Predator Drones to Scour Border for Illegal Immigrants
PALMDALE -- Military predator drones will soon be patroling the skies of Southern California, looking for illegal immigrants and smugglers at the border.

The unmanned and unarmed planes called Maritime MQ-9 Predator B Guardian Unmanned Aircraft Systems are being unveiled Monday. The aircraft will fly above the California-Mexico border using radar and long-range video cameras in search of illegal immigrants crossing into the country.

The planes have already been used along the Mexican border in Arizona and Texas, and along the Canadian border in North Dakota.

The drones will be based at a priate airport operated by General Atomics in the Antelope Valley.

One of the drones has the capacity of detecting vessels in the water, according to Juan Munoz-Torres of U.S. Customs and Border Protection.

The Predators are used by the U.S. military in Afghanistan and Iraq.

The Predators used by Customs and Border Protection are controlled remotely by a two-person team on the ground, Kimberly Kasitz, a spokesperson for General Atomics.

One flies the aircraft and the other handles the sensors, cameras and radar, Kastiz said.

Any intelligence gathered is transmitted from the aircraft to law enforcement.

Kastiz said its main purpose is to counter drug smuggling. The unmanned aircraft also will transmit data on human smuggling by sea, which has been on the rise. Customs and Border Protection agents apprehended 22 illegal immigrants Thursday on a boat off La Jolla.