Drug Control: Difficulties in Measuring Costs and Results of Transit Zone Interdiction Efforts
Published: 2002-01-25T00:00:00

Fast Facts:

Highlights:
section_title: What GAO Found
paragraphs: The Defense Department (DOD), the Coast Guard, and the Customs Service all interdict illegal drugs--primarily cocaine--from South America. DOD is the lead agency, but all three agencies play a role in monitoring and detecting shipments of illegal drugs. The Coast Guard is the lead agency for apprehending ships that are smuggling drugs, with Customs providing help as needed. The Coast Guard and Customs share responsibility for apprehending aircraft involved in drug-smuggling. GAO could not identify the funds obligated and the number of flight hours and ship days used for drug interdiction in the drug transit zone because the three agencies do not routinely track this information. The results tracked by the three agencies to demonstrate their effectiveness of their drug interdiction efforts in the transit zone varied according to whether they focused on drug seizures or results of detection and monitoring and whether they were specific to the transit zone. Agencies can use several controls to ensure the accuracy of their own cocaine seizure data, such as assigning unique identification numbers to each seizure and headquarters review of data from field units. Although two interagency data systems have been developed to ensure the accuracy of governmentwide cocaine seizure data when multiple agencies participate in a seizure, the two systems do not prevent agencies from counting cocaine seizures in their own databases and annual counts when more than one agency participates in the seizure.

section_title: Letter
paragraphs: Illegal drugs, primarily cocaine from countries in South America, continue  to be a major threat to the health and well being of American citizens. One  of the goals of the National Drug Control Strategy is to protect America’s  air, land, and sea frontiers from the drug threat. To help achieve this goal,  the United States has efforts under way to interdict illegal narcotics  moving through the transit zone — a 6 million square mile area that  includes the Caribbean Sea, the Gulf of Mexico, Central America, the  northern coast of South America, Mexico, and the Eastern Pacific. Drug  interdiction efforts consist of several phases, including the detection and  monitoring of potential drug-smuggling aircraft and vessels, and the  seizure of drugs and arrest of drug smugglers. Within the transit zone, the  Department of Defense (DOD), the U.S. Coast Guard (Coast Guard), and  the U.S. Customs Service (Customs) play key roles in drug interdiction  efforts.
You asked us to review the air and maritime drug interdiction activities of  DOD, the Coast Guard, and Customs in the transit zone. In response to  your request, we reviewed and are reporting on (1) the roles of DOD, the  Coast Guard, and Customs in transit zone drug interdiction; (2) the extent  to which we can identify funds obligated during fiscal years 1998 through  2000 for transit zone drug interdiction for DOD, the Coast Guard, and  Customs and what assets (flight hours and ship days) were used for this  effort; (3) what results DOD, the Coast Guard, and Customs track to  demonstrate their effectiveness in transit zone drug interdiction; and (4)  whether multiple agencies are reporting the same cocaine seizures and  what procedures and data systems are in place to ensure the accuracy of  cocaine seizure data when multiple agencies participate in seizures.
To address our review objectives, we interviewed officials from DOD, the  Coast Guard, and Customs, as well as from coordinating organizations  such as ONDCP, the U.S. Interdiction Coordinator (USIC), the Joint  Interagency Task Force East (JIATF-East), the Joint Interagency Task  Force West (JIATF-West), and Customs’ Air and Marine Interdiction  Coordination Center (AMICC). In addition, we requested from DOD, the  Coast Guard, and Customs agency data on budget obligations, flight hours,  and ship days; obtained available agency results data; and reviewed annual  agency performance reports for fiscal years 1998 through 2000. We  reviewed documentation for DOD’s, the Coast Guard’s, and Customs’ drug  seizure databases and for two interagency drug seizure databases, and  attended a conference on cocaine seizure data. We further assessed the  reliability of the cocaine seizure data in the drug seizure databases by  comparing the records in the Coast Guard and Customs databases and the  two interagency seizure databases for a sample of seizures that were  reported in agency press releases in fiscal years 1998 through 2000.
