1997 Congressional Hearings
Robert Newberry
Director of Drug Enforcement Policy and Support
Defense Department
09 July 1997
House National Security Subcommittee
Mr. Chairman and Members of the Committee: Thank you for this
opportunity to speak before you today. Our nation's drug problem is a serious
one that affects the lives of millions of Americans. Crime and health
problems associated with illicit drug use continue to have an adverse effect
on our communities and among our young people. Meanwhile, illicit drug
trafficking poses a serious threat to our national security. Addressing this
problem, the President's National Drug Control Strategy has articulated five
strategic goals in our collective American effort to reduce illegal drug use
and its consequences in America. The Department of Defense, with its unique
resources and capabilities, plays a critical supporting role in two of these
goals: shielding America's air, land, and sea frontiers from the drug threat;
and breaking foreign and domestic drug sources of supply. In support of this
mission, the Drug Enforcement Policy and Support office has aggressively
explored the use of new ideas and state-of-the-art systems unique to the
Department, and employed those that had practical application. Moreover, we
have regularly assessed the effectiveness of our existing counterdrug
program, emphasizing cost-effective, high-impact projects that support the
President's National Drug Control Strategy. Today, I would like to talk about
two areas of our counterdrug support: our efforts in the primary source
nations of cocaine -- specifically, Peru and Colombia -- and the support that
we provide in the Transit Zone areas of Mexico and the Eastern Caribbean.
SUPPORT TO SOURCE NATIONS
The Department is a key player in assisting
foreign and domestic counterdrug forces to break the foreign supply of
cocaine into the United States. DoD provides three categories of support to
foreign counterdrug forces: training; command, control, communications,
computers, and intelligence support (C4I); and interdiction support. The
focus of our efforts, as prescribed by Presidential Decision Directive, is on
Colombia, Peru, and Bolivia, where nearly all of the world's cocaine is
cultivated and produced. Our objective is to attack trafficking organizations
in the region by disrupting their activities and imprisoning their leaders.
These efforts also serve to strengthen the democratic institutions in source
nations and encourage national resolve and regional cooperation. In the last
two years, we have seen both Peru and Colombia achieve a number of tactical
successes against drug traffickers. DoD personnel played an integral part in
training and providing intelligence information to Colombian and Peruvian
counterdrug forces, thereby enhancing their interdiction efforts against air
smugglers. Capitalizing on early successes against air smuggling, the
Department engaged in two successful operations, GREEN CLOVER and LASER
STRIKE -- which modestly increased the level of personnel and detection and
monitoring assets dedicated to source nation interdiction efforts. During
these operations, the United States for the first time, worked side-by-side
with countries throughout the region to assist them in developing and
implementing operational plans against drug traffickers. The most encouraging
results of GREEN CLOVER and LASER STRIKE have been an unprecedented
cooperation among countries of South America in the drug interdiction effort;
and the involvement of countries that had heretofore been uninvolved in
attacking the drug threat. As a result of Peru's aggressive efforts against
air smugglers, we initially saw a dramatic decrease in the price of coca base
that traffickers were unable to move out of Peru. The monthly incidence of
narco-trafficking by air in the source zone remains 50-80% below rates
observed in 1994 before more aggressive interdiction efforts were instituted.
Furthermore, the prices paid to coca farmers for their leaf remain severely
depressed. Coca farmers are having great difficulty making a profit, and an
increasing number are looking at alternative development opportunities.
Moreover, recent intelligence reporting indicate that because of Peru's
successful air interdiction efforts, traffickers-are making greater use of
river and land transport. To address the changing drug trafficking threat,
the Department is working in conjunction with the State Department and law
enforcement agencies, to assist countries in the region to enhance their
riverine capabilities. During LASER STRIKE, we began to increase our level of
training support to enhance military and police riverine interdiction
capabilities in both Peru and Colombia. For FY98, the Department has proposed
legislation that would assist Peru and Colombia in developing their riverine
interdiction capability. Specifically, this authority would allow the
Department to procure equipment and supplies and provide associated
maintenance support to enhance counterdrug riverine initiatives in these
countries. We are at a unique moment in time where we can take advantage of
the impact we have made in the air by impacting the traffickers shift to the
rivers. We must take advantage of the current declining coca producing
activities in Peru by enhancing interdiction efforts. This is the leverage
Peru needs to encourage alternative crop development. This is what we have
been striving for these many years. The time to act is now.
