With increased U.S. Coast Guard intelligence traffickers having hard time doing business

By MINDELL SMALL,Guardian Staff Reporter

With an expansion in its intelligence network, the U.S. Coast Guard is making it more difficult for drug smugglers to pass through Bahamian waters undetected.

The Coast Guard's nearly two-decade-long relationship with Operation Bahamas Turks and Caicos, OPBAT, combined with an improving information gathering system on the ground in the Family Islands is paying off, said Rear Admiral Brian Peterman.

In June, Admiral Peterman took command of the Seventh Coast Guard district, an area that includes The Bahamas, extending from South Carolina in the north to Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands in the south.

He was in Nassau between Friday and Sunday, responding to an invitation by The Bahamas Air Sea Rescue Association, to attend its annual Ball, held on Saturday night.

In an exclusive interview with The Guardian, Mr Peterman said following the 9/11 terrorist attacks in the U.S., the Coast Guard intensified its efforts to thwart the smuggling of illegal narcotics into that country. September 11 apparently further sensitised the organisation to the reality that terrorists could also use drug smuggling routes to transport weapons of mass destruction.

He stressed the importance of bringing drug traffickers to justice, sending a message that both the United States and The Bahamas have zero tolerance for the illegal trade.

"We need to get the smugglers off the streets as well, and both in the United States - and we would hope in The Bahamas - there is an aggressive programme to prosecute, try and to put these smugglers in jail," he said.

"That is going to be the greatest deterrent to stopping this problem that we have of drugs and illegal migrants coming into our nations."

Praises OPBAT's success

Admiral Peterman praised OPBAT, saying it was a successful entity in the fight against drug trafficking. The Coast Guard has been participating in OPBAT operations since 1986.

OPBAT is a multi-agency international operation based in Nassau with a mission is to stop the flow of cocaine and marijuana originating in South American source countries, transiting The Bahamas, destined for the U.S.

It is a cooperative effort between the Drug Enforcement Administration, Department of State, the U.S. Army, Coast Guard and Customs Service and the governments of The Bahamas and the Turks and Caicos Islands.

"We have not only OPBAT, which has helicopters on Inagua island, and at AUTEC and at Georgetown, which the army flies, but we also have Coast Guard Cutters out doing patrols around Haiti," he explained.

Some of those Cutters have Royal Bahamas Defence Force ship riders on board as part of a comprehensive maritime agreement between The Bahamas and U.S. governments.

"So we're able to use the authority that the Bahamian ship rider brings along with our capability," Mr Peterman said.

Asked if the organisation was planning to increase its resources in the region, he said the Coast Guard had no immediate plans to do so, pointing out instead that it was focussed on becoming a more efficient maritime force by moving its existing equipment from one location to another, depending on the threat level.

"We only have a finite amount of resources to be able to counter that threat. So we have to be very judicious and also be very flexible about how we deploy those assets that we have."

No more Inagua balloons

Regarding the aerostat balloons that were once a part of the Inagua sky, Mr Peterman said the Coast Guard had no intention to replace them. The balloons were erected to detect drug planes, which dropped contraband at specific locations to be collected by dealers. Today, he said, that method of distribution, though still practised, has decreased significantly.

An aerostat is a large fabric envelope filled with helium. It can rise up to 15,000 feet while tethered by a single cable. Armed with sophisticated radar inside, the device can cost about $10 million to install and about three million to operate annually.

The first anti-drug aerostat went into operation at High Rock Grand Bahama in 1985. That balloon had a history of being down more than it was up and running and was therefore scrapped.

Apart from their cost, the balloons are not the favourite items to purchase since poor weather hampers their performance. And during high winds, they have to be brought to ground.

Admiral Peterman said an aerostat balloon still exists in the Florida Cays but noted that there are mixed results regarding its effectiveness.

Impressed with BASRA

Touching on the Coast Guard's relationship with BASRA, Mr Peterman said the two entities work very well together. He indicated that he was pleased with the search and rescue operations the Bahamian organisation has been mounting over the years.

"And we work with BASRA on a routine basis. The Coast Guard and BASRA probably do somewhere between 100 and 150 search and rescue cases cooperatively each year."

Peterman's work record

Mr Peterman said he was looking forward to the continued cooperation between The Bahamas and the U.S. on drug smuggling and migration matters.

He has an extensive maritime work record commanding two Coast Guard Cutters: the Woodrush out of Alaska and the Campbell out of Massachusetts.

He also served aboard the Coast Guard Cutters, Acusnet, and Sweetbrier. His missions included maintaining aids to navigation, saving stricken mariners, enforcing fisheries and drug laws, as well as preparing for military operations.

He also served as the first Coast Guard officer in the Military Liaison Office in Kingston, Jamaica, training Jamaica Defence Force personnel for peacekeeping operations in Grenada.

He currently serves as the Special Assistant to President Bush for Borders and Transportation Security on the Homeland Security Council.