Our review was limited to the activities of DOD, the Coast Guard, and  Customs in interdicting drugs smuggled by aircraft or maritime vessels  from South America through the Caribbean Sea and Eastern Pacific Ocean  and did not examine the activities of the three agencies in detecting,  monitoring, and apprehending drug smugglers on land in Mexico, Central  America, and the Caribbean nations, or at the U.S. land border, or en route  from Asia. In addition, our examination of whether multiple agencies  counted the same cocaine seizures cannot be generalized to how agencies  count other drugs that are seized in the transit zone. More detailed  information about our scope and methodology appears in appendix I.
subsections: section_title: Background
paragraphs: A primary goal of the National Drug Control Strategy is to reduce the  amount of illegal drugs entering the United States. South America is a  major source of drugs, particularly cocaine, shipped through the transit  zone to the United States. In 2000, ONDCP estimated that 31 percent of  cocaine shipped from South America to the United States transited the  Caribbean Corridor, and 66 percent came through the Mexico-Central  America Corridor (which includes the Eastern Pacific). The remaining 3  percent went directly from South America to the continental United States  (see fig. 1).
According to the National Drug Control Strategy 2000 Annual Report, drug  interdiction in the transit zone is intended to disrupt the flow of drugs,  increase risks to traffickers, force traffickers to use less efficient routes  and methods of delivery, and prevent significant quantities of drugs from  reaching the United States. Drug interdiction operations may also produce  information that can be used by domestic law enforcement agencies  against trafficking organizations.
According to the 1999 National Interdiction Command and Control Plan, a  completed drug interdiction normally consists of six phases, some of  which may occur simultaneously. (1) Provision of intelligence information  to drug interdiction agencies indicating that a drug-smuggling activity is  planned or underway. (2) Initial detection of a potential smuggling aircraft  or vessel. (3) Monitoring, which consists of tracking a target aircraft or  vessel (maintaining information on its position, course, and speed) and  moving to intercept it. (4) Identifying drug-smuggling traffic from  legitimate traffic. (5) Handoff, or shifting of primary responsibility  between forces, such as from DOD to the Coast Guard. (6) Apprehending  (detaining, arresting, or seizing) suspects, drugs, or vehicles or causing the  suspects to jettison their drugs or to turn back from their mission. In this  report, we use the term “drug interdiction” to refer to activities in any or  all of these six phases.
In a hypothetical example, drug interdiction agencies receive intelligence  that a drug-smuggling aircraft will be leaving South America en route to  the United States in the next few days. A DOD radar facility subsequently  detects a small, low-flying plane on a known trafficking route. Alerted by  this information and other intelligence, a military aircraft uses its radar  system to track the plane. A Customs aircraft then approaches the suspect  plane to make a visual identification. The Customs pilot observes the  suspect plane dropping what appears to be a load of drugs to a waiting  smuggling vessel in the waters below. The location of the vessel is given to  the Coast Guard so that it can apprehend the drug-smuggling suspects and  seize the drugs. The plane is tracked by the Customs pilot, and foreign law  enforcement forces are alerted so that they can apprehend the drug- smuggling suspects when the plane lands at a foreign airfield.
section_title: Interdiction Roles of DOD, the Coast Guard, and Customs Overlap
paragraphs: The interdiction roles of DOD, the Coast Guard, and Customs overlap  regarding the types of activities they perform and the geographic areas  they cover. Because of this, the agencies must cooperate and work  together in order for interdiction to be successful. Five coordinating  organizations also guide and support their activities.
DOD serves as the lead federal agency for detecting and monitoring air  and maritime transit of illegal drugs into the United States. DOD uses  equipment such as Navy ships and aircraft, Air Force aircraft, and radar  for this purpose (see fig. 2). The Coast Guard and Customs also provide  aircraft and ships for detection and monitoring, but DOD coordinates and  integrates their efforts. By statute, DOD personnel may not directly  participate in a search, seizure, arrest, or other similar activity, unless  authorized by law. As a result, DOD relies on U.S. or foreign law  enforcement agencies to exercise civilian law enforcement powers to  carry out that part of the interdiction effort.
