NCJ Number
155846
Date Published
1991
Length
32 pages
Annotation
This report examines how the United States Department of Defense (DOD) implemented its mission under Federal law as the lead agency for detecting and monitoring air and maritime drug traffic and the contribution that DOD's mission makes to the national goal of reducing drug supplies entering the United States.
Abstract
The analysis revealed that DOD has given detection and monitoring a high priority, adopting a cooperative, pragmatic approach to implementing the mission. Although this approach has allowed DOD to expand national surveillance of drug traffic through its significant commitment of aircraft, radar, and other resources, it has not produced fully integrated detection and monitoring operations. Moreover, DOD's detection and monitoring efforts have not had a significant impact on the national goal of reducing drug supplies. The estimated cocaine flow in the United States did not decrease in 1989 and 1990. The failure to reduce cocaine supplies measurably results from the enormous profits of drug trafficking and the inability of current technology to find cocaine hidden in conveyances. Regardless of how well DOD carries out its detection and monitoring mission, the current interdiction efforts alone cannot raise cocaine traffickers' costs and risks enough to make a difference. Figures and list of sources