• Ultralight aircraft now ferrying drugs across U.S.-Mexico border
    60 replies, posted
[quote=LA Times] Mexican organized crime groups are using ultralight aircraft to drop marijuana bundles in agricultural fields and desert scrub across the U.S. border. The incursions are hard to detect and are on the upswing. [img]http://www.latimes.com/media/photo/2011-05/61700327.jpg[/img] A soldier at an army base in Mexicali, Mexico, looks at two ultralight aircraft that were recently confiscated from drug smugglers. (Don Bartletti / Los Angeles Times / April 29, 2011) They fly low and slow over the border, their wings painted black and motors humming faintly under moonlit skies. The pilots, some armed in the open cockpits, steer the horizontal control bar with one hand and pull a latch with the other, releasing 250-pound payloads that land with a thud, leaving only craters as evidence of another successful smuggling run. Mexican organized crime groups, increasingly stymied by stepped-up enforcement on land, have dug tunnels and captained boats to get drugs across the U.S.-Mexico border. Now they are taking to the skies, using ultralight aircraft that resemble motorized hang gliders to drop marijuana bundles in agricultural fields and desert scrub across the Southwest border. What began with a few flights in Arizona in 2008 is now common from Texas to California's Imperial Valley and, mostly recently, San Diego, where at least two ultralights suspected of carrying drugs have been detected flying over Interstate 8, according to U.S. border authorities. The number of incursions by ultralights reached 228 in the last federal fiscal year ending Sept. 30, almost double from the previous year. Seventy-one have been detected in this fiscal year through April, according to border authorities. Flying at night with lights out, and zipping back across the border in minutes, ultralight aircraft sightings are rare, but often dramatic. At least two have been chased out of Arizona skies by Black Hawk Customs and Border Protection helicopters and F-16 jet fighters. Last month, a pair of visiting British helicopter pilots almost crashed into an ultralight during training exercises over the Imperial Valley. The smuggling work is fraught with danger. High winds can flip the light aircraft. Moonlight provides illumination, but some pilots wear night-vision goggles. Others fly over major roads to orient themselves. Drop zones are illuminated by ground crews using strobe lights or glow sticks. There is little room for error. At least one pilot has been paralyzed; another died in a crash. In Calexico, Det. Mario Salinas was walking to his car one morning last year when he heard something buzzing over the Police Department on 5th Street. "I hear this weird noise, like a lawn mower. I look up and I see this small plane," said Salinas, who pursued the aircraft before it eluded him as it flew over the desert. The ultralight activity is seen as strong evidence that smugglers are having an increasingly difficult time getting marijuana over land crossings. Authorities noticed a surge in flights in Imperial County after newly erected fencing along California's southeast corner blocked smugglers from crossing desert dunes in all-terrain vehicles. U.S. Border Patrol agents, accustomed to scouring for footprints and tracks in the sand, have had to adapt. They are now instructed to turn off their engines and roll down their windows so they can listen for incursions by air. "We're trained to look down and at the fence. Now we have to look up for tell-tale signs of ultralight traffic," said Roy D. Villarreal, deputy chief patrol agent of the El Centro sector in the Imperial Valley. Although the new trend poses serious challenges, authorities point out that ultralights are a decidedly inefficient way of getting drugs across the border. Traffickers who once moved thousands of pounds of drugs across the border now appear to be packing their loads by the pound, not the ton, authorities say. The ultralights — lightweight planes typically used as recreational aircraft — are customized for smuggling purposes. All-terrain wheels are added for bumpy landings. Second seats are ripped out to add fuel capacity. Drugs are loaded onto metal baskets affixed to the bottom of the framing. From 150 to 250 pounds of marijuana are generally carried, depending on the weight of the pilot. Some ultralights are shrouded in black paint, with even the plastic tarp covers for the marijuana blackened for stealth entries. Radar operators at Riverside County's