Within the transit zone, the Coast Guard is the lead agency for the  apprehension of maritime drug traffickers. In addition, Coast Guard law  enforcement detachments are required by statute to travel on board  designated Navy ships for drug interdiction missions to perform law  enforcement functions. During boarding operations, the Navy ships come  under the operational control of the Coast Guard detachments. These  detachments perform the actual search and seizure of a suspect vessel,  and make any arrests, since the U.S. military is prohibited from doing so.(See fig. 3 for examples of Coast Guard assets.)
Within the transit zone, Customs is co-lead with the Coast Guard for the  apprehension of drug trafficking aircraft. The agency also assists the Coast  Guard with apprehension of maritime drug traffickers. For example, a  Customs aircraft equipped with surface search radar can detect and track  a maritime vessel, then work with Customs boats and Coast Guard ships  to apprehend the suspect drug traffickers. (See fig. 4 for examples of  Customs assets.)
Coordinating organizations help guide and support the three agencies’  drug interdiction efforts in the transit zone. Their transit zone roles are  briefly discussed in table 1. Representatives from DOD, the Coast Guard,  and Customs advise the U.S. Interdiction Coordinator, and staff JIATF- East, JIATF-West, and AMICC. Appendix II contains more detailed  information on these organizations.
section_title: Agencies Do Not Track Funds Obligated and Assets Used for Transit Zone Interdiction
paragraphs: DOD, the Coast Guard, and Customs do not track data on funds obligated  and assets used specifically for transit zone drug interdiction. For the  purposes of this review, we asked agency officials to attempt to isolate  funds they obligated and assets they used for drug interdiction in the  transit zone. DOD, the Coast Guard, and Customs attempted to produce  such estimates, but because of substantial differences among the agencies’  methods and other limitations, these estimates were not reliable, and will  not be presented in this report.
subsections: section_title: Agency Estimates of Funds DOD, the Coast Guard, and Customs do not track the funds they obligate Obligated for Transit Zone Interdiction Had Limitations
paragraphs: specifically for transit zone drug interdiction. The three agencies provided  us with estimates of those funds, but these estimates had a number of  limitations. In the case of DOD, the agency could not isolate its funds  obligated for transit zone drug interdiction for several reasons. First, DOD  could not always distinguish funds obligated for detection and monitoring  from those used for noninterdiction counterdrug activities. DOD  provided us with a list of funds obligated for individual DOD programsfor fiscal years 1998 through 2000, broken out by country or geographic  area and by type of counterdrug activity (such as detection and  monitoring). However, there were instances where the individual funded  program had multiple purposes. For example, funds DOD obligated to  several programs in the Caribbean were used for both detection and  monitoring and for noninterdiction counterdrug activities. Including such  cases resulted in an overestimate of the funds obligated exclusively for  detection and monitoring, and thus for transit zone drug interdiction.  Second, the funds obligated did not include active-duty personnel costs,resulting in an underestimate of total funds obligated for transit zone drug  interdiction. Third, funds obligated for detection and monitoring in the  Eastern Pacific area could not be included in our analysis because DOD  did not track funds obligated specifically for that area, resulting in an  underestimate of total funds obligated for transit zone drug interdiction.
As with DOD, the Coast Guard could not identify funds obligated for  transit zone drug interdiction. The agency’s estimate did not cover the  entire time period requested and was not specific to the transit zone. The  Coast Guard provided us with estimates of funds obligated for fiscal years  1999 and 2000. According to Coast Guard budget officials, data were  unavailable for 1998 because ONDCP did not require agencies to report  their funds obligated for drug interdiction until 1999. In addition, the  Coast Guard’s estimates of funds it obligated for drug interdiction were  based on the hours spent on drug interdiction missions combined with a  cost factor. Because the agency’s tracking system does not distinguish  hours spent in the transit zone from hours spent in U.S. territorial waters,  the data the Coast Guard provided to us included funds obligated for drug  interdiction activities in both areas.
