Drug Sweep - airmen key in drug traffic control

Airman, Feb, 2001 by John B. Dendy IV

Airmen help federal agents on drug zone stakeouts

Federal agents in South Florida knew drug cargo planes in Colombia were moving their annual "make or break" Christmas season orders toward the United States. A call was placed.

Lime-green cacti swayed at the edge of the runway when one E-3 Sentry aircraft soared skyward from Curacao's Hato Airport. With diplomatic clearances and foreign agents onboard, sensors inside the dome atop the Sentry showed decision-makers a big picture -- fast.

They saw a disciplined air and sea cargo operation, infiltrating two continents by using the area between them as a stash location. The drug cargo moved from planes-to-boats-to-shore in this loading zone.

Federal agents used the data right away. They delayed the underground air and sea force by causing them to miss connections. The cargo went stale, and that cost someone, somewhere a whole lot of money.

The sudden speed of the data gathering and law enforcement action didn't occur by chance.

It happened in part because the Sentry airmen, and federal agents from several nations, had access to four air terminals at commercial airports in Latin American and Caribbean countries.

The tent city terminals for this "global assault team" are the forward operating locations.

Air terminals in Curacao, Aruba, Ecuador and El Salvador cost the U.S. taxpayer less to use than just one U.S. base. Airmen run three of the terminals, and federal agents depend on them for support.

From 1978 to 1999, hundreds of agents and airmen who supported counter drug work flew from one 1940s-era base in Panama.

That team denied drug routes, and smugglers took others. This was the old status quo.

Hasta la vista, status quo

Basing rights in Panama went away in 1999, as America gave the base back to the Panamanians. Access agreements to stage similar missions from four terminals replaced Panama.

The move refreshed U.S. strategy. Hosta la vista, status quo.

With a quartet of Latin American and Caribbean fields to fly from, U.S. airpower and federal agents can switch geographic locations, before the weather or smuggler tactics shift course.

This important solution wasn't conceived in a vacuum. It was agreed to by the hemisphere's presidents at the 1994 and 1998 Summits of the Americas and at the United Nations in 1998.

The United States set two goals for its counterdrug interdiction team: a 10-percent reduction in the shipment of illegal drugs through the Caribbean transit zone, and a 15-percent reduction in flow from the drug source zone of Colombia, both by 2002. The new operating locations provide a presence to do this.

The Air Force also adds some vital support technology to the interdiction equation. The Sentry is a secure link for far-flung counterdrug communications. It's also the gold standard of air weapons control systems. The aircraft "hides" at 30,000 feet, and delivers a radar picture of air traffic, 200 miles to either side of its wingtips.

Data from the Air Force crews on this mission are considered intelligence. The United States shares that reconnaissance information with partner nations in the campaign. This cooperation contributes to the "end-game." That's legal jargon, for the capture of smugglers.

Intercontinental airdrop routes favored by drug freight fliers lay in the far reaches of the Caribbean. Precious patrol time to this zone, by radar aircraft such as the Sentry, was lost on routes from one base on the Pacific coast of Panama. That's why nations near the drug sources granted access to a few American aircraft at their commercial airports in 1999.

"The closer we are to the drugstore, the more effective we will be," Sentry air surveillance technician Airman 1st Class Lee Wadzeck said.

Aircrews staging out of the terminals act on reams of data and plans. The plan's authors reside at the Joint Interagency Task Force-East compound in Key West, Fla. That outfit is a tactical control center. It's staffed by 290 military members and federal agents, including airmen. They are joined by trusted agents from Latin American, Caribbean and NATO nations.

Agents depend on airmen

"Airmen are very important down there. We couldn't live without them. They give the government's counterdrug aircrews a safe place to fly from," said Dave Sherry, the task force's top customs agent.

With terminals for aircraft in the Caribbean, and Central and South America, the airpower access for this big stakeout is in place, said Col. Emil Harvey, a senior task force member.

Small private aircraft and boats are drug freight irritants in the big belly of the Caribbean Sea. These planes airdrop cargo to 45-foot-long "cigarette boats" in the transit zone.

Those speedy boats sealift the payload into Caribbean nations for later delivery to their biggest consumer nation -- the United States. The north transit zone is where "rats" keep their "cheese."

The task force and people who monitor airstrips on uncovered drug transport corridors advise the Sentry team to dispatch air support. They do it to gain a closer "look" at suspicious airplanes.