DATE=3/31/2000
TYPE=BACKGROUND REPORT
TITLE=U-S MILITARY / DRUG WAR
NUMBER=46064
BYLINE=ALISHA RYU
DATELINE=LOS ANGELES
CONTENT=
INTERNET=YES

Intro:   As drug smuggling into the United States 
becomes more sophisticated operations, the U-S 
military is increasing its range of high-tech options 
and firepower to catch drug traffickers.  As V-O-A's 
Alisha Ryu reports, the U-S Coast Guard patrolling the 
corridor from Baja California to Ecuador in the 
eastern Pacific, is getting much needed help from the 
U-S Navy.


Text:   The U-S Navy's guided missile cruiser, Valley 
Forge, left its home port in San Diego this week for a 
six-month mission in hostile waters.  Its mission is 
to catch a quarry that remains one of the most elusive 
on the high seas - the so-called "go-fast" boats of 
the drug cartels.

These sleek boats are powered by four 250-horsepower 
engines and can cut through water at up to 112 
kilometers an hour.  Because of their agility and 
superior speed, the boats have been defeating Coast 
Guard efforts to keep them from entering the United 
States and unloading more than a metric tons of drugs 
a day. 
     
But thanks to a recent budget increase, the Coast 
Guard is changing tactics and, along with the Navy, is 
adding more manpower, horsepower, and firepower in 
their on-going war against drug smuggling.  Steve 
Lucas is the spokesman for the United States Southern 
Command, a joint command that includes all five 
branches of the Armed Services.

            //  First Lucas Act //

      The struggle is getting more intense.  Our role 
      is to provide platforms and support and 
      supporting information to the drug enforcement 
      agencies, capabilities that we need to see and 
      get close to these traffickers' ships, aircraft 
      and boats. 


            // End Act //

Last year, the Coast Guard changed its long-standing 
policy that prohibited  shooting at suspected targets 
unless it was fired upon first.  Coast Guard 
sharpshooters now have the authority to fire warning 
shots, and if needed, use non-lethal weapons to punch 
holes and disable the go-fast boats.

Its personnel have also been taught how to board 
hostile ships, using ropes to climb down from a 
hovering helicopter.  And the Coast Guard has added 
new inflatable chase boats that can go faster than the 
older models.

For some patrols, the Coast Guard uses its own 
cutters.  But for longer missions, Mr. Lucas says Navy 
ships like the Valley Forge provide something Coast 
Guard cutters do not have - high-tech electronic gear 
that can detect, classify and track multiple moving 
targets.  

            // Second Lucas Act //

      We have things that were developed for combat - 
      over-the-horizon radar, fine-resolution radar 
      and all systems that make sailors so potent in 
      combat.


            // End Act //

The Navy's role, Mr. Lucas says, is to not only to 
help police the area but to intimidate the drug lords.  
At any given time, the Navy has five to seven ships on 
patrol with the Coast Guard on both coasts and the 
Caribbean.

But Mr. Lucas predicts the nation's war on drugs is 
likely to continue until demand for the drugs can be 
reduced.

Between September of 1998 and 1999, the Coast Guard 
seized almost 18 metric tons of cocaine and other 
drugs from smugglers in the eastern Pacific alone.  
Since then, the figure has risen to 22 metric tons and 
still rising.  (Signed)


NEB/PT    



31-Mar-2000 20:00 PM EDT (01-Apr-2000 0100 UTC)
NNNN

Source: Voice of America
.