Interdiction of Drug Supply

INTERDICTION OF DRUG SUPPLY -- (Senate - January 16, 2007)

Mr. NELSON of Florida. Mr. President, I just returned from a trip to Haiti and to the Bahamas. I met with the governments of each of those nations on a variety of topics, not the least of which was the interdiction of the drugs. We increasingly see drugs coming out of Colombia, going into Venezuela and being transported by air out of Venezuela--including from remote parts of southern Venezuela as well as northern Venezuela. They then fly to destinations where the cocaine is dropped and repackaged into smaller packages to be shipped, destined for Europe and the United States.

The increase in the number of flights from 2003 to 2006 is incredible. A map showing lines that indicate the number of flights--they are solid going from Venezuela to the Dominican Republic and to Haiti. The flights have increased enormously, while at the same time the number of drugs transported by sea has diminished. Our Coast Guard is out there. I was with the Coast Guard. They have been fairly successful in interdicting at sea. So as a result, the drug smugglers are using small airplanes flying from Venezuela to the island of Hispaniola, Haiti and the Dominican Republic, where they are sending the drugs to be shipped on to additional destinations.

I spoke at length with President Preval, the President of Haiti, about this problem. President Preval made reference to a 1998 agreement in which the Government of Haiti and the United States pledged to cooperate and, indeed, that cooperation has occurred. And it has occurred on those shipments coming by sea.

But the Government of the United States cannot interdict an airplane unless we shoot them down, and we are not going to do that. So when these flights come into Haiti or the Dominican Republic they either land or drop their cargo of cocaine. That is where the local government, the local authorities, have to be able and willing to make the arrest. Of course this is difficult, in a country such as Haiti that can hardly keep its head above water, as it is trying to with a new government. I must say, that certainly has my support and I believe that President Preval is doing a good job, and is making some progress.

In addition, I spoke at length with the Prime Minister and with the director general of the Haitian National Police. I am very impressed with Director General Andresol. He is an impressive fellow. He has set out a plan to vet all 7,000 members of the Haitian National Police, and he started the vetting process with the top person--himself. He has started the vetting of the police, and he is going to continue to try to get out the graft and corruption. If he is successful, then I believe you will see that the Haitian National Police have the ability to make the arrest when drugs are dropped or transshipped through Haiti. I hope the same thing is going to be done in the Dominican Republic.

Now, in the midst of all this, further to the north, as you get into the Bahamas and the Turks and Caicos, we have been enormously successful since the late 1980s in the interdiction of the drugs. The DEA, working with other law enforcement agencies, working with the Coast Guard, working with the Defense Department, and working with the governments of the countries--and the one that I particularly concentrated on this time after Haiti was the Bahamas--they have been very successful. They have helicopters stationed in the area, the Coast Guard at Andros Island in the Bahamas. The Army stationed helicopters at Greater Exuma Island, next to the town of Georgetown in the middle of the Bahamas, and at the southern end of the Bahamas where a the Coast Guard has another station with helicopters.

Well, the Army, being strapped for helicopters, announced the plan that it was going to remove the helicopters. So we went to work. Our Ambassador to the Bahamas, John Rood, brought it to my attention. Several other Members of Congress got involved, and as a result of this an interagency meeting occurred in which it was agreed that although the Army would pull the helicopters out probably by this October, they would still pay for the station for the next 5 years. And we worked it out to get new helicopters that would be transferred to DEA--the Drug Enforcement Administration. Therefore all of that area of the Bahamas in the middle, between Andros to the north and to the west, the island of Exuma in the middle, and further south the to the Coast Guard helicopters--all of that area in the middle would not be blind.

On Sunday I went out there and flew with both the Army and the Coast Guard to see their operation and to be briefed on the details. I was briefed on a live chase that occurred at the time, as well as visiting some of our troops. And I will just tell you what patriotic Americans these are. They are down there for 4 months without their families. They had just gotten home after a year's deployment in Iraq. They are going to be able to go back home in another month and be at home for 2, 3 months, and then they are going back to Iraq. This is the kind of dedication that we have in our Armed Forces.

Well, fortunately, it looks as if we are going to be able to retain new helicopters for this operation so that we will not be blind. But it is going to mean the continued cooperation between the Government of the Bahamas and the United States, building on a history of considerable cooperation. It also means that we need continued, increased progress with President Preval of Haiti and President Fernandez of the Dominican Republic.

Haiti has so many needs. Haiti has desperate needs in health care, desperate needs in infrastructure, desperate needs in education. One little thing we did in a step in the right direction--and many Senators here cosponsored the bill--I along with them--is called the HOPE legislation. It will allow textiles from outside to be brought into Haiti, where then value is added by making them into garments. It is estimated that 30,000 jobs will be provided. That is out of hundreds of thousands of people who do not have jobs. But it is a step in the right direction.

I want to give credit to former Senator Mike DeWine of Ohio, who was the sponsor of a bill called HERO and also the sponsor of the legislation that passed called HOPE. He has a heart for Haiti and has been there many times. So the fruits of his long labors and the fruits of the labors of others of us in this Chamber have finally come to fruition to give them another ray of hope.

I am impressed with President Preval. I do believe that he is honest and on the right course. I am also a realist and recognize that there is corruption all around him in his Government. That is one of the main chores that he has in rooting out corruption, so that he can get that Government on the right path, so that they can start restoring some of the services to a people in desperate need. The Haitian people are remarkable. They are so ingenious and industrious and entrepreneurial, with a positive, optimistic outlook. They have just been shackled under years of exceptional poverty.

So, finally, the United States stepped forward with the HOPE legislation. Finally, the United States is getting increased cooperation from the now Government of Haiti, and it is exceptionally important in the future that cooperation continues. It is so important not only because of Haiti, but it is important because it is our children who are on the receiving end of all of the drugs coming out of South America.

http://thomas.loc.gov/