IN A RELATED EFFORT IN OCTOBER 1981 AS A PART OF THE HAITIAN MIGRANT INTERDIC-
TION OPERATION (HMIO) THE COAST GUARD, FUNDED BY THE STATE DEPARTMENT, BEGAN
TO WORK WITH THE HAITIAN NAVY TO TRAIN CREWS, REPAIR VESSELS AND PROVIDE FUEL•
THE COAST GUARD HAS NO PLANS TO ALTER SUBSTANTIALLY OUR COMMITMENT TO THE
HAITIAN MIGRANT INTERDICTION OPERATION IN 1984. OUR PRELIMINARY EVALUATION
OF THE PROGRAM SHOWS IT TO BE EXTREMELY EFFECTIVE, DESPITE THE RECENT INCIDENTS
OF BOATLOADS BEING SEIZED OFF THE FLORIDA COAST.

THIS PROGRAM HAS HAD OTHER SALUTARY SIDE BENEFITS. FOR EXAMPLE, OUR HMIO
CUTTERS HAVE SEIZED 11 DRUG SMUGGLING VESSELS CARRYING 73,829 POUNDS OF
MARIJUANA DURING THE EXECUTION OF THEIR MIGRANT INTERDICTION DUTIES.
THE MERE
PRESENCE OF A CUTTER IN THE WINDWARD PASSAGE ON A FULL-TIME BASIS HAS DONE
MUCH TO AID US IN DISRUPTING THE NARCOTICS TRAFFIC IN THE AREA. WE HAVE ALSO
CONTINUED OUR SELF-HELP AND MAINTENANCE PROGRAM WITH THE HAITIAN NAVY. THIS
PROGRAM HAS GREATLY AIDED THEIR CAPABILITY TO COMBAT DRUG SMUGGLING IN THEIR
WATERS, AS A RECENT UNASSISTED MAJOR "BUST" OF A SMUGGLING VESSEL ILLUSTRATES.
THESE INITIATIVES WILL CONTINUE IN 1984.

THERE ARE A NUMBER OF ADDITIONAL INTERNATIONAL EFFORTS TAKING PLACE IN THIS HEMISPHERE INVOLVING THE U.S. COAST GUARD.

THE INTER-AMERICAN MARITIME INTELLIGENCE NETWORK (IAMIN) IS IN OPERATION LINK-
ING THE U.S. COAST GUARD WITH THE COAST GUARD OR NAVY OF BAHAMAS, COLOMBIA,
DOMINICAN REPUBLIC, ECUADOR, HAITI, HONDURAS, MEXICO, PANAMA AND VENEZUELA.
WE ARE PROVIDING ASSISTANCE TO THE LESSER ANTILLES IN ESTABLISHING A COMMUNI-
CATION LINK BETWEEN THE MANY ISLAND NATIONS TO PROMOTE INTERISLAND COOPERATION
FOR DRUG INTERDICTION, AMONG OTHER THINGS.

IN NOVEMBER OF 1981 AN AGREEMENT WAS FORMALIZED, BY EXCHANGE OF NOTES BETWEEN THE UNITED KINGDOM AND THE U.S. UNDER ITS TERMS THE COAST GUARD MAY BOARD IN THE GULF OF MEXICO, CARIBBEAN SEA AND UP TO 150 MILES OFF THE

6

ATLANTIC COAST OF THE UNITED STATES, PRIVATE VESSELS FLYING THE BRITISH

FLAG IF WE BELIEVE THE VESSEL HAS ON BOARD A CARGO OF DRUGS FOR IMPORTATION
INTO THE U.S. IN VIOLATION OF U.S. LAWS. TO DATE THERE HAVE BEEN TEN

SEIZURES UNDER THIS AGREEMENT.

ONGOING DISCUSSIONS WITH SEVERAL CARIBBEAN COUNTRIES WILL, I HOPE, PRODUCE
SIMILAR AGREEMENTS TO ENHANCE OUR OPERATIONAL EFFECTIVENESS.

IN NOVEMBER 1981 THE COAST GUARD INTITIATED INCREASED COOPERATIVE INTELLIGENCE
EFFORTS, TARGETING THE MARITIME TRAFFICKERS IN THE CARIBBEAN SEA, GULF OF
MEXICO AND WATERS OFF THE SOUTHEAST U. S. COAST. SINCE ITS COMMENCEMENT THESE
ACTIVITIES HAVE LED TO 38 SEIZURES SOLELY ATTRIBUTABLE TO THESE EFFORTS AND
CONTRIBUTED SIGNIFICANTLY TO THE OVERALL STRATEGIC DEPLOYMENT OF CUTTERS AND
AIRCRAFT. THIS REPRESENTS 30 PERCENT OF OUR SEIZURES SINCE NOVEMBER. THESE 38
SEIZURES NETTED 806,586 POUNDS OF MARIJUANA AND 282 ARRESTS. THE OPERATION IS
ALSO PROVIDING ENFORCEMENT AGENCIES WITH CURRENT TRAFFICKING TRENDS, INFORMA-
TION ON THE MANAGEMENT PROBLEMS EXPERIENCED BY THE MARITIME SMUGGLER AND
INCIDENTAL INTELLIGENCE ASSOCIATED WITH THE OVERALL INTERNATIONAL DRUG TRAFFICKING
PROBLEM.

