 

expected to guarantee a new level of protection for importers as well as the American 

people. These plans turn on the acquisition of new and sophisticated technologies, on 

new partnerships and carrier agreements with industry, and on international agreements 

with our allies in the war on terrorism. 

Money Laundering

Customs agents are experts in the investigation of international money laundering 

schemes devised by sophisticated cartels to hide their criminal proceeds. With the 

passage of the Bank Secrecy Act in 1970, individuals and corporations were required to 

disclose certain assets and transactions, and criminals found it increasingly difficult to 

introduce the proceeds of their illegal activities into legitimate commerce. Time after 

time, Customs investigators have expertly negotiated the intricate, tangled money trail 

that the criminal underworld depends on to launder billions in “dirty money” every year. 

Global money laundering disrupts the legitimate flow of commerce, introducing billions 

of unregulated dollars into the world’s economies and depriving governments of revenue 

collected in the form of taxes and duties. The Customs Money Laundering Coordination 

Center, one of the government’s primary weapons tasked with curbing money laundering 

activities, is engaged in continuous undercover financial investigations. During a recent 

three-year-period, Customs conducted 12,000 investigations leading to 3,150 arrests and 

the seizure of nearly $1.1 billion. 

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Customs is a major player in the effort to identify, disrupt, and dismantle the global 

money laundering networks on which terrorist organizations depend to finance their 

attacks on the United States and its allies. In February 2002, Customs launched a multiagency initiative to identify and dismantle laundering systems used by al Qaeda terrorists 

to finance their attacks on American facilities at home and abroad. In the same year, 

Customs investigators identified billions in terrorist assets and have been instrumental in 

their confiscation. Customs agents and investigators continue to identify and to shut 

down any organization or enterprise that supports terrorist activities. 

Strategic Investigations 

Few crimes are more terrifying, or potentially more devastating, than those involving the 

importation of arms or explosives intended to do harm to America and its citizens. Since 

September 11, 2001, Customs has played a pivotal role in the effort to ensure Homeland 

Security, putting its officers on high alert along the borders, at ports, and overseas. 

Customs has always been responsible for halting the import and export of sensitive and 

controlled commodities, including weapons of mass destruction (WMD) and related 

technologies, munitions, and firearms. In recent years, Customs has seized military 

aircraft, missile parts, night-vision systems, bomb-making devices, Phalanx missiles, and 

stealth and anti-missile technology. Today, Customs is working around the clock with its 

counterparts in law enforcement and with the U.S. military to prevent terrorist 

organizations intent on attacking American cities and citizens from smuggling nuclear, 

biological, or chemical weapons across U.S. borders. In 1999, a Customs inspector 

stopped an individual attempting to smuggle explosives across the Canadian border into 

Washington State; reportedly, the explosives were intended to be used to attack Los 

Angeles International Airport during the millennium celebration. The incident alerted 

Customs to a growing terrorist threat, while the 2001 attack on New York and 

Washington reinforced the agency’s commitment to hardening U.S. borders and to 

strengthening and expanding strategic investigations. 

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Passenger Travel

In the 20th century, international travel and tourism enjoyed unparalleled growth and 

popularity. The safe, expedient movement of passengers was made more convenient by 

the use of Customs modern technologies and improved equipment. Customs has relied on 

the Treasury Enforcement Communications System (TECS) to perform instant checks on 

travelers, vessels, aircraft, and importers and to expedite the processing of law-abiding 

travelers. Customs has also maintained a proactive customer service program which 

employs initiatives to aid travelers, such as Passenger Service Representatives and 

outreach activities — meetings with civic organizations, travel clubs, school groups — 

helpful brochures, information kiosks, and a dedicated web site. 

In the 21st century, Customs is leading the effort to ensure airport security across the 

United States. The heightened alert triggered by the events of September 11, 2001, and 

the imposition of stringent security guidelines had a significant impact on travel and 

tourism, and on the expeditious processing of trade. Systems that provide Customs with 

advance information about passengers are under review and targeted for improvement, 

and Customs is cooperating with its counterparts in domestic and international law 

enforcement to increase information-sharing and data collection. Customs is also working 

with the travel industry and local law enforcement agencies to devise new strategies to 

combat the falsification of travel documents and to improve efforts to document the 

identities of passengers. Customs is also partnering with other U.S. law enforcement 

agencies and customs organizations overseas to provide unprecedented levels of security 

for passengers and cargo shipments. Customs agents are acting as sky marshals on 

domestic and international flights; the agency is working closely with a newlyfederalized corps of baggage inspectors, and developing technology to meet the new and 

present danger posed by global terrorism. 

Counter-Terrorism 

In 2002, Customs turned much of its attention to new counter-terrorism efforts and to its 

responsibility for coordinating those efforts with the other federal, state, and local 

agencies working toward the same end. Customs also developed new strategies that 

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would allow the agency to interface effectively with the Office of Homeland Security. 

While Customs continues to pursue its anti-smuggling initiatives, especially its efforts to 

eliminate the flow of illegal narcotics, counter-terrorism is now an additional priority for 

the agency, one that has supported the acquisition of new technology and substantial 

increases in agency resources. 

Summary 

The job of protecting 96,000 miles of U.S. land, air, and sea borders and more than 300 

ports of entry is entrusted each day to the 20,000 dedicated employees of the U.S. 

Customs Service. U.S. Customs is the principal agency tasked with protecting our 

nation’s borders, and the only border agency with an extensive air, land, and marine 

interdiction force to carry out its multi-faceted mission: We are the guardians of our 

Nation’s borders — America’s frontline. We serve and protect the American public with 

integrity, innovation, and pride. We enforce the laws of the United States, safeguard the 

revenue, and foster lawful international trade and travel. 

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