Aerial hunt for drug smugglers is a tough task

[unhappycamper]

Aerial hunt for drug smugglers is a tough task
By Ben Fox - The Associated Press
Posted : Wednesday Dec 17, 2008 22:37:34 EST

SOMEWHERE OVER THE CARIBBEAN — It was early evening and the crew on an Air Force surveillance jet was taking a hard look at a suspicious plane that had just taken off from Venezuela.

“He’s not squawking,” says Air Force Lt. Col. Bryan Dickson, the commander, meaning the plane was not broadcasting the standard signal to air traffic controllers. “Anyone not squawking is suspect.”

The Associated Press got a rare look at the U.S. military’s counter-drug operations over the Caribbean, the transit zone for 30 percent of U.S.-bound cocaine.

During the 12-hour flight aboard an E-3 Sentry Airborne Warning and Control System, or AWACS, the crew would engage in a high-tech chase, illustrating the extensive military resources the U.S. and its allies are using against drug traffickers.

But it also showed just how much the odds still favor the smugglers.


Rest of article at: http://www.navytimes.com/news/2008/12/ap_counter_drugs_121708/%2e