NCJ Number
142266
Date Published
Unknown
Length
23 pages
Annotation
Access to commercial data is essential for cargo pre- screening for illicit drugs. The data fusion process is defined as the multi-level, multi-faceted process by which data and information from one or more sources are associated, correlated, and combined to produce a timely assessment of situations and threats.
Abstract
In terms of cargo prescreening, data fusion processes refer to carrier movements, port operations, cargo movements, world trade patterns, organizational behavior, and enforcement. Data fusion process requirements include data inputs tailored to the investigator's needs, timeliness, effective exploitation of the data, information exchange, and easy retrievability. In addition, contextual information is essential to determining the significance of other data. Useful sources of industry data may include port/terminal operators, cargo carriers, and forwarders or brokers. During the data fusion process, suspicions may be raised because of the country of origin, cargo routing, cargo/value discrepancy, cargo/destination discrepancy, cargo/origin discrepancy, unusual handling instructions, inconsistency between ship type or shipping line and manifested trade, and manifest document omissions or errors.