Exploratory Study of Operational Approaches to Increase Narcotics Interdiction in the Maritime Domain
Abstract
In an effort to counter narcotraffickers, the United States formed Joint Inter-Agency Task Force-South (JIATF-S). JIATF-S represents the whole-of-government approach to narcotics interdiction in the Eastern Pacific Ocean and Caribbean Sea. In the maritime domain, JIATF-S uses U.S. Coast Guard (USCG) aircraft and ships, Customs and Border Protection (CBP) aircraft, and Department of Defense (DoD) aircraft and ships to detect, monitor, track, and interdict smugglers at sea. These key resources are not solely dedicated to fighting the war on drugs; they are responsible for numerous other foreign and domestic missions. drug interdiction is only one of 11 mandated missions the USCG is charged with overseeing. Narcotics operations, which fall under Homeland Defense and Civil Support for the DoD, are identified as one of six core mission areas. CBP's Air and Marine Operations Branch holds maritime drug interdiction as one of three key mission areas. These competing demands often lead to a limited allocation of resources by the agencies mentioned above, thus requiring an economy of force approach. The primary research question is as follows: How should the U.S. Government best use limited resources to interdict narcotics on the high seas, and how can it improve interdiction efficiency? Subordinate questions are as follows: What trends exist in maritime smuggling?; How effective is the current U.S. counternarcotics strategy?; and How do Host-Nation and Partner-Nation relationships affect U.S. efforts? The study focuses heavily on U.S. Coast Guard cocaine interdiction efforts, primarily due to available metrics. Geographically, the research focuses on Eastern Pacific and Western Caribbean maritime transit zones. Data used in the study will be restricted to interdictions occurring between October 2006 and August 2011.
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- Jun 08, 2012
- Accession Number
- ADA563173
Entities
People
- Wesley H. Hester
Organizations
- United States Army Command and General Staff College