Coast Guard Faces Challenges at Sea, and at the Budget Office – New York Times

The proposed reduction in money comes as the smuggling problem has become more urgent. About 70 percent of the cocaine consumed in the United States passes through a corridor that runs up to the borders of Guatemala and El Salvador. Fighting among drug cartels that control the smuggling routes has led to record-high homicide rates and driven thousands of people to the United States-Mexico border seeking asylum.

Founded more than 100 years ago, the Coast Guard, which is part of the Department of Homeland Security, operates simultaneously as a military service, a law enforcement agency and as a member of the American intelligence community. Known primarily for its role in search and rescue missions, the Coast Guard said its priorities are tackling drug trafficking organizations and protecting the southern border.

Funding the Coast Guard at current levels nearly $10 billion leaves the service struggling to combat the drug trafficking that has been pushed offshore by beefed up security on the southern land border.

We give you the biggest bang for the buck, said Adm. Paul F. Zukunft, commandant of the Coast Guard. But our resources are limited. As a result, we cant catch all the drug smuggling we know about. Just last year we had intelligence on nearly 580 possible shipments but couldnt go intercept them because we didnt have the ships or planes to go after them.

The 418-foot Stratton, based in Alameda, is one of the most advanced vessels in the Coast Guard fleet, equipped with advanced radar systems, infrared video, a helicopter and a small drone called the ScanEagle. Built in 2012, it is one of six national security cutters that are in service and provide a significant upgrade to the Coast Guards arsenal.

On a recent morning aboard the Stratton, dozens of crew members dressed in blue work uniforms scurried about making repairs. The sound of drilling echoed through the corridors of the ship. In less than four weeks, the Stratton will be headed out to sea.

In the expanse of the Pacific, cutters like the Stratton target fishing boats, speedboats called pangas and homemade submarines that are used to smuggle tons of drugs from Central America through Mexico and ultimately into the United States. Cartels in Latin America and the Caribbean have increasingly turned to trafficking on the high seas as cocaine production in South America has reached record levels.

Catching drugs in the ocean is vital to Homeland Security efforts because that is when the volume and the purity of the drugs are at their highest. It is also where drug traffickers are most vulnerable.

We take advantage of the fact that we have the advantage on the water, said Capt. Nathan Moore, the departing commander of the Stratton. When they see that huge ship coming at them over the horizon, most of them just give up.

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Coast Guard Faces Challenges at Sea, and at the Budget Office - New York Times