Army Report - Drug Cartels, Terrorists Join Forces to Infiltrate U.S.
- From: Patriot Games <Patriot@xxxxxxxxxxx>
- Date: Sat, 06 Jun 2009 07:35:47 -0400
http://www.newsmax.com/headlines/mexico_border_fence/2009/06/05/222148.html
Secret Army Report: Drug Cartels, Terrorists Join Forces to Infiltrate
U.S.
Friday, June 5, 2009
A secret intelligence mission recently conducted along the southern
border of the United States found that drug cartels are teaming with
terrorists to exploit the numerous vulnerabilities along the sparsely
defended 2,000-mile Mexican border.
The mission, dubbed Operation Red Zone was conducted in February and
March by the Army?s Asymmetrical Warfare Group (AWG). The clandestine
intelligence gathering organization is a 350-member ?special mission
unit? that works to ?identify critical threats and enemy and friendly
vulnerabilities through global first-hand observations,? the Army
says.
The group is based at Ft. Meade, Maryland, also home to the National
Security Agency.
Red Zone investigators discovered numerous alien smuggling and drug
trafficking operations along the border. Perpetrators are using
?maritime surface craft, semi-submersible watercraft, ultra-light
aircraft and possess the capability [to] utilize other potential
aerial infiltration techniques to circumvent ground border protection
capabilities,? according to Asymmetric Observations Along the U.S.-
Mexican Border released May 14 by the Army to federal and state law
enforcement agencies.
?The AWG served as observers to advise the Border Patrol, Coast Guard
and local law enforcement. During the operation AWG personnel were not
authorized to enter Mexican territory and none were armed,? Donald
Cicotte, spokesman for the AWG at Ft. Meade tells Newsmax.
After the mission was completed, AWG personnel prepared a classified
report for the Department of Defense. A ?cleansed? version, like the
one viewed by Newsmax, was sent to civilian law enforcement agencies
?Obviously we don?t want to lose control of this [report,]? CiCotte
adds. ?We obviously don?t want to tell the bad guys what we know.?
Operating behind the scenes on the project was Joint Task Force ?
North (JTF-N), a joint-service command headed by Army Brig. Gen. Sean
B. McFarland. The 180-member task force helps local, state, and
federal law enforcement agencies plan and coordinate activities to
thwart drug cartels, human smugglers, and other emerging threats,
JTF-N spokesman Armando Carrasco tells Newsmax.
In this instance the U.S. Customs and Border Protection in the San
Diego area requested assistance identifying new threats and the AWG
was recruited, he said.
?We don?t have any resources of our own. We don?t have heavy equipment
or helicopters. For instance we can?t call up an engineer battalion to
build a road. We solicit units from all the services equipped with
what we need and asked them for help,? Carrasco said. ?We have three
JAG attorneys that ensure we are legally authorized to perform the
mission. The lawyers spell out in briefings to each unit that they
cannot be deployed in a law enforcement role.?
Militarty theorists define assymetrical threats as strategies and
tactics used by ill-equipped terrorists and criminals to circumvent
sophisticated defenses of more powerful governments. Common examples
include clandestine cross-border infiltration, smuggling, and
defeating sophisticated electronics and optical sensors with simple
counter-measures.
During the operation, the AWG worked with the Department of Homeland
Security and state and local law enforcement in the San Diego area to
?observe asymmetric infiltration operations and emerging asymmetric
threats.?
The Army investigators discovered that drug traffickers and smugglers
are employing ?exceptional surveillance and counter-surveillance
capabilities, robust technical communications capabilities as well as
effective marking and signaling techniques to facilitate smuggling of
illegal personnel and illicit cargo into the United States,? the
report says.
Some of the aliens are suspected of being terrorists from Middle
Eastern countries sneaking into the country by employing drug
smugglers skilled in transporting human cargo into the United States,
the report adds.
Few of the tactics employed by the border busters appear sinister at
first glance. In one example, the AWG reported seeing a woman setting
up a road-side tamale stand on the south-side of the primary border
fence. Upon investigation it was found that her car was parked
pointing toward ?known fence breach points? as a signal to border
jumpers.
Other seemingly innocent activities observed by the intelligence
operatives revealed drug trafficking and ?alien smuggling spotters?
using taxis and other legitimate businesses located on the U.S. side
of the border to monitor and report Border Patrol activities to
criminals who pay them with drug proceeds.
The innocuous nature of the smugglers tactics mask as far more
sinister motive than smuggling illegal aliens seeking the American
dream, the report concludes.
?Drug-related assassinations and kidnappings [in Mexico] are now
common-place occurrences throughout the country. Squad-sized units of
the police and army have been tortured, murdered, and their
decapitated bodies left on public display. The malignancy of drug
criminality now contaminates not only the 2000 miles of cross-border
U.S. communities, but stretches throughout the United States in more
than 295 cities.?
To accomplish their goals the drug and human smugglers use a variety
of guises to transport drugs and illegal aliens into the United
States, the report shows. Beside simply running across the border when
nobody is looking, the smugglers are digging dozens of tunnels under
the border, using homemade ?spelunking-style? ladders to climb over
border fences, and employing cutting torches and power tools to cut
through the barrier, the AWG observers discovered.
Smugglers are also using hidden containers inside externally mounted
fuel tanks of large trucks to hide both illegal drugs and people. One
technique involves cutting the end off of large tanker trucks,
inserting a ?sealed aquarium-like container into the tank? and then
welding the end back onto the tank with the illicit cargo inside. The
tank is then filled with fuel, ?making the submersed container much
harder to detect.?
In one instance, 49 illegal aliens were discovered inside a water
truck disguised to look like the water trucks the Border Patrol uses
to wet down paths to detect foot prints of infiltrators crossing the
border, the report said.
Terrorist organizations could adapt the tactic of hiding containers
within larger liquid haul tanks ?to deliver explosives onto U.S.
bases, compounds or through Ports of Entry,? the reports warns. ?The
carrier could vary from a small automobile gas tank to a large
seafaring oil tanker. The ability to detect this transport method
exploits the current tactics that border authorities use to identify
false compartment unless x-ray machines are available.?
The smugglers have not limited their operations to land. They also
employ a variety of ships, boats and semi-submersible watercraft that
can carry up to 10 tons and travel virtually undetected for more than
2,000 miles, the report said.
Drug traffickers used an estimated 50 to 80 ?semi-submersible?
watercraft to smuggle hundreds of tons of drugs and an unknown number
of people into the US last year. A semi-submersible is ?capable of
moving large amounts of narcotics virtually undetected,? the report
says.
The semi-submersible watercraft ranges from 33 to 60 feet in length
and operates with a crew of four personnel. The vessel can navigate
approximately 2000 miles and is virtually invisible to radar and
sonar.
In addition, the traffickers line the top of the vessel with lead to
counter infrared surveillance. Traffickers offload the cargo onto
power boats to move the product to shore for distribution. The
transfer commonly takes place ?25-30 nautical miles off shore.? After
the deliver is made ?the vessel is often scuttled,? the report said.
The Army fielded the intelligence gathering unit in 2006 to assess new
tactics potential adversaries may use to take advantage of U.S.
vulnerabilities, according to the Pentagon.
.
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