Border Patrol Long Range Tracker Aircraft Disrupts Major Cartel Cocaine Distribution

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Air and Marine Operations (AMO) National Air Security Operations Center, P-3 Long Range Tracker and Airborne Early Warning crews and partners disrupted the flow of 113,779 pounds of cocaine in drug source and transit zones through the end of the third quarter of Fiscal Year 2021. It is estimated that United States Southern Command counter-narcotics operations involving Air and Marine Operations, federal and international partners denied transnational criminal organizations more than two billion dollars between October 1, 2020 and June 30, 2021.

National Air Security Operations Center P-3 capabilities are essential to United States Southern Command (SOUTHCOM) Operations, contributing to an increased law enforcement presence in narcotics transit zones. This partnership bolsters support to the U.S. and international law enforcement by sharing information and intelligence to help expand target packages.

Since the beginning of Fiscal Year 2021, AMO P-3 crews have flown 5,485 flight hours. Eighty-five percent of those flight hours have been piloted in collaboration with SOUTHCOM partners. For every hour flown by a P-3 aircrew during this timeframe, federal and international authorities stopped the flow of 24.3 pounds of cocaine.