DATE=10/6/1999
TYPE=CORRESPONDENT REPORT
TITLE=COAST GUARD SEIZURES (L-ONLY)
NUMBER=2-254734
BYLINE=MICHAEL BOWMAN
DATELINE=MIAMI
CONTENT=

VOICED AT:

INTRO:  The U-S Coast Guard is reporting a record year 
for drug interdiction, with vast amounts of cocaine 
and other narcotics seized in and around U-S 
territorial waters.  V-O-A's Michael Bowman reports 
from Miami, the Coast Guard has added a new weapon to 
its anti-drug arsenal: armed helicopters that can 
intercept and disable narcotics-carrying vessels.

TEXT:   Over the last 12 months (fiscal year 1999), 
the U-S Coast Guard seized just over 50-thousand 
kilograms of cocaine - a 40-percent increase over the 
previous year - and equal to more than five-hundred 
million doses of the narcotic.  Spokesman Scott Carr 
says the street value of the cocaine equals nearly 
nine-tenths of the Coast Guard's entire annual budget.

            /// FIRST CARR ACT ///

      The overall street value of the cocaine seized 
      by the Coast Guard is three-point-nine billion 
      dollars.

            /// END ACT ///

Two-thirds of the narcotics were seized in waters 
stretching from the Caribbean to the Carolinas.  
Spokesman Scott Carr says the Coast Guard has 
benefited from the introduction of armed helicopters 
designed to stop small, high-speed smuggling vessels 
that ferry cocaine and other drugs to U-S shores.

            /// SECOND CARR ACT ///

      The armed helicopters are specifically designed 
      to target drug-smuggling vessels, specifically 
      the "go fast" vessels.  In the past they could 
      just outrun our boats and we weren't able to 
      stop them.  With the armed helicopters, we now 
      have the ability to fire warning shots from our 
      helicopters across the bow of the (smuggling) 
      vessel.

            /// END ACT ///

If the "go fast" boats ignore the warning shots, the 
Coast Guard's helicopters come equipped with 50-
calibre rifles that can be fired at the vessels' 
engines to disable them.

The higher level of narcotics seizures can be seen as 
both a good and a bad sign in the overall war on 
drugs.  On the one hand, it shows the effectiveness of 
Coast Guard interdiction efforts.  But it also reveals 
that Caribbean waters are virtually awash in smuggling 
activity.  U-S anti-narcotics officials say that over 
the last 18-months, cocaine production has risen 
dramatically in Colombia - the world's largest 
producer of the drug.  Increased smuggling activity in 
the Caribbean can be seen as a direct result of the 
enormous coca leaf crops being harvested in Colombia.

            /// REST OPTIONAL ///

Coast Guard spokesman Steve Carr describes anti-
narcotics operations as a grand "cat-and-mouse" game.  
The Coast Guard continually reviews and adjusts its 
strategies so as to foil the plans of drug smugglers.  
The smugglers, in turn, alter their tactics to avoid 
detection and capture - which prompts new initiatives 
on the part of the Coast Guard.  Mr. Carr says drug 
trafficking organizations are well aware of the 
success the U-S Coast Guard has enjoyed over the last 
12 months, and are surely plotting new ways to ship 
their illegal cargo.  (Signed

NEB/MCB/ENE/gm




06-Oct-1999 16:15 PM EDT (06-Oct-1999 2015 UTC)
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Source: Voice of America
.