U.S. general "startled" by Guatemala drug network
GUATEMALA CITY, Feb 3 (Reuters) - A U.S. general has said he was startled by the vast smuggling network in Guatemala's northern Peten jungle, a major transit point for illegal drugs, after he visited the Central American country last week.
During a fly-over trip to Laguna del Tigre national park, Gen. Bantz Craddock, the head of the U.S. Southern Command, saw clandestine airstrips "as far as the eye can see," he told army and government officials at a conference in Miami.
"What I saw in this region was startling," Craddock said in the speech on Thursday, which was made available to reporters Friday.
"The drug trade is so lucrative that airplanes -- some of them large enough for 45 passengers -- are disposable," he said. "In an area the size of perhaps a couple of football fields I personally saw at least eight to 10 planes that had been intentionally crashed and burnt by drug traffickers to avoid the capture and confiscation of their cargo," he said.
The U.S. government says some 75 percent of cocaine bound for the United States is smuggled through Guatemala.
The thick Peten jungle region located near the Mexican border and not far from cocaine-producing Colombia makes the Peten "an ideal transshipment point for drug and other illicit traffickers," said Craddock.
The general praised an interagency task force set up by the Guatemalan government in November to locate and destroy hidden airstrips in Laguna del Tigre but fell short of suggesting increased U.S. aid to fight drug trafficking in the region.
During a fly-over trip to Laguna del Tigre national park, Gen. Bantz Craddock, the head of the U.S. Southern Command, saw clandestine airstrips "as far as the eye can see," he told army and government officials at a conference in Miami.
"What I saw in this region was startling," Craddock said in the speech on Thursday, which was made available to reporters Friday.
"The drug trade is so lucrative that airplanes -- some of them large enough for 45 passengers -- are disposable," he said. "In an area the size of perhaps a couple of football fields I personally saw at least eight to 10 planes that had been intentionally crashed and burnt by drug traffickers to avoid the capture and confiscation of their cargo," he said.
The U.S. government says some 75 percent of cocaine bound for the United States is smuggled through Guatemala.
The thick Peten jungle region located near the Mexican border and not far from cocaine-producing Colombia makes the Peten "an ideal transshipment point for drug and other illicit traffickers," said Craddock.
The general praised an interagency task force set up by the Guatemalan government in November to locate and destroy hidden airstrips in Laguna del Tigre but fell short of suggesting increased U.S. aid to fight drug trafficking in the region.
posted by Marko at 2/03/2006 08:49:00 PM
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