Source:
McClatchy/Boston HeraldWASHINGTON - The first sign of trouble with the Drug Enforcement Administration’s new surveillance planes surfaced almost immediately. On the way from the manufacturer to the agency’s aviation headquarters, one of them veered off a runway during a fuel stop.
. . .
In January, after less than 10 months of operation, the cascade of mechanical problems forced the DEA to ground the planes.
The story behind why the DEA sought out the three planes, only to become the second federal agency to give them up, illustrates the pitfalls of "black," or classified, budgeting in which Congress approves tens of billions of dollars for intelligence agencies outside the public’s view.
. . .
Where the DEA got the planes is unclear. William Brown, the special agent in charge of the aviation division in Fort Worth, Texas, said he was under the impression that the funding for the planes was earmarked for the State Department, but officials with knowledge of the transaction said the planes had been intended for another agency for intelligence purposes. The officials couldn’t be named because they weren’t authorized to speak publicly.
. . .
Critics say the DEA’s decision to acquire the planes not only raises questions about the secrecy of intelligence budgets, but also about the leadership of the DEA’s aviation division.
Last month, McClatchy Newspapers reported on a separate controversy sparked by Brown’s decision to spend more than $123,000 to charter a private jet to fly Acting DEA Administrator Michele Leonhart to Bogota, Colombia, in October.
Read more:
http://news.bostonherald.com/news/national/general/view.bg?articleid=1161342&format=text
Meanwhile we continue to pay these crooks for supposed work they are going to do on these planes we scrapped and will never use.
Nice to see such a good investigative article.
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