Thursday, December 18, 2008

US Hunts Caribbean Drugs But Odds Favor Smugglers

A U.S. Air Force crew member sleeps during a one-hour break aboard a surveillance jet on a counter-narcotics mission lasting roughly twelve hours over the Caribbean, Sunday, Dec. 14, 2008. The E-3 Sentry Airborne Warning and Control System (AWACS) plane is used to detect and monitor suspected smugglers in the Caribbean, the transit zone for about 30 percent of the cocaine that enters the U.S. (AP Photo/Brennan Linsley)

From Yahoo News/AP:

SOMEWHERE OVER THE CARIBBEAN – It was early evening and the crew on a U.S. 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.

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