NCJ Number
157860
Journal
Police Chief Volume: 59 Issue: 10 Dated: (October 1992) Pages: 68-78
Date Published
1992
Length
11 pages
Annotation
This article profiles Operation Alliance, a multi-agency effort to interdict the smuggling of illegal drugs across the Southwest border of the United States.
Abstract
Established in 1986, Operation Alliance is best described as a coordinating center. Located at Fort Bliss in El Paso, Tex., the Operation Alliance staff represents Federal, State, and local law enforcement agencies that have a designated drug enforcement role in the four border States. The mission of Operation Alliance is to support and coordinate multi-agency efforts to disrupt the flow of drugs and other contraband across the U.S.-Mexico border and to administer the Southwest border HIDTA (High-intensity Drug Trafficking Areas) program. Since the law enforcement agencies represented in Operation Alliance do not have the personnel nor the technological resources to monitor border smuggling, the military, which has a lot of units that are able to train in this environment, provides support in detection and monitoring. JTF-6, a multiservice command, was established in November 1989 to assist Operation Alliance by providing military support for law enforcement drug operations. Operational support generally requires a military unit to conduct detection and monitoring assistance, which includes using observation and listening posts or area reconnaissance techniques. Three years of experience has shown that military operational support missions create a disruptive-deterrent effect on narco-trafficking activities.