Drug Control: International Counterdrug Sites Being Developed
Abstract
From the 1980s until 1999, Howard Air Force Base in Panama was the main location from which the Department of Defense (DOD), the U.S. Coast Guard, and the U.S. Customs Service conducted counterdrug operations in South America, the Caribbean, and the Eastern Pacific. However, the United States ceased counterdrug operations from Howard on May 1,1999.1 To permit the United States to continue to mount counter drug operations close to the drug producing or source zones and illicit drug trans shipment or transit zones, the U.S. Southern Command, which is responsible for counterdrug operations within the region, sought usable airfields. The United States has secured 10-year agreements for the use of four airfields for counterdrug activities. However, each airfield requires some construction to support a designated mix of aircraft. Since the spring of 1999, the Defense Department and the U.S. Customs Service have been conducting limited counterdrug operations from airfields at Manta, Ecuador; and from Aruba and Curacao in the Netherlands Antilles;2 and since August 2000 from San Salvador, El Salvador.
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- Dec 01, 2000
- Accession Number
- AD1167477
Entities
People
- Andrew Crawford
- Jess T. Ford
- Lawrence L. Suda
- Maria-alaina Rambus
- Nancy Ragsdale
- Patricia Martin
- Ray Wrysch
Organizations
- United States Government Accountability Office