DATE=10/6/1999
TYPE=CORRESPONDENT REPORT
TITLE=COAST GUARD SEIZURES (L-ONLY)
NUMBER=2-254734
BYLINE=MICHAEL BOWMAN
DATELINE=MIAMI
CONTENT=
VOICED AT:
INTRO: The U-S Coast Guard is reporting a record year
for drug interdiction, with vast amounts of cocaine
and other narcotics seized in and around U-S
territorial waters. V-O-A's Michael Bowman reports
from Miami, the Coast Guard has added a new weapon to
its anti-drug arsenal: armed helicopters that can
intercept and disable narcotics-carrying vessels.
TEXT: Over the last 12 months (fiscal year 1999),
the U-S Coast Guard seized just over 50-thousand
kilograms of cocaine - a 40-percent increase over the
previous year - and equal to more than five-hundred
million doses of the narcotic. Spokesman Scott Carr
says the street value of the cocaine equals nearly
nine-tenths of the Coast Guard's entire annual budget.
/// FIRST CARR ACT ///
The overall street value of the cocaine seized
by the Coast Guard is three-point-nine billion
dollars.
/// END ACT ///
Two-thirds of the narcotics were seized in waters
stretching from the Caribbean to the Carolinas.
Spokesman Scott Carr says the Coast Guard has
benefited from the introduction of armed helicopters
designed to stop small, high-speed smuggling vessels
that ferry cocaine and other drugs to U-S shores.
/// SECOND CARR ACT ///
The armed helicopters are specifically designed
to target drug-smuggling vessels, specifically
the "go fast" vessels. In the past they could
just outrun our boats and we weren't able to
stop them. With the armed helicopters, we now
have the ability to fire warning shots from our
helicopters across the bow of the (smuggling)
vessel.
/// END ACT ///
If the "go fast" boats ignore the warning shots, the
Coast Guard's helicopters come equipped with 50-
calibre rifles that can be fired at the vessels'
engines to disable them.
The higher level of narcotics seizures can be seen as
both a good and a bad sign in the overall war on
drugs. On the one hand, it shows the effectiveness of
Coast Guard interdiction efforts. But it also reveals
that Caribbean waters are virtually awash in smuggling
activity. U-S anti-narcotics officials say that over
the last 18-months, cocaine production has risen
dramatically in Colombia - the world's largest
producer of the drug. Increased smuggling activity in
the Caribbean can be seen as a direct result of the
enormous coca leaf crops being harvested in Colombia.
/// REST OPTIONAL ///
Coast Guard spokesman Steve Carr describes anti-
narcotics operations as a grand "cat-and-mouse" game.
The Coast Guard continually reviews and adjusts its
strategies so as to foil the plans of drug smugglers.
The smugglers, in turn, alter their tactics to avoid
detection and capture - which prompts new initiatives
on the part of the Coast Guard. Mr. Carr says drug
trafficking organizations are well aware of the
success the U-S Coast Guard has enjoyed over the last
12 months, and are surely plotting new ways to ship
their illegal cargo. (Signed
NEB/MCB/ENE/gm
06-Oct-1999 16:15 PM EDT (06-Oct-1999 2015 UTC)
NNNN
Source: Voice of America
.
|
NEWSLETTER
|
|
Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list
|
|
|
