BALLOONS TO WAR ON SMUGGLERS OF DRUGS

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP90-00965R000504030020-1
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: K
• Document Page Count: 1
• Document Creation Date: December 22, 2016
• Document Release Date: January 20, 2012
• Sequence Number: 20
• Publication Date: April 26, 1985
• Content Type: OPEN SOURCE

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Declassified in Part - Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2012/01/20: CIA-RDP90-00965 R000504030020-1
ARTir1F APPEAR
01 PAGE -
Balloons
to war on
smugglers
of drugs.
By John McCaslin
THE WASHINGTON TIMES
MIAMI - Caribbean drug smug-
glers who were lucky enough in
recent weeks not to be stung by
Operation Blue Lightning, an
unprecedented joint drug-fighting
effort by the United States and Baha-
mas, might soon find themselves
detected by several new ship-
tethered mobile radar balloons.
The U.S. Coast Guard intends to
lease as many as five helium-filled
"aerostat" radar balloon devices in
the coming months that can detect
and monitor small vessel traffic over
a 70-mile radius. The aerostats,
placed at strategic points in the
Caribbean, should increase Coast
Guard intelligence about suspect
vessel movements and enable the
agency to deploy its interdiction
resources more effectively
The Coast Guard is the federal
agency primarily responsible for
interdiction of maritime drug smug-
gling, operating 155 ships, 2100
patrol boats and 190 aircraft. But
despite the Coast Guard's efforts and
that of other law enforcement agen-
cies, only 20 to 30 percent of the
narcotic drugs smuggled into the
United States is confiscated, said
Coast Guard Lt. James R. Simpson
of Miami.
These statistics could soon be
changing however. Several tests and
an evaluation of the aerostat have
been completed and the Coast Guard
has determined the radar devices
well suited for surveillance in the
narrow Caribbean "choke-points"
along the sea routes favored by traf-
fickers trying to smuggle marijuana
and cocaine into the southeastern
United States from South and Cen-
tral America.
According to Lt. Simpson, chief
spokesman for the Coast Guard's
largest 7th District covering the
southeastern United States and
Caribbean, 90 percent of the drugs
that come from Latin America, espe-
cially Colombia, pass through three
choke points - the Yucatan Channel
WASHINGTON TIMES
26 April 1985
between Mexico and Cuba, the
Windward Passage between Cuba
and Haiti, and the Mona Passage
between the Dominican Republic
and Puerto Rico.
"The strategy, therefore, that we
traditionally use, and have for many
years, is a choke-point strategy," said
Lt. Simpson. "The Coast Guard
maintains surface craft and aircraft
patrolling these three areas, the
object being if we can catch one
mother ship with 40 tons (of drugs),
then we don't have to pursue the 40
pick-up boats with one ton (of drugs)
each"
But Lt. Simpson is quick to admit
that it "only sounds good to say we've
sealed these choke points."
"You take a 210-foot vessel and put
it in a 120-mile passage, you really
haven't sealed it off. In my estima-
tion we're getting only 20 to 30
percent of the drugs coming
through," he said.
The 7th Coast Guard District,
therefore, looks forward to the arri-
val of the aerostat balloons to
providenot only shore-to-shore cov-
erage of the vital sea lanes, but to
serve as a deterrent to smugglers.
The Coast Guard determined that
the aerostat was able to operate in
adverse weather conditions, with-
standing hurricane force winds.
Also economical, the aerostat will
cost about one-tenth as much per
hour to operate as a C-130 or E-2C
aircraft.
"A radar plane can give you 10 to
12 hours (of surveillance) and then
they have to land. A vessel [with
aerostat] you can put out there for 30
days at a time and have full-time
radar coverage," Lt. Simpson said.
"Right now we have no aerostats.
We had one [testing] balloon that was
leased and it ran into some bad
weather and crashed," the lieutenant
added. "But the test project went
well enough that we're going to get
more of them and start using them"
At present, the Coast Guard is
seizing about 2 million pounds of
marijuana a year at the three choke
points, indicating an estimated 8 mil-
lion pounds is still getting through.
In calender year 1983, an estimated
115,000 pounds of cocaine were
smuggled into the United States,
most of it originating in Colombia.
With the increased detection pro-
vided by the aerostats, the Coast
Guard will need to deploy more ves-
sels and aircraft to inspect the addi-
tional targets that will be spotted.
Last April in a closed session, the
U.S. House of Representatives
Select Committee on Narcotics
Abuse and Control expressed con-
cern that the Coast Guard "does not
have the resources required to
mount a sustained, aggressive
attack against seaborne drug smug-
glers.
"The Coast Guard is unable now,
due to lack of resources, to intercept
all suspect smuggling vessels identi-
fied through intelligence efforts,"
the committee said, urging Pres-
ident Reagan and Congress this fis-
cal year to provide the resources
needed or Coast Guard aircraTt-and
vessels.
The costs of aerostat leases and
procurements is estimated at $20
million dollars, or the value of a
minor drug bust.
Declassified in Part - Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2012/01/20: CIA-RDP90-00965R000504030020-1