Text: State Dept.'s Crow Discusses Aerial Interdiction in South America

01 May 2001

Text: State Dept.'s Crow Discusses Aerial Interdiction in South America

Outlines successes of program in Peru

A top State Department official told Congress May 1 that U.S.-supported air interdiction efforts in South America have been notably successful in curbing the illegal production and distribution of cocaine.

"For calendar year 2000 only a little over 34,000 hectares of coca were under cultivation in Peru -- a 70 percent reduction since 1995," John Crow, director of Latin American and Caribbean Programs at the State Department Bureau for International Narcotics and Law Enforcement Affairs, said in congressional testimony.

"The combination of the eradication of illicit coca crops and the air bridge denial program ultimately produced the unprecedented removal of coca as the premiere cash crop, causing farmers to abandon coca in favor of legitimate crops and paving the way for a program of alternative development which had theretofore been out of reach," he said.

Crow was one of several U.S. officials who testified on the air interdiction program, following Peruvian authorities' April 20 shootdown of an aircraft carrying U.S. missionaries. One of the missionaries and her infant daughter were killed in the shootdown.

Crow expressed condolences over the tragic incident, and said that a high-level U.S. interagency team had traveled to Peru to conduct a thorough investigation. The Bush Administration has suspended U.S. participation in the air interdiction program until all questions regarding the program have been answered.

Following is the text of Crow's testimony, as prepared for delivery:

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Statement of John M. Crow
Director of Latin American and Caribbean Programs
Bureau for International Narcotics and Law Enforcement Affairs
Department of State

before the
Criminal Justice, Drug Policy and Human Resources Subcommittee
of the House Committee on Government Reform

May 1, 2001

Mr. Chairman and Members of the Committee:

I want to thank you for this opportunity to speak to you today about U.S. air interdiction efforts in South America after the tragedy that occurred in Peru on April 20. Once again I would like to express my condolences and heartfelt sympathy to the Bowers family, and my best wishes for the speedy recovery of Kevin Donaldson.

Assistant Secretary of State for International Narcotics and Law Enforcement Affairs Rand Beers left for Peru last weekend as head of a U.S. government investigative team to try to determine exactly what happened on April 20, what went wrong, and what we can do to ensure that such a tragedy never happens again. He will be working with the Peruvian government team led by Major General Gustavo Gutierrez Agnelli in a joint investigation. As soon as the investigation is complete we will of course share the results with the Congress. In the meantime, please let me take the opportunity to explain briefly the history of the air interdiction program in Peru.

In 1995 Peru was the world's largest producer of coca with over 115,000 hectares of coca under cultivation. Farmers who grew the coca would pick the leaves and process them into a crude paste, then sell it primarily to Colombia narcotrafficking organizations who would fly down from Colombia, purchase the paste from the farmer, and then fly it back to Colombia as paste (or further refined into cocaine base) for refinement into the end product, cocaine hydrochloride. Because the coca growing area of Peru is located in the central part of the country, these flights from Colombia to Peru and back known as the "air bridge," could take up to four hours each way. In 1994 the U.S. and Peru undertook to attempt to deny narcotraffickers access to this air bridge by identifying flights that were carrying illicit narcotics and forcing them to land, disabling and/or seizing the plane, arresting the criminals, and seizing the illicit drugs. If the pilots of these aircraft refused to land, they would be forced to do so. Peru already had passed a law allowing the use of arms against narcotics trafficking civil aircraft under very restricted conditions.

In 1994 the U.S. Congress passed a law allowing U.S. government employees to assist foreign nations in the interdiction of aircraft when there is "reasonable suspicion" that the aircraft is primarily engaged in illicit drug trafficking. The law provides that this can be done if (1) the aircraft is reasonably suspected to be primarily engaged in illicit drug trafficking; and (2) the President of the United States has determined that (a) interdiction is necessary because of the extraordinary threat posed by illicit drug trafficking to the national security of that foreign country, and (b) the country has appropriate procedures in place to protect against innocent loss of life in the air or on the ground in connection with interdiction, which shall at a minimum include effective means to identify and warn an aircraft before the use of force is directed against the aircraft. President Clinton issued the requisite determination regarding Peru on December 8, 1994.

Since 1995 many narcotrafficking aircraft have been forced down in Peru. Once intercepted by the Peruvian Air Force (FAP), some were seized or destroyed on the ground. Some were shot down. A few complied with FAP instructions to land. Once narcotraffickers, and especially pilots, understood that Peru was serious about stopping these flights, the amount pilots charged to fly drugs skyrocketed, and finally the pilots refused to fly at all. As a result, the traffickers could not easily and cheaply obtain Peruvian coca paste, and they went elsewhere to make their purchases. The price of coca leaf at the farmgate dropped below the break-even point. Legitimate Peruvian farmers had no one to whom to sell their coca, so they simply abandoned the coca bushes and began planting licit crops. In 1998 and 1999 no planes were shot down or forced down, but the mere threat of that possibility appears to have kept narcotraffickers from making the long trip from Colombia, and coca cultivation in Peru continued to decline. In 2000 two aircraft were intercepted and forced down, and prior to April 20 of this year one plane was identified and forced down.

For calendar year 2000 only a little over 34,000 hectares of coca were under cultivation in Peru -- a 70% reduction since 1995. The combination of the eradication of illicit coca crops and the air bridge denial program ultimately produced the unprecedented removal of coca as the premiere cash crop, causing farmers to abandon coca in favor of legitimate crops and paving the way for a program of alternative development which had theretofore been out of reach.

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