Drug Interdiction
Introduction
The Coast Guard is the lead federal agency for maritime drug interdiction and shares lead responsibility for air interdiction with the U.S. Customs Service. As such, it is a key player in combating the flow of illegal drugs to the United States. The Coast Guard's mission is to reduce the supply of drugs from the source by denying smugglers the use of air and maritime routes in the Transit Zone, a six million square mile area, including the Caribbean, Gulf of Mexico and Eastern Pacific. In meeting the challenge of patrolling this vast area, the Coast Guard coordinates closely with other federal agencies and countries within the region to disrupt and deter the flow of illegal drugs.
Overview
The Coast Guard is the lead federal agency for
maritime drug interdiction and shares lead responsibility for air
interdiction with the U.S. Customs Service. As such, it is a key player in
combating the flow of illegal drugs to the United States. The Coast Guard's
mission is to reduce the supply of drugs from the source by denying
smugglers the use of air and maritime routes in the Transit Zone, a six
million square mile area, including the Caribbean, Gulf of Mexico and
Eastern Pacific. In meeting the challenge of patrolling this vast area, the
Coast Guard coordinates closely with other federal agencies and countries
within the region to disrupt and deter the flow of illegal drugs. In
addition to deterrence, Coast Guard drug interdiction accounts for nearly
52% of all U.S. government seizures of cocaine each year. For Fiscal Year
2002 the rate of Coast Guard cocaine seizures alone had an estimated import
value of approximately $3.9 billion.
Counter-drug
smuggling mission background
In 1870, Chinese immigrants became the first known
drug smugglers when they began smuggling opium in merchant ship cargoes and
baggage. Since then, drug smuggling by maritime routes has grown in size,
scope and sophistication as demand skyrocketed. For example, around the turn
of the century, when cocaine use was first in vogue, a relatively limited
amount of the population was directly affected by the problems of cocaine
abuse. But in later years, as the drugs of choice shifted from cocaine to
heroin and opium, then later to marijuana and back to cocaine, drug
smugglers began utilizing maritime sea and air routes to transport larger
shipments of drugs to the U.S. For nearly a century, the maritime drug
smuggling business slowly evolved while the Coast Guard focused its
attention on the major events of the day, including World War I,
Prohibition, World War II, the Korean and Vietnam wars.
During the 1920's Congress tasked the Coast Guard with
enforcing the 18th Amendment, necessitating a dramatic increase in resources
and funding for the Coast Guard. The massive effort needed to curtail the
substantial level of alcohol smuggling required the single largest
appropriation for personnel and new ship construction in its history. In
addition, the Navy
transferred more than 20 WWI-era destroyers and minesweepers for conversion
to the Coast Guard's battle with rum-runners, which ended with the 21st
Amendment repealing Prohibition. The Coast Guard's unique expertise in
countering smuggling operations also came into play during the Vietnam War,
when the Navy asked for our expertise to support "Operation Market Time," an
intensive multi-year campaign to stop the Communist flow of arms and
supplies by sea. The Coast Guard utilized its expertise in stopping
smuggling while facilitating legitimate commerce. Our patrol boats and
cutters patrolled 1,200 miles of coastline and had to contend with more than
60,000 junks and sampans. The Coast Guard and Navy's success in "Operation
Market Time," substantially reduced the amount of at- sea smuggling, forcing
the Viet Cong to use the longer and more difficult land route of the
infamous Ho Chi Minh Trail.
Shortly after the war in Vietnam ended, the Coast Guard found itself
fighting another war--a war that is still going on today with a determined,
well-financed opposition. In the early 1970's maritime drug smuggling became
a much more significant problem for the Coast Guard and we began making
seizures while engaged in other operations, like Search and Rescue and
Fisheries Law Enforcement. 1973 saw a dramatic
increase in smuggling attempts and the Coast Guard conducted its first Coast
Guard-controlled seizure on March 8, 1973, when the USCGC Dauntless boarded
a 38-foot sports fisherman, the Big L and arrested its master and crew, with
more than a ton of marijuana on board. Since then, the Coast Guard has
seized countless tons of marijuana and cocaine. Since Fiscal Year 1997 to
present, the Coast Guard has seized 806,469 pounds of cocaine and 333,285
pounds of marijuana.