
                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: SATURDAY, March 10, 1990                   TAG: 9003102257
SECTION: NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL                    PAGE: A1   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: The Baltimore Sun
DATELINE: WASHINGTON                                 LENGTH: Medium

MILITARY STEPS UP DRUG ROLE

The U.S. military has started to expand its war against drugs on several fronts, especially in the southern Caribbean, where at least four ships are now being used to monitor movements of suspected drug traffickers 24 hours a day, the Pentagon announced Friday.

"We're talking about disrupting the flow patterns of the drug traffickers, making it costlier, making it more risky to do business," said Assistant Secretary of Defense Stephen Duncan, the Pentagon's drug policy coordinator.

The military's role in the drug war actually will exceed requirements set by Congress and cost $877 million this year, exceeding the $450 million amount in the current defense budget, Duncan said.

Steps being taken include:

Four or five Navy ships will continue to patrol the Caribbean solely to alert the Customs Service and Coast Guard of suspicious sea or air traffic. Added monitoring would come from other ships on periodic anti-drug exercises in the region and an undisclosed number of radar-equipped aircraft, Air Force AWACS surveillance planes moved recently to Puerto Rico and Navy E-2C Hawkeyes and P-3C Orions.

Six "aerostats" or radar-carrying balloons have been deployed near the southwest U.S. border, with two more in Florida, each connected to the North American Aerospace Defense Command. By 1992, a "fence" of 15 balloons will be in place along the southern border.

Local law enforcement agencies can receive wider military training assistance, from foreign language instruction to help in setting up rehabilitation camps for first-time drug offenders.

The U.S. Pacific Command's fleet will increase time at sea for counter-narcotics efforts by 146 percent and its aircraft will fly 24 percent more hours in the drug war this year. The Atlantic Command's use of ships to spot traffickers will increase this year by 78 percent over 1989. Aircraft use will increase by 219 percent.

by CNB