U.S. Customs and Border Protection
In December, three government helicopters trailed the shown ultralight that had 350 pounds of marijuana strapped it and hit power lines before crashing in Tucson, Ariz.
Posted on 03/07/2009 6:05:27 AM PST by KeyLargo
Ultralight Aircraft Emerging Trend in Drug Trafficking
Posted: March 6th, 2009 11:00 AM GMT-05:00 U.S. Customs and Border Protection
In December, three government helicopters trailed the shown ultralight that had 350 pounds of marijuana strapped it and hit power lines before crashing in Tucson, Ariz.
EMILY BAZAR
Farmworkers who arrived at a San Luis, Ariz., lettuce field the morning of Nov. 17 found a grisly scene: the wreckage of an ultralight aircraft and the body of the pilot in the seat.
There were also six bundles -- 141 pounds -- of marijuana, San Luis Police Sgt. Gerardo Torres says.
"I've been working here the last seven years, and I haven't seen anything like that," he says.
An ultralight is a one-person motorized aircraft that resembles a hang glider. It is one of the newest tools smugglers are using to get drugs across the U.S.-Mexican border.
Flying drugs into the USA isn't new, but use of ultralights is an emerging trend, says Michael Kostelnik, a Customs and Border Protection (CBP) assistant commissioner. They fly low under cover of darkness and are harder to see on radar than larger planes. CBP has intercepted three drug-hauling ultralights since October, he says.
"This is a new twist," Kostelnik says. "You're really at war with drug cartels on this. They change tactics, and we have to change tactics in the same way."
The drug trade along the border has spawned a never-ending cat-and-mouse game between smugglers and law enforcement officers. The game has gotten harder for smugglers since the Department of Homeland Security beefed up border enforcement, adding agents, fencing, cameras and other detection technology.
There are 18,000 Border Patrol agents now, compared with fewer than 11,000 five years ago, the agency says. There are 608 miles of vehicle and pedestrian fencing, compared with about 140 in October 2006.
In the Border Patrol's Tucson sector, responsible for 262 miles of the border, smugglers have been testing novel tactics, including building ramps to boost drug-filled cars over 4- to 6-foot barriers, field operations supervisor Omar Candelaria says. "We're being more effective and they're trying alternate means to get around us," Candelaria says.
Ultralights are limited, though. They have a top speed of 60 to 65 mph and can't carry heavy loads, says Dick Knapinski, spokesman for the Experimental Aircraft Association. Carrying too much weight could contribute to a crash, he says. "Ultralights are not something that could be used to transport huge, copious amounts of any product, legal or illegal," he says.
An ultralight's skeleton is usually made of metal or carbon tubing and the wings from nylon fabric. Although an ultralight may be detectable on radar, depending on the type of radar and the plane's altitude, "it leaves a smaller impression on radar than a larger aircraft does," he says.
In October, a low-flying ultralight carrying 223 pounds of marijuana was spotted on radar crossing the border about 12 miles west of Nogales, Ariz., CBP spokesman Juan Muooz-Torres says. A helicopter trailed it until it landed outside Tucson. The Mexican pilot was captured and pleaded guilty to drug charges. He is awaiting sentencing.
In December, radar detected an ultralight also near Nogales. An unmanned CBP aircraft joined by three helicopters followed it, Muooz-Torres says. The ultralight clipped power lines near a Tucson casino before crashing, paralyzing the Mexican pilot. He was deported.
The aircraft was carrying 350 pounds of marijuana, he says.
Those ultralights were outfitted with cages to hold the drugs. The CBP believes the pilots intended to fly over a designated spot, pull a lever and drop the load before heading back over the border, Muooz-Torres says.
The pilot who crashed in November may have had trouble opening the cage, which could have contributed to the crash, he says.
Kostelnik acknowledges that ultralights probably have made it successfully into the USA. He says CBP is increasing air and ground patrols and interviewing apprehended pilots about the smuggling networks.
"Do I think we get 100% of everything? The answer is no," he says. "We're redoubling our efforts to try to ensure we get as much as we can."
