NCJ Number
152589
Date Published
1993
Length
40 pages
Annotation
This study reviews the justification for the U.S. Defense Department's counterdrug flying hours and steaming days.
Abstract
Since becoming a major drug-war participant in fiscal year 1989, The Defense Department has spent approximately $976 million for the aircraft flying hours and ship steaming days and, on a much smaller scale, ground training days it uses in detecting and monitoring drug smugglers. This mission is part of a multiagency effort under the Office of National Drug Control Policy (ONDCP). Funding for the Defense Department's counterdrug effort has increased approximately 300 percent since 1989 despite the fact that neither the Defense Department Drug Coordinator nor ONDCP has established quantified goals or effectiveness measures for the mission. Since 1989, ONDCP has prescribed numerical goals for reducing the flow of drugs into the country, and, since 1992, the Defense Department and the other interdiction agencies have been recording their performance against known drug shipments. When assessed against these kinds of standards, the Federal Government's investment in military counterdrug efforts is not apparently providing a reasonable return. Estimated cocaine flow has not appreciably declined and most drug smugglers are not interdicted. The return on the investment is not likely to increase, since the narrowly focused support role either cannot change or is unlikely to change.