Air and Marine Operations Center, where general aviation air traffic across the country is monitored, have trouble detecting the aircraft. Flying as low as 500 feet, their small frames are hard to distinguish from trucks. Many appear, then disappear from radar screens. Others never appear at all, and the ultralight trend has prompted border authorities to develop new radar technologies specifically designed to detect the aircraft. "There are indications of larger amounts of activity," said Tony Crowder, director of the Air and Marine Operations Center, which is housed at March Air Reserve Base. The close cooperation among radar operators, helicopter pilots and agents on the ground has resulted in some successes. Ultralight pilots no longer land on U.S. soil after authorities began responding quickly to offloading sites. The Mexican Army has seized four ultralights around Baja California in recent weeks after being tipped off by U.S. authorities. In Arizona, where the vast majority of the flights occur, authorities have arrested 36 people in connection with ultralight smuggling, most of them ground crew members who load the dropped marijuana into cars. The trend has grown so rapidly in sparsely populated areas of Arizona that Rep. Gabrielle Giffords (D-Ariz.) introduced a bill last year to stiffen prison terms for ultralight smugglers. Recruiting pilots is more difficult than finding truck operators, drivers or backpackers to ferry drugs across the border. Some of the pilots are believed to come from Mexican coastal resorts where they work day jobs taking tourists on lessons or adventure flights. A pilot who was paralyzed in 2008 after he clipped power lines near Tucson and crashed ended up being deported to Mexico in a wheelchair. Another pilot died after only one side of his load released, causing the plane to destabilize and spiral into a lettuce field near Yuma, Ariz. In June, another trafficker encountered a hovering Black Hawk helicopter that raced to intercept him over the Tohono O'odom Indian reservation in Arizona. The pilot, Jose Alberto Figueroa Valenzuela, 37, got a 4 1/2-year prison term after making a rough landing, said Rodney Irby, assistant special agent in charge of Immigration and Customs Enforcement in Arizona. "He took all these risks, got chased by a Black Hawk helicopter and ended up crashing for 2,000 bucks that he never got," Irby said. [/quote] Source: [url]http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-border-ultralight-20110520,0,7315999.story[/url]
Holy shit this is why I see ultra lights all the time. To the only disagree, I live in Southern California, specifically near the 29 Palms/Joshua Tree area, and I know you can see the Mexican border from the JT National Monument.
That's actually really clever
Damn people go really far to get drugs in
Just goes to show the dealers and users will always find a new way to get their drugs. Drugs are money, you can't stop people from making their money.
[QUOTE=purvisdavid1;29946704]Holy shit this is why I see ultra lights all the time.[/QUOTE] They fly low and at night time, and simply drop the drugs over the border and return. I doubt you see them.
See, this is why we should allow drugs to be legal and put extreme regulations and taxes on them. Then we wouldn't have to worry about the ultralights flying in and dropping them.
[media]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jysl05LbnEQ[/media]
[QUOTE=purvisdavid1;29946704]Holy shit this is why I see ultra lights all the time.[/QUOTE] law abiding citizens fly them too
that's awesome, where can I buy one?
Shit, and a few days ago I said they would be using UFOs to carry drugs across the border soon. This is close enough!
They're never ever going to stop drug smugglers. It can't, and won't happen. Why don't they just quit this stupid war on drugs?
[QUOTE=valkery;29952368]See, this is why we should allow drugs to be legal and put extreme regulations and taxes on them. Then we wouldn't have to worry about the ultralights flying in and dropping them.[/QUOTE] extreme regulations and tax wont stop the cartels [editline]21st May 2011[/editline] in fact it wont be much better than it being criminal you need regulation, but not extreme regulation
An AIM-9 Sidewinder should do the trick.
[QUOTE=GoldenDargon;29955594]An AIM-9 Sidewinder should do the trick.[/QUOTE] you gotta find em first good luck finding a very small aircraft that gives off little sound, little heat, and is painted black to blend in with the night sky over a giant desert
They are so clever.
