U.S. CHASES DOWN 'GO-FAST' COCAINE BOAT

A U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) airplane caught three
smuggling suspects in a high-speed chase 900 miles southwest of Costa
Rica, outracing a "go-fast" speedboat laden with cocaine with a
street value of $35 million, CBP officials said yesterday. In a joint
operation with the U.S. Coast Guard, CBP officials in Washington
said, a P-3 aircraft detected and tracked the go-fast vessel over the
weekend and coordinated interception by a Coast Guard cutter. While
in pursuit, the officials said, CBP air interdiction agents observed
the smugglers dump 18 bales of presumed cocaine with an estimated
street value of more than $10.5 million from the vessel before Coast
Guard personnel disabled its outboard motors. "This operation is a
classic example of what we do every day, working with our federal
partners to detect and interdict drugs before they reach our shores,"
said CBP Assistant Commissioner Michael Kostelnik, who heads the
agency's air and marine unit. Mr. Kostelnik, a retired U.S. Air Force
major general, said CBP's P-3 aircraft play a critical role in
homeland security, tracking and coordinating interdiction of
suspected smuggling activity.

He said the priority mission of the CBP air and marine unit "is to
protect the American people from terrorists" and prevent terrorist
weapons from entering the country. "P-3s perform this vital mission
by extending security beyond our physical borders," he said. To
accomplish its mission, he said, the agency has 500 pilots and 250
aircraft, the largest federal law-enforcement air force in the world,
as well as more than 200 vessels. Last year, he said, a decision was
reached to combine CBP's aviation and marine resources, giving the
agency the ability to more effectively and efficiently accomplish its
aviation missions. Mr. Kostelnik said CBP uses its aviation assets as
a critical component of a layered enforcement strategy and to support
multiple operational objectives, which the agency Web site says
include: " Anti-terrorism, including protecting, controlling and
enforcing federal law at U.S. land borders, adjacent coastal borders
and air space above the borders. " CBP's traditional missions of
staunching drug smuggling and interdicting illegal drugs, including
interdiction at and near our borders as well as source and transit
zone operations. " Additional missions in support of the Department
of Homeland Security, Immigration and Customs Enforcement, Joint
Interagency Task Force-South, and other federal, state and local law
enforcement partners."