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U.S. NEWS Friday 13 december 2019

Feds seek new ways to spot illicit opioids mailed into U.S.

By WAYNE PARRY 80 entrants since its Febru- CT scans. The company
Associated Press ary announcement. added automated detec-
EGG HARBOR TOWNSHIP, The goal: Develop new or tion computer algorithms
N.J. (AP) — The federal better ways to find and to existing scanning tech-
government is enlisting the seize illicit drug shipments nology to better enable
help of the private sector at mail processing facili- the detection of illegal
to develop better ways ties without unduly slowing opioids. The system identi-
to spot and intercept illicit down global commerce. fies abnormalities in the X-
opioids shipped into the Authorities said the U.S. ray images based on the
United States through the handles more than 480 mil- scanned item’s features
mail. lion international parcels a and physical properties.
Several federal agencies year through its mail intake At the press conference,
on Thursday awarded a facilities. company vice president
$500,000 prize to a Mas- “The ability to detect these Omar AlKofahi ran a sam-
sachusetts firm that devel- dangerous drugs truly is a ple package of diluted
oped an improved way national security threat,” fentanyl powder through
to scan and analyze the James Carroll, the White a scanner, where an im-
contents of mail for illegal House’s drug czar, said age on a computer screen
shipments of drugs such as during a press conference flagged it as suspicious. In In this Dec. 12, 2019 photo, Bijia Chen, an engineer with a
fentanyl, much of which is at a federal aviation labo- practice, the system could technology company that won a federal contest to find
new or better ways to scan incoming mail for illegal opioid
shipped from China. ratory just outside Atlan- be used to automatical- shipments, demonstrates how the computer analysis works at
The Department of Home- tic City. “The only thing ly divert such suspicious a demonstration in Egg Harbor Township, N.J.
land Security, U.S. Customs that matters is saving lives. packages to the side for Associated Press
and Border Protection, We’re excited about this closer inspection and pos- with an illicit substance is study of matter interacting
the Postal Service and the technology.” sible seizure. detected. with electromagnetic ra-
White House Office of Na- Integrated Defense & A runner-up winner devel- Other entries used artificial diation; robotic noses and
tional Drug Control Policy Security Solutions, a Box- oped technology that uses intelligence and machine other sensor technologies.
chose the winners of the borough, Massachusetts, radio-frequency signals to learning, spectrometry The federal government
Opioid Detection Chal- company, took top honors search for specific materi- the study of interaction has not committed itself to
lenge, a global competi- for its technology using 3D als, and triggers an alarm between light and mat- using the technologies at
tion that drew more than X-ray scanning similar to when a signal associated ter and spectroscopy the its mail facilities. q