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Coast Guard Reels In Record 355,000 Pounds of Cocaine in 2007
Wednesday, December 05, 2007
WASHINGTON - The Coast Guard has reeled in a record 355,000 pounds of
cocaine over the past year, results that officials say have forced smugglers
to transport their drugs through costlier methods like semi-submersible
vessels and liquefied drugs.
Coast Guard officials are set to announce Thursday that they seized cocaine
with a street value of roughly $4.7 billion in the fiscal year that ended
Sept. 30. The previous Coast Guard record for cocaine seizures, set two
years ago, was 303,000 pounds. In fiscal 2006, the Coast Guard seized
287,000 pounds of cocaine.
By comparison, the street value of the drugs seized or removed last year by
the Coast Guard equals roughly half the agency's total annual budget, said
Commandant Adm. Thad Allen.
Officials say smugglers are increasingly turning to more difficult means of
moving the contraband from South America. Often that involves so-called
"go-fast" boats, which travel far out into the Pacific Ocean hoping to avoid
detection, before dropping the cargo in Mexico, and from there it is brought
into the United States. Colombia supplies 90 percent of America's cocaine,
officials estimate.
"We have forced them to adapt to routes that are dangerous and are
expensive. Right now we're seeing guys get in go-fasts and running 1,000
miles into the Pacific and rounding the Galapagos Islands to come in," said
Coast Guard Commander Bob Watts. "The fact that we're forcing them to do
that is causing them angst, it's causing them pain. That's as much of a win
to me on the stretegy side as getting the dope."
White House drug czar John Walters said the results are further proof that
seizures have helped drive up the price of cocaine even as the Coast Guard
juggles other responsibilities, like homeland security and maritime safety.
"In the context of many other demands on the Coast Guard, they've stayed at
the drug problem," said Walters.
Critics of U.S. anti-drug policy say such price increases are only
temporary, and do not reflect any significant new advance in fighting drugs.
"When you're looking at proclamations of success and seizure indicators like
this, skepticism about the ultimate impact on the market is always in
order," said drug policy expert John Walsh of the Washington Office on Latin
America, a group that monitors the impact of U.S. foreign policy on the
region. "It may be evidence of stepped up or more efficient enforcement, but
at the same time it may be evidence of more cocaine being trafficked."
The new drug seizure numbers also come as the Bush administration prepares
its final budget plan to present to Congress, and some lawmakers question
whether the agency is stretched too thin. Coast Guard officials say
anti-drug work is a key part of their homeland security responsibility.
In the cat-and-mouse games between seafaring smugglers and the Coast Guard,
technology plays a key role for both sides.
The "go-fast" boats which take long detours to avoid detection need gas to
return, so fuel ships often wait for them at some distant point in the
ocean. To defeat that method, Coast Guard authorities seek out the gas
boats, board them and use chemicals to neutralize the extra fuel.
Smugglers have been helped greatly by global positioning satellites, which
make it far easier for someone without much experience to guide vessels at
sea.
Such devices are especially helpful for smugglers piloting large
semi-submersible vessels, which carry huge quantities of drugs and are
virtually impossible to spot at sea because they ride so low in the water.
"Any idiot can use a GPS," said Watts, adding the submersibles "are not new
technology but with GPS and satellite phones, if you can get guys that are
gutsy enough to do it, they will."
Another smuggling trick is to liquefy the cocaine, making it harder to
detect. When the Coast Guard boards a suspected smuggling vessel, they will
conduct chemical tests to determine if gas tanks are actually hiding liquid
drugs.
Coast Guard Reels In Record 355,000 Pounds of Cocaine in 2007
Wednesday, December 05, 2007
WASHINGTON - The Coast Guard has reeled in a record 355,000 pounds of
cocaine over the past year, results that officials say have forced smugglers
to transport their drugs through costlier methods like semi-submersible
vessels and liquefied drugs.
Coast Guard officials are set to announce Thursday that they seized cocaine
with a street value of roughly $4.7 billion in the fiscal year that ended
Sept. 30. The previous Coast Guard record for cocaine seizures, set two
years ago, was 303,000 pounds. In fiscal 2006, the Coast Guard seized
287,000 pounds of cocaine.
By comparison, the street value of the drugs seized or removed last year by
the Coast Guard equals roughly half the agency's total annual budget, said
Commandant Adm. Thad Allen.
Officials say smugglers are increasingly turning to more difficult means of
moving the contraband from South America. Often that involves so-called
"go-fast" boats, which travel far out into the Pacific Ocean hoping to avoid
detection, before dropping the cargo in Mexico, and from there it is brought
into the United States. Colombia supplies 90 percent of America's cocaine,
officials estimate.
"We have forced them to adapt to routes that are dangerous and are
expensive. Right now we're seeing guys get in go-fasts and running 1,000
miles into the Pacific and rounding the Galapagos Islands to come in," said
Coast Guard Commander Bob Watts. "The fact that we're forcing them to do
that is causing them angst, it's causing them pain. That's as much of a win
to me on the stretegy side as getting the dope."
White House drug czar John Walters said the results are further proof that
seizures have helped drive up the price of cocaine even as the Coast Guard
juggles other responsibilities, like homeland security and maritime safety.
"In the context of many other demands on the Coast Guard, they've stayed at
the drug problem," said Walters.
Critics of U.S. anti-drug policy say such price increases are only
temporary, and do not reflect any significant new advance in fighting drugs.
"When you're looking at proclamations of success and seizure indicators like
this, skepticism about the ultimate impact on the market is always in
order," said drug policy expert John Walsh of the Washington Office on Latin
America, a group that monitors the impact of U.S. foreign policy on the
region. "It may be evidence of stepped up or more efficient enforcement, but
at the same time it may be evidence of more cocaine being trafficked."
The new drug seizure numbers also come as the Bush administration prepares
its final budget plan to present to Congress, and some lawmakers question
whether the agency is stretched too thin. Coast Guard officials say
anti-drug work is a key part of their homeland security responsibility.
In the cat-and-mouse games between seafaring smugglers and the Coast Guard,
technology plays a key role for both sides.
The "go-fast" boats which take long detours to avoid detection need gas to
return, so fuel ships often wait for them at some distant point in the
ocean. To defeat that method, Coast Guard authorities seek out the gas
boats, board them and use chemicals to neutralize the extra fuel.
Smugglers have been helped greatly by global positioning satellites, which
make it far easier for someone without much experience to guide vessels at
sea.
Such devices are especially helpful for smugglers piloting large
semi-submersible vessels, which carry huge quantities of drugs and are
virtually impossible to spot at sea because they ride so low in the water.
"Any idiot can use a GPS," said Watts, adding the submersibles "are not new
technology but with GPS and satellite phones, if you can get guys that are
gutsy enough to do it, they will."
Another smuggling trick is to liquefy the cocaine, making it harder to
detect. When the Coast Guard boards a suspected smuggling vessel, they will
conduct chemical tests to determine if gas tanks are actually hiding liquid
drugs.
