Pubdate: Wed, 18 Sep 2002
Source: Christian Science Monitor (US)
Copyright: 2002 The Christian Science Publishing Society
Contact:  http://www.csmonitor.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/83
Author: Martin Hodgson

SUPER-SPEEDBOATS PILOTING COLOMBIA'S COCAINE TRADE

Almost A Ton Of Drugs Leaves The Country Daily In 30-Foot 'Go-Fasts': A 
Risky, But Lucrative, Smuggling Business.

TUMACO, COLOMBIA - Two years ago, Arsenio's brother and 1,540 pounds of 
cocaine disappeared on the way to Panama in a small speedboat.

After his brother's death, Arsenio (who spoke on condition that his real 
name not be used) could have cut all ties with Colombia's lucrative cocaine 
and heroin trade.

Today, on the deck of a restaurant overlooking the black waters of Tumaco 
Bay, the mechanic and small-time marijuana dealer glances nervously over 
his shoulder before admitting that he chose not to.

"Of course it's dangerous," says Arsenio, who now works fine-tuning 
high-powered "go-fast" speedboat motors for smugglers. "You're on the open 
sea with four-meter [12-foot] waves.

"But people from the coast are used to the sea breeze," he says. "You have 
to die sometime. And for that much money, it's worth the risk."

Go-fast pilots like Arsenio's brother are becoming an increasingly vital 
piece of Colombia's drug trade - and one law enforcement officials are 
having a particularly hard time combatting. The boats' fiberglass hulls 
barely register on a radar screen. Painted a dull blue, they are almost 
impossible to spot with the naked eye - especially amid the drizzle off the 
Pacific coast, one of the wettest spots on earth.

Easily concealed along Colombia's 1,700 miles of swampy coastland, the 
boats leave the country today at the rate of more than a dozen per month - 
each carrying at least two tons of cocaine and heroin.

"You can be in a customs launch, and the boat you're waiting to intercept 
can pass you 50 meters [150 feet] away," complains Naval Intelligence 
officer Capt. Fernando Torres. "You can hear it, but you don't see a thing."

Pacific coast smugglers head for the beaches of Panama and Costa Rica, or 
strike out westwards to the Galapagos Islands, where they pass drugs on to 
cargo freighters. From Colombia's Northern coast, go-fasts aim for 
Caribbean islands.

Depending on their drugs' destination, smugglers dump them on an isolated 
beach, hand them over to local fishermen, or leave them floating at sea for 
a later pickup. The contraband is then shipped to the US mainland in 
freight containers, or carried on small planes or commercial airline flights.

For longer trips, Global Positioning Systems devices enable smugglers to 
rendezvous with fishing boats fitted with extra gas tanks; some boats can 
make it all the way to Mexico.

But even with sophisticated navigation and communication systems, crossing 
the ocean in a 30-foot open boat is a dangerous - and potentially deadly - 
undertaking.

"Hours at sea, with no points of reference, and no back-up. [Go-fast 
pilots] are real experts," says Captain Esaud Becerra, head of intelligence 
at the Tumaco naval base. "They have no formal training, but they never get 
lost. Sometimes you have to admire them."

The hazards are enormous, but so are the pay-offs: According to police 
sources, a go-fast pilot can earn up to $10,000 on a long voyage. In this 
town of ramshackle houses, it is easy to imagine why a boatman might swap 
shrimp fishing for drug running.

In addition, over the past three years, an illegal paramilitary army known 
as the United Self-Defense Groups of Colombia (AUC) has taken control of 
this part of the country's Pacific coast, forming lucrative protection 
deals with smugglers.

US and Colombian officials say there is also evidence that paramilitary 
groups are directly involved in go-fast shipping. In July, the Colombian 
navy destroyed an AUC-operated cocaine laboratory and captured five boats 
north of the Mejicano River.

Despite the dangers, smugglers have a few advantages. Once a go-fast 
reaches the open sea, it is almost impossible to detect. When authorities 
do spot a boat, they're hard-pressed to catch it. Fitted with up to five 
250-horsepower outboard motors, go-fasts can reach speeds of 50 knots 
(about 60 mph) - faster than most Navy vessels.

Authorities have had some success catching the smugglers, thanks largely to 
tip-offs and wiretaps. This year the Colombian navy has caught 11 go-fasts 
carrying almost nine tons of cocaine. The latest, in May, held 2.25 tons.

But smugglers are constantly developing new techniques. According to 
Arsenio, drug cartels are already at work on new generation of go- fasts - 
with hi-tech turbines that let them skim over the water at more than 60 mph.

Though the Colombian navy is working on an "anti-go-fast" boat designed to 
pursue traffickers on the open sea, critics are skeptical that officials 
will ever keep pace with smugglers. Two years ago, police discovered a 
half-completed 75-foot submarine that they believe was designed to carry up 
to 10 tons of drugs.

"The drug smugglers make so much money, they are going to be on the cutting 
edge of technology," says one US official involved in antidrug efforts. 
"Whatever's the biggest and the fastest, they're going to have it - before 
we do."
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