[QUOTE=GoldenDargon;29955594]An AIM-9 Sidewinder should do the trick.[/QUOTE]Ultralights are too small and don't give off enough heat to register for such missiles. Total waste, too; you could just as easily shoot down ultralights with small arms.
[QUOTE=Sgt Doom;29962543]Ultralights are too small and don't give off enough heat to register for such missiles. Total waste, too; you could just as easily shoot down ultralights with small arms.[/QUOTE] Armor piercing round from a sniper rifle fired at the gastank is enough. The pilot will then have to land immediately or crash. And no, that won't cause it to explode, though it would burn if the gas gets in contact with the hot engine or exhaust manifold.
Ok this is getting ridiculous. The US gov can't keep pretending the war on drugs is working. These cartels are always one step ahead of the DEA, and aren't going to go down unless either a) all of them are dead (they're protected by a small army btw) or b) their customer base is cut off through legalisation. Which is more realistic?
[QUOTE=Pace.;29963168]Ok this is getting ridiculous. The US gov can't keep pretending the war on drugs is working. These cartels are always one step ahead of the DEA, and aren't going to go down unless either a) all of them are dead (they're protected by a small army btw) or b) their customer base is cut off through legalisation. Which is more realistic?[/QUOTE] you wont take down cartels they will just legitimize their business they will become the coca cola of drugs, and thats fine cuz they prolly wont go around killin people if they are a legit company
[QUOTE=Van-man;29963134]Armor piercing round from a sniper rifle fired at the gastank is enough. The pilot will then have to land immediately or crash. And no, that won't cause it to explode, though it would burn if the gas gets in contact with the hot engine or exhaust manifold.[/QUOTE] Good luck hitting a moving spot that is no larger than jerrycan from a distance of several hundred meters during the night. [editline]21st May 2011[/editline] [QUOTE=yawmwen;29963203]you wont take down cartels they will just legitimize their business they will become the coca cola of drugs, and thats fine cuz they prolly wont go around killin people if they are a legit company[/QUOTE] No, you kill their business. Back when alcohol was illegal the cartels went quite ways to get money off the business, but then it became legal and suddenly no-one bought from them because there were thousands of shops opening up everywhere that sold cheaper. Same would happen today if drugs were made legal, people would be growing their own everywhere.
[QUOTE=Van-man;29963134]Armor piercing round from a sniper rifle fired at the gastank is enough. The pilot will then have to land immediately or crash. And no, that won't cause it to explode, though it would burn if the gas gets in contact with the hot engine or exhaust manifold.[/QUOTE] someones been doing too much helicopter hunting in bc2, m95 style. fun tip: it doesnt work like that in real life
Hey guys I discovered the ultimate weapon which will bring the drug cartels to their knees, with minimal amount of violence and low cost! Legalize drugs.
[QUOTE=Van-man;29963134]Armor piercing round from a sniper rifle fired at the gastank is enough. The pilot will then have to land immediately or crash. And no, that won't cause it to explode, though it would burn if the gas gets in contact with the hot engine or exhaust manifold.[/QUOTE]You might want to lay off of the COD for a while. If someone could hit the fuel tank of an ultralight with reliable frequency, i'd be very impressed. Unnecessarily complicated, as well; all one needs to do is perforate the unprotected pilot, really.
[QUOTE=Van-man;29963134]Armor piercing round from a sniper rifle fired at the gastank is enough. The pilot will then have to land immediately or crash. And no, that won't cause it to explode, though it would burn if the gas gets in contact with the hot engine or exhaust manifold.[/QUOTE] Lolno. Phalanx batteries every mile. Attenuate the radar to pick up targets the size of a human, two birds killed with one stone. No more illegal immigrants, or drug trafficking. Yeah, you'll have 20mm rain down the line, but oh well, you can't have everything. [sp]I'm being facetious[/sp]
[img]http://www.ra39-45.pwp.blueyonder.co.uk/gunpics/bofors40.jpg[/img] ? only 80x cheaper than a Phalanx.
Seems easy to notice.
