CBP Office of Field Operations

The Office of Field Operations (OFO) is a federal law enforcement agency within the U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) responsible for managing United States customs operations at 20 Field Operations offices, 328 ports of entry, and 16 pre-clearance stations in Canada, Ireland, the UAE, and the Caribbean. Headed by a CBP Assistant Commissioner, OFO directs the activities of more than 27,000 employees, including more than 22,000 CBP Officers and Agriculture Specialists.
CBP Office of Field Operations is the largest component in CBP. It is headed by Assistant Commissioner Todd Owen.
Overview.
CBP OFO has full Border Search Authority granted by the U.S. Congress which allows officers to stop, question, inspect and examine any person or conveyance entering or exiting the United States and place those individuals violating federal law under arrest.
Ports of entry are responsible for daily port specific operations. Port personnel are the face at the border for most visitors and cargo entering the United States. Here, CBP enforces the import and export laws and regulations of the U.S. federal government and conducts immigration policy and programs. Ports also perform agriculture inspections to protect the US from potential carriers of animal and plant pests or diseases that could cause serious damage to America's crops, livestock, pets, and the environment.
The office, with an annual operating budget of approximately $3.2 billion, is responsible for immigration policy and programs related to the admission and exclusion of aliens. The office is also responsible for inspection of agricultural products at all ports of entry to protect the health of U.S. plant and animal resources and facilitate their movement in the global market place.
Additionally, the office is responsible for border security and facilitation, including interdiction, passenger operations, targeting and analysis, canine enforcement, and trade compliance and facilitation, which includes cargo entry and release, summary operations, trade risk management and enforcement, seizures and penalties, and expanding trade operations to focus on anti-terrorism.
CBP has the largest working Law Enforcement Canine Program in the world. Currently there are over 1,200 OFO canine teams fulfilling the CBP mission throughout the United States. The vast majority of CBP's resources are located along the Southwest border, from Brownsville, Texas to San Diego, California. Canine teams are also strategically assigned to other ports of entry around the country, and located at pre-clearance stations abroad.
As their core mission, CBP Canine Officers use specially trained detector dogs to interdict large quantities of illegal narcotic substances, concealed humans, smuggled agriculture products, and unreported currency at our nation's ports of entry. The Canine Enforcement Program is also involved in specialized detection programs aimed at combating terrorist threats at our nation's borders and international airports.
The CBP.gov website states the following: