cannabisnews.com: U.S. To Start Peruvian Drug Flights 





U.S. To Start Peruvian Drug Flights 
Posted by FoM on January 30, 2002 at 12:36:28 PT
By Ken Guggenheim, Associated Press Writer
Source: Associated Press
The United States hopes to complete a plan next month for resuming anti-drug surveillance flights over Peru and Colombia — flights that could lead to the shooting down of planes flown by suspected traffickers, a State Department official said Wednesday.The flights have been suspended since the Peruvian military mistakenly shot down a Baptist missionary plane last year, killing an American woman and her infant daughter.
Assistant Secretary of State Rand Beers said the United States is determined to resume the flights with changes in procedures to prevent other accidents."The issue is how, not whether" to resume flights, Beers told The Associated Press after meeting with reporters at the Organization of American States.Beers led the American side of a U.S.-Peruvian team that investigated the April 20 accident. It found that communications problems and a failure to follow proper procedures led to the downing.A CIA-operated surveillance plane had considered the missionary's flight to be suspicious and a Peruvian fighter was called in to intercept it. The U.S. crew later realized the flight was innocent, but couldn't stop the Peruvians from shooting at it.Veronica Bowers and her 7-month-old daughter, Charity, were killed. The missionary pilot, Kevin Donaldson, was wounded.In its foreign aid bill approved last month, Congress said no money could be spent on drug surveillance flights in Peru until new safeguards are in place to prevent accidental shootdowns.Also, a Senate panel in October recommended that the CIA stop running the interdiction flights, saying lax management was to blame for the downing.Beers said officials were still trying to work out details of how the air surveillance program would be operated and by whom. And though he said "hopefully nobody has to be shot down," that option would remain open for the Peruvian and Colombian militaries if a suspected drug flight refuses to land."The worst-case scenario obviously is the use of deadly force to bring a plane to the ground," he said.Peru's policy of shooting down suspected drug flights is credited with the country's sharp drop in the production of coca, the raw material for cocaine. Peru had been the world's main producer of coca in the 1990s, before the shootdowns began. Now most coca cultivation takes place in Colombia, the world's leading producer of cocaine.Both Peru and Colombia have said that trafficking has increased since the United States suspended surveillance flights.Beers said he has seen no evidence of an increase, though it may be true. With the suspension of the drug flights, the United States has less information about trafficking in the region."We have less eyes on the area of that kind of activities than we have had," he said. Though U.S. officials haven't seen more trafficking, "doesn't mean it isn't there."On the Net:State Department narcotics control bureau: http://www.state.gov/g/inl/narc/Source: Associated PressAuthor: Ken Guggenheim, Associated Press WriterPublished: Wednesday, January 30, 2002Copyright: 2002 The Associated Press Related Articles & Web Site:Colombia Drug War Newshttp://freedomtoexhale.com/colombia.htmPeru To Press for Drug Flights http://cannabisnews.com/news/thread10839.shtmlU.S. Shares Fault In Peru Incident http://cannabisnews.com/news/thread10482.shtmlTreachery Over The Andeshttp://cannabisnews.com/news/thread9484.shtml
Home Comment Email Register Recent Comments Help




Comment #3 posted by Elfman_420 on January 30, 2002 at 17:36:06 PT
CIA needs to be abolished
The CIA used to traffic cocaine and heroin to fund their "covert operations" in the late 70s and early 80s.
(And they have the nerve to arrest me for smoking cannabis.)But it turns out the operations were only designed to cause conflict between and within 3rd world countries. When conflicts become large enough, the U.S. could "officially" step in, often helping the exact opposite side they were selling weapons to in trade for drugs, which they then profited from. War = Profits. This is just more some other stupid thing the CIA is involved in.Abolish the CIA.
[ Post Comment ]


Comment #2 posted by mayan on January 30, 2002 at 16:39:51 PT
"suspected"
Isn't it nice how they can just shoot down any "suspected" trafficker? This is such a well thought out policy! NOT!!!
[ Post Comment ]


Comment #1 posted by Dark Star on January 30, 2002 at 13:47:05 PT
Only a Matter of Time
This idiocy will be repeated and more innocents will die. No real change will occur in coca produced, or consumed in the USA. The price will remain low. The Feds will pat themselves on the back for being tough. Peruvians will continue to suffer. Europe will condemn the policy, but Amerika's ruling elite will shrug and continue to do as they wish.
[ Post Comment ]


Post Comment