TL;DR
A secretive CBP predictive policing unit analyzes Americans' financial activity to identify targets, then has local police stop them under other pretexts, which legal experts say is unconstitutional.
US Border Patrol runs a secretive unit called PITT that analyzes people's financial records, driving history and other data to guess who might be trafficking drugs. But they don't arrest people directly. They pass tips to local police, who then find some other excuse to pull the person over.
A stop for an 'obstructed plate'
In May 2026, a man named Kyle was driving across Montana with marijuana he'd legally picked up from a California farm. The state trooper pulled him over for an 'obstructed license plate' and ended up charging him with possession with intent to distribute.
But court papers Kyle later obtained showed the real trigger: a Border Patrol analyst named Phelps had reviewed his financial activity, saw 'patterns commonly associated with illicit narcotics', and tipped off the trooper.
No evidence, still stopping you
Two PITT teams are known: one in Washington State near the Canadian border, another in Texas near the Mexican border. They admit to analyzing financial activity but won't say what data they use or whether they get warrants.
Civil liberties groups call this 'parallel construction' to hide the real reason for stops, while the government says it's just 'intelligence-informed law enforcement'.
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