NCJ Number
163879
Date Published
1996
Length
42 pages
Annotation
An evaluation of U.S. drug interdiction efforts in the Caribbean by the General Accounting Office (GAO) shows cocaine trafficking through the Caribbean region is a major drug threat.
Abstract
The GAO report indicates drug traffickers in the Caribbean have shifted their operations from primarily air to maritime activities during the past several years. Further, drug traffickers are using improved technologies, such as global positioning systems, to counter efforts by U.S. agencies to identify and monitor their activities. A major part of the U.S. strategy in the Caribbean is to strengthen the political will and capabilities of host nations to support international counternarcotics objectives. The State Department has made some progress in implementing this strategy through new agreements with Caribbean countries and islands that promote increased air and maritime cooperation. However, U.S. officials generally believe many host nations lack the capabilities needed to conduct effective counternarcotics operations and also believe counternarcotics efforts are inhibited by corruption throughout the Caribbean nations. Budget reductions for drug interdiction efforts in the transit zone have reduced the ability of the Department of Defense (DOD) and law enforcement agencies to identify, track, and intercept drug traffickers. Funding for drug interdiction declined from about $1 billion in fiscal year 1992 to $569 million in fiscal year 1995. DOD budget reductions resulted in fewer ship days, flight hours, and ground-based radars devoted to drug interdiction. While a reduction in the drug interdiction effort was envisioned in the new cocaine strategy, this strategy also anticipated an increase in source country funding that never materialized. Cocaine seizures in the transit zone declined from a peak of 70,336 kilograms in 1992 to 37,181 kilograms in 1995. The GAO report includes a brief summary of drug trafficking activities in Eastern Caribbean nations and discusses the need for a regional drug interdiction plan and intelligence sharing. Appendixes contain comments on the GAO report from the Office of National Drug Control Policy, the U.S. Interdiction Coordinator, and the Drug Enforcement Administration. 5 tables and 3 figures