Interruption of Effort to Down Drug Planes Is Disclosed

[Judi Lynn]

Interruption of Effort to Down Drug Planes Is Disclosed
By JAMES RISEN

Published: January 8, 2004


WASHINGTON, Jan. 7 — A United States program to shoot down airplanes in Latin America that are suspected of ferrying drugs was suspended this fall for a second time, after the Colombian military forced down a plane and then strafed it without United States approval, current and former American officials have disclosed.

The program, originally operated by the Central Intelligence Agency but turned over to the State Department, had resumed in August after being halted for a little over two years after the mistaken 2001 downing of a plane carrying American missionaries in Peru.

But problems arose almost immediately. During the first air interdiction in early September, according to the officials, the Colombian Air Force forced down a civilian plane and then destroyed it on the ground. The attack was undertaken without authorization from United States personnel monitoring the operation.

American officials said that Colombian officials told them that the plane was completely destroyed. The American officials said they had no indication that drugs were found at the remote site where the plane was forced down. The Colombians said the pilots were seen running from the plane, and then disappeared. American officials said they did not believe there were any casualties in the incident.

The air interdiction program has now been resumed, after a suspension of a few days. But the incident revealed a little-understood feature of the way the new air interdiction program has been structured.
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http://www.nytimes.com/2004/01/08/politics/08DRUG.html
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[el_gato]

1. we have no business shooting down planes in latin america