DETECTION AND MONITORING IN THE TRANSIT ZONE
As the lead agency for
detection and monitoring of aerial and maritime drug traffic into the United
States, the Department plays an active role in shielding America's frontiers
from the drug threat. Over the last several years, the Department sustained
an efficient detection and monitoring capability in the Caribbean. Our
capability was maintained by phasing out costly, low-impact, fixed systems,
which were easily evaded by drug traffickers, in favor of more modern,
cost-efficient, flexible, and agile assets (e.g., Relocatable
Over-The-Horizon Radars (ROTHRs), E-3s, P-3s, E-2s, and refitted TAGOS radar
picket ships). Recently, we have seen an increased use of maritime smuggling
through the Eastern Caribbean. The narco-traffickers are taking advantage of
the economic decline and limited law enforcement capabilities in the region
to island-hop cocaine using small non-commercial maritime vessels through the
region to Puerto Rico, where the cocaine is then smuggled into the U.S. DoD's
proposed legislation would allow us to provide limited amounts of support to
enhance the maritime law enforcement capabilities of these nations.
Furthermore, the Department has taken aggressive steps in shielding our
southern border, through which an estimated 70% of the cocaine enters the
United States. The Department has worked closely with the Mexican military to
enhance their counterdrug interdiction efforts. In October 1995, Secretary
Perry became the first Secretary of Defense to travel to Mexico. As a result
of this trip, a bilateral working group was established with counterdrug
cooperation as a particular focus. During this time, President Zedillo
broadened his military's counterdrug mission, directing their involvement in
counterdrug interdiction efforts: in the past, Mexico's military only
participated in eradication operations. As a result of extensive
consultations, DoD and the Mexican military together developed a
comprehensive counterdrug initiative for enhancing Mexico's interdiction
capability. This initiative involves the training and equipping of
counterdrug rapid reaction groups and providing these groups with the air
mobile capability necessary to successfully carry out their counterdrug
missions. The work of the rapid reaction groups will be focused on the
activities of the major drug traffickers in Mexico. There will also be a
strong focus on Mexico's northern border, where the drug trafficking threat
is most serious. By the end of this fiscal year, we will have trained 1500
military personnel. Moreover, we are transferring 73 UH-1H helicopters to
Mexico in support of their drug interdiction effort. Last year, Congress
granted us one-year authority to spend up to $8 million to procure
counterdrug equipment in support of the initial 20 helicopters we had
transferred to Mexico. We used this authority to help the Mexican military
acquire larger spare parts for these helicopters. In order to ensure the
Mexican military's ability to stand up a viable air mobile capability in
support of their counterdrug rapid reaction groups, we have requested an
extension of the FY97 Mexico authority. This authority would likely again be
used to procure additional necessary spare parts for the helicopters, as well
as other necessary equipment.
CONCLUSION
There are no easy solutions to the problems of illicit
drug use or trade. Nonetheless, our government cannot and has not shirked its
responsibility to attack the Nation's drug problem on all levels. Countering
the flow of cocaine and other illicit drugs into America requires a
multi-year effort with comprehensive supply and demand reduction programs,
substantial resources, enormous energy, and creativity. During the last
several years, the Department of Defense has continuously strived to improve
our program management and effectiveness ensuring that the maximum
operational impact is achieved with the funds available. While DoD's support
to foreign and domestic law enforcement in and of itself will not solve the
Nation's drug problem, we have made steady progress in running a
cost-effective, high-impact program. Our program has provided desperately
needed support to law enforcement. We look forward working with you as we
continue to seek high-impact ways to support the work of law enforcement
agencies both domestically and internationally. (end text)