IN MY JUDGMENT IT IS TOO EARLY TO TELL IF OUR EFFORTS HAVE RAISED THE DETER-
RENCE LEVEL TO THE POINT WHERE LONG TERM PATTERNS OF MARITIME DRUG SMUGGLING
HAVE CHANGED. HOWEVER, THERE IS LITTLE DOUBT THAT OUR EFFORTS ARE HAVING AN
IMPACT DRUG SMUGGLERS ARE BEING FORCED TO RESORT TO MORE DEVIOUS AND COMPLEX

STRATEGIES IN THEIR ATTEMPTS TO ELUDE US. AS WE CONTINUE TO SUCCEED IN INTERDICTING MORE AND MORE OF THESE VESSELS AND PROSECUTING THEIR CREWS, THE DETERRENT EFFECT WILL INCREASE. THIS MAY ALSO BE HELPED BY INCREASED INTERNATIONAL COOPERATION OR INITIATIVES WITH OUR CARIBBEAN NEIGHBORS.

PERHAPS SOMEDAY MARITIME DRUG SMUGGLING WILL BECOME TOO RISKY TO BE ATTRACTIVE TO SMUGGLERS. I CERTAINLY HOPE SO!

THAT CONCLUDES MY PREPARED TESTIMONY, MR. CHAIRMAN I WILL BE HAPPY TO ANSWER
ANY QUESTIONS YOU OR THE MEMBERS OF THE COMMITTEE MAY HAVE.

DRUG LAW ENFORCEMENT STRATEGY

WEDNESDAY, JUNE 8, 1983

HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES,

SELECT COMMITTEE ON NARCOTICS ABUSE AND CONTROL,

Washington, D.C. The select committee met, pursuant to call, at 9:30 a.m., in room 2337, Rayburn House Office Building, Hon. Charles B. Rangel (chairman of the select committee) presiding.

Present: Representatives Charles B. Rangel, James H. Scheuer, William J. Hughes, Sam B. Hall, Jr., Mel Levine, Solomon P. Ortiz, Lawrence J. Smith, Benjamin A. Gilman, Lawrence Coughlin, Michael G. Oxley, Stan Parris, and Duncan Hunter.

Staff Present: John T. Cusack, chief of staff; Richard B. Lowe, III, chief counsel; George R. Gilbert, counsel; Edward H. Jurith, counsel; Michael J. Kelley, counsel; Joyce Clements, professional staff member; Ricardo R. Laremont, professional staff member; Elliott A. Brown, minority staff director; Brenda L. Yager, minority counsel; Sandra J. Boek, assistant minority counsel; and Sharon Wright, minority staff assistant.

Mr. RANGEL. The Select Committee on Narcotics Abuse and Control will come to order. I say good morning on behalf of the committee.

This is a further hearing in our series on drug law enforcement strategy, embracing a major segment of the select committee's oversight responsibility. On May 24 we heard testimony from Francis M. Mullen, Jr., Acting Administrator of the Drug Enforcement Administration, and from Adm. James S. Gracey, the commandant of the U.S. Coast Guard. Today we are examining another key agency in the Federal enforcement effort, the U.S. Customs Service.

We are happy to have Commissioner William von Raab as our witness on the activities and prospects of the agency he heads. I want to thank him for his cooperation with our committee thus far in preparations for this hearing. I am confident he will give us additional insight into how the Customs Service can make the most effective possible contribution to the Federal program against the international narcotics traffic.

The Customs Service, of course, has many responsibilities besides drug enforcement. Its forerunners go back to the first Congress, 1789, long before anyone worried about illegal drug shipments. But the interdiction of contraband narcotics at our borders has become one of the most crucial functions of the Customs Service, on which the welfare of millions of Americans depends most closely.

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The effort of Customs in this field goes far beyond the visible work of inspectors at airports and other points of entry. Customs patrols monitor our borders by sea and air. The Service trains Customs personnel of foreign governments in interdiction techniques and works internationally through the Customs Cooperation Council.

There is concern in this select committee, frankly, about whether the Customs Service is being given sufficient resources to carry out its complex task in drug enforcement. The demands on the agency are growing with the increase in drug trafficking of all kinds, and with the formation of new interagency bodies requiring Customs participation, such as the newly created organized crime drug enforcement task forces and the National Narcotics Border Interdiction System.

In the face of these demands, of course, the administration is still talking about cutting 2,000 in fiscal year 1984. The Congress may take another look at this to see whether or not we should restore the threatened positions and, indeed, add new positions, but we will be dependent upon the insight given to us by the Commissioner before we reach these decisions.

We need a candid exchange, and Mr. von Raab can enlighten us on these problems, as well as other important points. We would like to know about the Customs role in the formation of an overall Federal drug strategy and about Customs relations with other important agencies in the enforcement effort.

I want to congratulate the Customs Service for the way it has carried out its responsibilities. I speak on behalf of the committee and the full Congress in giving you support for the fine work that you have done and, hopefully, support in the future for the plans that you may have.

One of the major pitfalls that we have in the Nation, and indeed in the Congress, is getting a feel that our efforts from the agencies and the departments are coordinated in the executive branch.

We in this committee have come together, representing different standing committees and subcommittees, so that the congressional effort would be coordinated. We are not satisfied that this same type of effort is being made by the executive branch, notwithstanding the individual cooperation of this committee and the Congress generally.

Mr. Gilman.

Mr. GILMAN. Thank you, Mr. Chairman.

Mr. Chairman, I would also like to welcome Commissioner von Raab, Mr. Corcoran and Mr. Hurley in joining us this morning. I want to commend you, Chairman Rangel, for continuing this important series of oversight hearings on Federal drug strategy. I think these hearings are extremely important at this time, with ever-increasing narcotics trafficking.

The U.S. Customs Service, along with the Drug Enforcement Administration and the U.S. Coast Guard, is one of the primary Federal agencies responsible for law enforcement and for halting narcotics at our borders. I would like to commend the Custom Service's efforts as part of the Vice President's task force and their work in our own State of New York for the work that they have done so successfully.