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There are over 300 official ports of entry in the United States, giant pores where billions of dollars worth of goods flow through every day giant targets for terrorists seeking to smuggle in weapons for the next attack.

U.S. Customs and Border Protection is the first line of defense, scouring for so-called “dirty bombs” and other weapons of mass destruction.

“Our strategy begins with stationing our officers overseas, and we have over 200 Customs and Border Protection officers around the world in 58 of the largest seaports,” said Jay Ahern, deputy commissioner of U.S. Customs and Border Protection.

The idea is to “push the borders out” — to have more control of imports and more time to manage potential terror threats before they head to U.S. shores.

All incoming cargo ships are checked electronically, and all crews and cargo are accounted for and logged.

In addition, all vessels coming from foreign ports are boarded by customs agents to make sure that everything that was screened prior to arrival still checks out.

There has never been a terrorist attack on a U.S. port, and since the Sept. 11 attacks, billions of dollars have been spent on homeland security, but some critics say more needs to be done.

“It’s a huge challenge to figure out how we going to manage this risk,” said Stephen Flynn, a senior fellow at the Council on Foreign Relations and an advisor on maritime affairs for the Bush administration. “And given the scale of the vulnerability and the consequences of a terrorist event, particularly targeted at our ports or cargo coming to our ports, we are just not there yet.”

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