He is hopeful DoD's increased counterdrug support role will turn this situation around. Smugglers use hundreds of illegal entry points along the southwestern U.S. border, task force officials said. They cross on foot lugging backpacks, on horseback, using all-terrain vehicles, as well as by boat and plane. The day after U.S. Forest Service officials confiscated the 2,400-pound cocaine shipment, task force officials said, they intercepted two other smugglers in the same area and netted 400 pounds of marijuana. Congress has approved DoD support for counterdrug efforts, but service members do not search, seize or arrest, task force officials stressed.
Laws prohibit that kind of military encroachment in civilian law enforcement functions.
DoD support roles include air and ground observation and reconnaissance, environmental assessments, intelligence analysts and linguists, transportation and engineering support. Mobile training teams teach civilian law enforcers such skills as combat lifesaving, advanced marksmanship and tactical police operations that can be used in counterdrug operations. The task force also features rapid support teams capable of responding within 72 hours. Law enforcement agencies and DoD both benefit from the relationship, task force officials said. Police can request DoD resources, and the service members involved get to practice their military skills in challenging, real-world situations.