U.S. Customs and Border Protection
In December, three government helicopters trailed the shown ultralight that had 350 pounds of marijuana strapped it and hit power lines before crashing in Tucson, Ariz.
Not surprised by this...
I’m surprised these drug lords havn’t adopted something from the PLO or other groups that send hundreds of rockets into Israel, with some electronics and small mods these rockets can be steered, and I know for a fact the viability of building 1/4 scale RC aircraft that can operate with an on board camera. They can fly across the border and literally drop the cargo and return just like a bomber run. Or just go full scale.
AVIATION PING
Geez, those drug lords sure got some dedicated employees.
IIRC he finally was reduced to ***parachuting*** from his planes with his big loads of coke, and on his final "drop" he had a parachute failure and plastered directly into someone's suburban driveway. Ouch.
Sally Denton wrote the definitive book about Thornton and his gang (he was a Lexington KY policeman), and it's a really great read:
The Bluegrass Conspiracy: An Inside Story of Power, Greed, Drugs and Murder .
Since our gov’t openly promotes drug smuggling (the 500 lb. “catch and release” rule for grass brought in by land ,, tons of cocaine shipped in by rail, see the “rite rail” congressional testimony) and I need the cash I’d be pleased to offer my services on a one-time basis for $$$,$$$.$$ and I am multi-instrument.
A standard Cessna , stripped for weight and equipped with a ballistic recovery system could “land” anywhere , even places where a helicopter cannot follow due to dense growth.
Sort of like a WW2 “buzz bomb” except it deploys a parachute upon a GPS coordinate?
How long until the RATS make ultralights illegal to stop this?
My thought,too.The article reads like a rationale for outlawing ultralights.
Jose, if you deliver these drugs, I will pay you MANY pesos AND let your family live!
“How long until the RATS make ultralights illegal to stop this? “
Um..It’s Mexican ultralights coming into the US.
RATS don't care about reason. Logic isn't their strength.
Low altitude, slow moving, easy to hit TARGETS!
Got that right. Followed to its extreme conclusion, that "logic" would dictate that everyone wear handcuffs and belly chains at all times in public.
"It's for your own good!"
I do not know of any “Mexican ultralights” manufacturer.
“Um..It’s Mexican ultralights coming into the US.”
Ultralight flights new method to haul drugs
Craft can evade radar along border, feds say
by Dennis Wagner - Feb. 17, 2009 12:00 AM
The Arizona Republic
NOGALES, Ariz. - On Oct. 10, Jesus Iriarte hauled a load of pot from Sonora across the U.S. border.
The Mexican national was like hundreds of other drug couriers except for one important distinction: He transported the marijuana by strapping it to a motorized hang glider, something that looks like a lawn mower in the sky.
Federal customs agents say radar-dodging ultralights may be an emerging trend among drug smugglers looking for new ways to outwit increased surveillance.
But the planes aren’t the safest strategy.
In the past four months, three of the kite-winged aircraft crashed while hauling loads of marijuana into Arizona.
There is no telling how many other pilots successfully delivered loads, but the outcome for those who failed is telling:
• Juan Hernandez Torres, 34, of San Luis Rio Colorado, Sonora, died Nov. 18 when his machine smashed into a Yuma lettuce field.
• An unidentified pilot clipped a power line in December while being chased by a Customs and Border Protection drone. Because the suspect was paralyzed in the crash near Tucson, prosecutors elected to deport him to Mexico rather than file charges.
• The third smuggler, Iriarte, awaits a prison sentence after pleading guilty in U.S. District Court. He was caught after crash-landing in Marana, nearly 80 miles north of the border.
Rick Crocker, deputy special agent in charge for Immigration and Customs Enforcement in Tucson, said the low-cost, low-flying aircraft present a new challenge for drug interdiction, not to mention Homeland Security.
“The ultralight smuggling may be due to the hardening of the border (with greater enforcement),” Crocker added. “We’re trying to get a handle on it.”
Excerpt
http://www.azcentral.com/news/articles/2009/02/17/20090217ultralight0217.html
If dumb shits here didn’t buy the junk THERE WOULDN’T BE A PROBLEM!
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.