Lt. Commander Sean Kelly of the Royal Canadian Navy spoke about Operation Caribbe, the purpose of which is to stem the flow of drugs from South and Central America into the United States, Canada and Europe. It encompasses the joint activities of a variety of partners from North, Central and South America and Europe.
Lt. Commander Sean Kelly of the Royal Canadian Navy spoke about Operation Caribbe and his participation aboard Canadian ships deployed in the effort. Operation Caribbe started in 2006; has since been incorporated into the functions of the Joint Interagency Task Force South of the US Coast Guard. Its purpose is to stem the flow of drugs from South and Central America into the United States, Canada and Europe. The operation has captured more than 90 tons of cocaine and more than 7 tons of marijuana.
It encompasses the joint activities of a variety of partners : Canada, UK, France, Netherlands, Mexico, Guatemala, El Salvador, Costa Rica, Nicaragua, Honduras, Panama, Peru, Colombia and Ecuador.
The Canadian contribution has included (at various times) the deployment of destroyers, frigates and Maritime Coastal Defence (MCD) vessels, submarines and surveillance aircraft. Lt. Cdr. Kelly has been primarily deployed with MCDs. In this deployment the vessel complement is approximately 50, of which eight are US Coast Guard personnel.
Since the operation started most of the drug flow has moved to the eastern Pacific and has dramatically declined in the Caribbean. This is largely because of the higher level of surveillance in the Caribbean. Approximately 85% of cargo is now moving through the eastern Pacific.
The cartels’ methodology entails masquerading as fishing enterprises. In the region offshore fishing is generally undertaken using motherships supported by open skiffs (pangas). The drug route is established by positioning mother ships up to 700 miles offshore and sequenced to support the 1000 mile route north to Mexico. Pangas embark the drug cargoes in Ecuador, Colombia or Peru, and then route from one mothership to the next, where they are fed and refueled to continue the journey. A typical cargo will be 500 – 1000 kgs. The traffickers have also begun to use semi-submersible craft. These are typically made of fibreglass and are larger and slower than pangas. The advantages are a cargo capacity of about 5000 kgs, no radar signature and very little heat signature (making detection very difficult).
While it is estimated that the rate of detection is very low (10-12%), the strategy is firstly to disrupt the process (of trafficking) but importantly to target the people involved. Individuals intercepted in this operation may be either returned to their country of origin for prosecution or transferred to the US for prosecution.
Lt. Cdr. Kelly noted that the operation has other more positive characteristics. It is not uncommon to come upon a sea turtle tangled in nets or other gear (some likely cut adrift by the drug-running “fishing boats”); the crews are gratified when they can successfully free the trapped animals. They also engage in community-building efforts ashore.