“More Navy Ships Headed to South, Central America to Stop Drug-Trafficking” –Military.com

https://media.defense.gov/2019/Jan/09/2002077891/-1/-1/0/190108-A-BS728-001.JPG

Military.com is reporting that SOUTHCOM Commander, Adm. Craig Faller, claimed we would soon see additional assets rotating through his Area of Responsibility (AOR) including more ships and aircraft for drug interdiction.

“We’ve been working six to eight ships” to cover the Caribbean and Pacific approaches to the U.S. to counter the drug trade, he said, but the number needed “to cover that zone is much larger.”

“You’ll see additional forces in the air, on land, on sea, and some maneuver forces ashore” that could include a Security Force Assistance Brigade training unit to work with allies, Faller added.

We have been hearing that DOD is going to be providing more resources to SOUTHCOM for at least a couple of years. Perhaps this time they mean it. We have seen a couple of LCS deployments to the Area. One of those never got beyond the Caribbean, resulted in no seizures and ended early. Hopefully they will become more effective with more experience.

6 thoughts on ““More Navy Ships Headed to South, Central America to Stop Drug-Trafficking” –Military.com”

I think that the additional air assets would be the most helpful by using more ships as launching platforms for UAVs and helicopters.

The key is to get the Go-Fast boats to dump their cargo overboard and a RIHIB isn’t necessarily needed on-scene if a helicopter could do this. The other aspect is to ensure that the cargo isn’t retrieved later, but once overboard, the drugs should be forever lost or spoiled.

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Chuck Hill on March 14, 2020 at 8:51 pm said:

Hopefully there will be more air assets but we can’t expect smugglers to dump their loads when they see a fixed wing or UAS, but unless very close to shore, helicopters only come from ships.

It is still desirable to catch the smugglers. They can provide intelligence.

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