Pubdate: Wed, 23 Jun 1999 Source: Associated Press Copyright: 1999 Associated Press AUTHOR: Author: George Gedda, Associated Press Writer ADMINISTRATION TOUTS CHEAPER DRUG STRATEGY WASHINGTON - U.S. officials are touting what they see as a lower cost way to combat South American narcotics smuggling compared with a $75 million-a-year operation that had been run out of Panama until this past spring. With the Panama Canal treaties mandating an end to U.S. military presence in Panama, the Clinton administration won permission to run drug surveillance flights out of Aruba and Curacao, along the northern South American coast, and Ecuador. Talks also are under way with the government of an unnamed country in Central America to provide another staging area for the flights. During its first month of operations in May, officials said the surveillance flights led to the forcing down of seven U.S.-bound narcotics flights from South America exceeding the number for the comparable period a year ago when these flights were still operated out of Panama. In addition, the operations led to two large seizures of cocaine, according to the officials, who asked not to be identified. But they also acknowledged that reduced U.S. military presence has led to an increase in drug smuggling into Panama from neighboring Colombia and has emboldened leftist guerrillas from Colombia to undertake repeated incursions into Panama. The main purpose of the U.S. surveillance flights is to detect and track narcotics flights. If a suspect aircraft is spotted over Colombia, for instance, authorities from that country are alerted and dispatch a plane to force the offending aircraft down. While the officials are encouraged by the project thus far, they are not ready to declare the experiment a definitive success. The Panama Canal treaties don't require the departure of U.S. forces until the end of the year, but the phasing out process is well under way. Howard Air Force Base, the starting point for 2,000 surveillance flights annually for many years, essentially went out of business in May, although a residual U.S. presence remains. House International Relations Committee Chairman Benjamin Gilman, R-N.Y., said at a hearing in May that the air base was "the crown jewel in our fight against drugs" and that the administration had not done enough to compensate for losing the base. But Gen. Charles Wilhelm, the ranking U.S. military officer for Latin America, testified Tuesday that once the new staging areas are ready, surveillance will be 110 per cent of what it was when Howard was the base of operations. Wilhelm, testifying before the Senate Foreign Relations subcommittee on the Western Hemisphere, said it could cost $122 million to upgrade airports at the staging areas. But he said this would be a one-time payment compared with annual $75 million outlays at Howard. Another advantage is that local governments pay for security. At Howard, this was a U.S. responsibility. Other analysts note that the facilities in Panama were used for more than drug surveillance operations. Their mandate included search-and-rescue operations and humanitarian relief. Tons of supplies were flown from Panama to assist victims of Hurricane Mitch in Nicaragua and Honduras last fall. In recent weeks, the United States shut down an intelligence gathering facility at Galeta Island in Panama and also Fort Sherman, which was used as a training facility for almost 50 years. In his testimony, Wilhelm expressed concern about the incursions he said Colombian guerrillas have been making into Panama's territory. He said Panama's security forces are not "manned, trained or equipped" to deal with the problem. Panama does not have a military and relies on a national police force for security. He added that the guerrillas have forced some Panamanians from their homes in the border area and they also go there to rest. - --- MAP posted-by: Derek Rea