Border securityManned planes beating drones as the more capable tool in war on drugs
In the never-ending war on drugs, U.S. Navy planes are showing that technology does not necessarily mean improvement, as manned planes are outmaneuvering unmanned drones in catching cocaine smugglers traveling by sea; in 2011 the manned planes caught an average of $30 million of cocaine per day, and during the last five years they have detected more than 853,000 pounds of cocaine
A U.S. Navy P-3C Orion in flight // Source: baobinhthuan.com.vn
In the never-ending war on drugs, U.S. Navy planes are showing that technology does not necessarily mean improvement, as manned planes are outmaneuvering unmanned drones in catching cocaine smugglers traveling by sea.
The Navy’s fleet of 14 P-3 turbopop aircrafts are responsible for intercepting $11.1 billion worth of cocaine in 2011, while two Guardian drones, the maritime version of DHS land-based Predator drones, did not contribute to a single seizure during that time.
Planes and drones are not that different when matched up together; both can cover the same seas between the Galapagos Islands and Central America, and the drones can outlast the planes in the sky by roughly ten hours. Nextgov reports that despite the advantages of the drones, planes have been responsible for the majority of the seizures in the past few years. According to the DHS Customs and Border Protection (CBP), in 2011 the manned planes caught an average of $30 million of cocaine per day and during the last five years they have detected more than 853,000 pounds of cocaine. Officials would not comment on the success rate of the Guardian drones or specified the amount of cocaine they have helped intercept since their launch in 2009.
What the CBP did say was that there are several reasons that the Guardian drones do not have the same success as the planes. One reason, cited by DHS inspector general in his report, is that the Guardians and Predators sit idle 63 percent of the time that they are supposed to be flying, partly because they can not be dispatched in inclement conditions. Also, a lack of staffing and equipment, Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) restrictions, and other constraints have grounded operations.
Another factor that may be inhibiting the unmanned aircraft is the Joint Interagency Task Force South (JIATF), a command uniting DHS and the intelligence community as well as the Defense and Justice departments, is not yet comfortable having the Guardian help in the fight against drugs.
“We’re not using that specifically in that [task force] effort, again, because it’s a very focused capability,” General Douglas Fraser, commander of the U.S. Southern Command, said in March, according to a transcript of a discussion Fraser had with the Defense Writers Group. Controllers must “have it at the right place at the right time to support efforts.”
While the Predator drones have not been a big part of the war on drugs, they have contributed. Former DHS Counternarcotics Enforcement director Grayling Williams thinks that using both the P-3s and the Guardians will make it tougher for smugglers to get their product into the United States. He noted that P-3s, as is the case with drones, do not always detect narcotics on their own. Sometimes Joint Interagency Task Force South directs P-3 pilots to prime spots for catching images of criminals in the act, he said in an interview with nextgov.
“Through JIATF-S they do get tips,” said Williams, who retired in December 2011. “Depending on what’s going on, they may get vectored into a certain area … It’s a combination of getting tips but also doing a good job at surveillance.”
Having both assets work together helps the government when smugglers decide to change tier tactics as traffickers constantly switch-up their methods between the sea, air, and land. The question of whether the war on drugs can be won will not be answered anytime soon, but the combination of manned aircraft and machine certainly makes the government more capable in fighting this war.
Another factor is the privacy issue that lawmakers and many Americans are concerned about with the expanded use of eyes in the sky. Williams, however, says citizens should not be worried about their actions being caught on video.
“People who are not breaking the law have nothing to fear from drone pilots. You are talking about federal law enforcement. You are not talking about the U.S. military. You are not talking about a war zone,” Williams said.
