ARMY IS BACK IN THE SKY LOOKING FOR DRUG SMUGGLERS

COCHISE COUNTY - The sounds of Army helicopters are being heard over
Cochise County as the military's Joint Task Force Six and the U.S. Border
Patrol again join to try and stop drug smugglers coming into the country
from Mexico.

Armando Carrasco, a spokesman for JTF-6, said that although much of the
information about the missions is not being released for "operational
security and force protection reasons," the flights are being flown by
active-duty soldiers.

The helicopters flying out of Fort Huachuca's Libby Army Airfield include
OH-58 Kiowa Warriors and UH-60 Blackhawks, which are equipped with
electronic reconnaissance equipment allowing soldiers to identify and
report suspected drug-smuggling activities along the border, said Rob
Daniels, the Border Patrol's Tucson Sector spokesman.

Carrasco, who works at the JTF-6 headquarters at Fort Bliss, Texas,
emphasized that the missions are to look for drug-smuggling operations and
not to try and spot groups of illegal immigrants crossing the border.

Daniels said JTF-6 is the Department of Defense's counterdrug organization
that provides support to civilian law enforcement agencies. He said the
current helicopter missions have been operating from the post since the
beginning of June.

Daniels said there have been some calls about the low-level flights, but
Army pilots are ordered not to hover over residences.

Day and night helicopter flights will be used to provide reconnaissance to
support the Tucson Sector's counterdrug activities, he said.

Carrasco and Daniels said soldiers are forbidden by federal law to search,
seize, detain or make arrests.

The helicopter crews will be providing information to Border Patrol agents
who will determine if any other action is needed, such as a ground
interdiction by the federal civilian law enforcement agency, the two
spokesmen said. Use of military helicopters in Cochise County is not new
for the Border Patrol.

Daniels said that while drug seizures at the two Border Patrol stations in
Cochise County are down, some of the credit goes to the JTF-6 helicopter
missions. Marijuana seizures are down 31 percent at the Naco Station and 39
percent at the Douglas Station.

By having military helicopter crews, the Border Patrol receives the benefit
of high-tech systems the military has, and the soldiers gain additional
training, Daniels said. Neither he nor Carrasco would say how much longer
the flights will take place.

In the past, Army helicopters have flown out of Fort Huachuca and other
airfields to support the Border Patrol's missions. In 1995, a Kiowa,
supporting the Border Patrol, crashed on the eastern base of the Mule
Mountains about a half mile off High Lonesome Road between Bisbee and
Double Adobe, killing both pilots who were from Fort Hood, Texas.