Wed, Jun 03, 2009
Border Patrol Says Use On The Rise
Yuma Sector Border Patrol Agents say the latest twist in
bringing illegal drugs from Mexico to the U.S. is ultralight
aircraft, after one didn't make it last Saturday. As smugglers find
it increasingly difficult to drive across the border, they're
becoming increasingly desparate, says one Border Patrol agent, and
they're looking for creative ways to make the trip.
Border Patrol Supervisory Agent Ben Vik said this is the second
time this type of aircraft has been caught trying to bring drugs in
to Yuma from Mexico, and in one of those incidents, the pilot was
killed. But other areas around New Mexico are also reporting
increased smuggling activity using ultralights. TV station KWST
reports that two have also crashed near Tuscon.
Ultralights are popular sport aircraft, though the FAA refers to
them as "ultralight air vehicles", in part because they are
relatively inexpensive to buy and operate, are limited in their
regulatory scope, and don't require several hundred feet of
concrete to go flying. Unfortunately, those same qualities make
them attractive to smugglers, who see them as disposable.
Authorities say the tiny aircraft are used to bring the drugs
across the border where they're transferred to larger
airplanes.
Still, while smugglers may think the ultralights fly low and
slow enough to avoid detection, Vik said there are two ways
for Border Patrol Agents to track the flights. One is simply seeing
the aircraft, but the Patrol also uses ground-based radar stationed
in mobile trucks. Because the aircraft fly over the border fences
yet under the typical airport radar, ground-tracking devices are
often needed to find them.
Saturday's crash involved a single-place ultralight, carrying
275 pounds of marijuana in two separate bales, according to the
Yuma Sun. Both the aircraft and the drugs were seized by the Border
Patrol, but the pilot was able to escape.
Agents say two other people have been arrested in connection
with the incident.
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