← Autodidact Archive · Original Dissent · Ragnar
Thread ID: 10408 | Posts: 3 | Started: 2003-10-11
2003-10-11 06:33 | User Profile
...but will the drone in the White House let them use it?
[B]Drones Tested to Patrol US-Mexico Border[/B]
[url]http://www.washingtonpost.com/ac2/wp-dyn/A8444-2003Oct10?language=printer[/url]
Reuters
Friday, October 10, 2003; 1:34 PM
MONTERREY, Mexico (Reuters) - The United States is testing pilotless drone aircraft, used in Iraq and Afghanistan, on the U.S.-Mexico border where they might be deployed to detect drug traffickers and illegal immigrants, a government spokesman said on Friday.
The Department of Homeland Security is conducting tests of the unmanned aerial vehicles, or UAVs, in remote areas of the Sonoran Desert in Arizona, Mario Villarreal, spokesman for the U.S. Bureau of Customs and Border Protection, told Reuters.
"The UAVs, which have played an important role for the military in Iraq and Afghanistan, are under consideration for use by the Department of Homeland Security," Villarreal said.
They are being deployed from Fort Huachuca and Gila Bend, Arizona, for test flights in remote areas of the desert that have become well-known corridors for narcotics trafficking and immigrant smuggling.
Drone aircraft were used for aerial photography and spy missions during the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.
They are the latest of the military-style hardware and techniques to be used on the 2,000-mile border, where homeland defense has been beefed up since the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks.
Agents also use American Eurocopter AS350 "A-Star" helicopters with on-board, satellite tracking systems and infrared, night vision capabilities to track illegal activity.
Border patrol officers have recently set up military-style campsites in the wilderness where they live for 30-day periods, while conducting patrols deep into the desert on foot and horseback, Villarreal said.
"They are basically camping out in an operation that shows what lengths the border patrol will go to protect their homeland. They are away from their friends and family," he said.
Villarreal said no decision has been made on whether the government will ultimately use the drones for surveillance.
2003-10-12 01:47 | User Profile
I think that the drones are being used to spy on the boarder patrol, so the coyotes, illegals, and drug smugglers can get in without any hassle, and so that the insiders can be sure to receive their bribe money.
2003-10-12 02:57 | User Profile
The best places to detect illegals are car washes, farm fields and meat-packing plants. No need for drone planes either, just come by and get a cattle-car-train-full in a square mile area. Ship south. Repeat.