[QUOTE=Raiskauskone V2;29963944] No, you kill their business. Back when alcohol was illegal the cartels went quite ways to get money off the business, but then it became legal and suddenly no-one bought from them because there were thousands of shops opening up everywhere that sold cheaper. Same would happen today if drugs were made legal, people would be growing their own everywhere.[/QUOTE] cartels similar to the drug cartels today were largely uninvolved with alcohol prohibition the manufacture and consumption of alcohol was legal in other parts of the world, so legitimate companies manufactured it then mafias simply smuggled it in and distributed street gangs here would be ruined if legalization happened but what about all the guys who already have the infrastructure to manufacture drugs on a large scale? and people wouldnt be growing their own everywhere, its a pain in the ass to grow weed and your average joe aint gonna have the skill nor the drive to actually wanna grow on any large scale, he might try it for novelty but then realise his weed is shit because he doesnt have the skills and knowledge to grow good shit and then just buy from a store or somethin and you cant grow every drug, what about cocaine which requires a special process to turn into a commercially viable product?
This is a perfect example as to why more money being put towards the drug war and border security are wasted dollars. Any solution to the supposed problem is likely just to make harder the typical means of the how people go about violating the problem. Suppose kids are sneaking into a movie theater and you want to stop it, so you hire a few security guards to watch the entrance. But people are still getting in and you find that they are getting in with help of friends opening a back door. So you hire someone to watch that, and they still find a way to get in. So then you start hassling all of your customers by having them present their movie tickets, which in turn makes those customers stop wanting to go to your theater, and although you stopped the problem of kids sneaking into your theater, they aren't a lost profit because they never had intentions of paying. So you're left paying for unnecessary security and measures that are lowering your revenue. I think I went a bit overboard with that analogy. There is a huge issue in the drug war in that there are so many US jobs dedicated to it. These people don't want to lose their jobs, so they'll often overstate dangers to keep their jobs and to get more funding. This is also very true of the CIA and the other 100 intelligence agencies in the US. They are very over expanded, and they are always either overestimating any threat, or lying (see WMDs) to improve their job security, gain more power, and to expand. What's really scary about the CIA is that they are allowed to fund themselves through drug trade. [editline]21st May 2011[/editline] [QUOTE=yawmwen;29972728]and people wouldnt be growing their own everywhere, its a pain in the ass to grow weed and your average joe aint gonna have the skill nor the drive to actually wanna grow on any large scale, he might try it for novelty but then realise his weed is shit because he doesnt have the skills and knowledge to grow good shit and then just buy from a store or somethin and you cant grow every drug, what about cocaine which requires a special process to turn into a commercially viable product?[/QUOTE] Coke is a very commercially viable, just not as much as marijuana because marijuana has a much higher yield per plant. The special process issue really isn't that much of a big deal in than that the people who currently produce coke don't have the resources to improve efficiency. A stream line manufacturing process in a factory would nullify the issue. You are right in your point about the average person not going to produce drugs, even if it was legal. Think about anything that is commercially available, and how many of those things people will make themselves. Generally there are a good number of things people will self produce, but people generally they will only produce one type of good. This is all apart of trade in which people choose one type of item to produce and trade that one item with people who produce other kinds of items that they need or want. The person could obviously decide to produce the goods he wants to buy, but that choice wouldn't be a good one because others can do a much better job producing it and it would reduce the quality of the main good that the person is producing.
[QUOTE=yawmwen;29972728] and you cant grow every drug, what about cocaine which requires a special process to turn into a commercially viable product?[/QUOTE] And even in those instances, as long as the prices are competitive, wouldn't you rather coke from Pfizer or coke from that weird looking dude down the road who doesn't shower. [editline]22nd May 2011[/editline] [quote]Same would happen today if drugs were made legal, people would be growing their own everywhere.[/quote] :v: Well, I live in Australia and that's the norm anyway. I'm pretty sure that farmers would be able to grow marijuana for significantly less than people in their backyard or in an expensive hydro setup and so most people would just purchase it, including tax, because it's cheaper.
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