Likewise, Customs could not isolate funds obligated for transit zone drug  interdiction, in this case resulting in an underestimate of these funds.  Three factors contributed to this underestimation. First, the data were not  representative of all of Customs’ transit zone air interdiction efforts.  Customs’ estimates of funds it obligated for transit zone interdiction were  based on the recorded hours each aircraft spent on interdiction activities  in the transit zone, multiplied by the average hourly operating cost for that  type of aircraft. Customs provided data for specific flights made during  fiscal years 1998 through 2000 where pilots indicated that their mission  was in the transit zone. However, pilots were not required to record that  information in Customs’ data system. For example, a Customs aircraft  could take off from Miami and fly to a drug interdiction mission in the  transit zone. Unless the pilot specified the location of the plane, those  hours would be logged to the Miami Air Branch rather than to any specific  geographic area. Customs was not able to estimate, for those flights in  which the geographic area had not been recorded, the amount of time  those pilots spent in the transit zone. Second, as with DOD, the Customs  data did not include personnel costs because Customs does not track  personnel costs by mission type. Third, Customs did not provide data on  funds obligated for its marine unit’s transit zone drug interdiction activities  because, according to a Customs official, marine unit data were unreliable  prior to October 2000. The marine unit did not have a centralized reporting  system before its merger with the air unit in 1999, and the agency’s data  collection system was not modified to incorporate data from its marine  assets until October 2000.
Agency budget officials told us that although they do not track funds  obligated for transit zone drug interdiction, they track funds obligated for  drug interdiction in other ways that are more consistent with their  responsibilities in the transit zone and elsewhere. For example, ONDCP  requires that DOD, the Coast Guard, and Customs estimate funds obligated  for each goal of the National Drug Control Strategy, including the goal of  protecting America’s air, land, and sea frontiers from the drug threat.  Budget officials from the Coast Guard and Customs told us that, in pursuit  of this goal of the Strategy, their drug interdiction missions often involved  activities that took place in both the transit zone and in U.S. territory or  U.S. territorial waters. Because of this, these agencies focus on tracking  budget data that are not specific to the transit zone. Coast Guard and  Customs officials told us that tracking budget data specifically by transit  zone would not enhance their capabilities to manage their overall drug  interdiction responsibilities.
section_title: Agency Estimates of Asset Use Had Limitations
paragraphs: Because DOD, the Coast Guard, and Customs do not track data on assets  used (flight hours and ship days) explicitly for transit zone drug  interdiction, the three agencies attempted to estimate this information in  response to our request. As with their estimates of funds obligated, the  asset estimates also had a number of limitations. Specifically, DOD  provided data for fiscal year 2000, collected from JIATF-East and  JIATF-West, on the amount of time DOD assets spent on detection and  monitoring activities in the transit zone. We requested data for fiscal years  1998 and 1999 on DOD’s flight hours and ship days directly from  JIATF-East and -West. In May 1999, JIATF-East changed the way it  collected information on flight hours and ship days, when it began  differentiating between total time spent on detection and monitoring  missions (including time en route to the mission area) and the amount of  time the asset was actually on-site. This change limits direct comparison of  asset use data across the 3 fiscal years.
The Coast Guard’s difficulties in estimating asset time used for drug  interdiction in the transit zone were similar to its difficulties for estimating  funds obligated. The agency provided us with asset data for fiscal years  1998 through 2000 but could not isolate its transit zone drug interdiction  time because plane and ship crews do not track their time that way. The  Coast Guard records flight and ship hours by type of mission (such as drug  interdiction, migrant interdiction, or fisheries enforcement), but not by  zone.
As with its data on funds obligated, the asset data provided by Customs  underestimates the time it used for transit zone drug interdiction. We  received flight hour data from Customs for fiscal years 1998 through 2000.  According to Customs officials, the asset data represent a substantial  undercount of actual drug interdiction time in the transit zone for two  reasons. First, pilots are not required to record the location of their  missions in Customs’ data system. Customs, therefore, only provided us  with flight hour data in which that data field was filled in. As a result, one  Customs official estimated that the data we received were missing “well  over” 25 percent of the agency’s transit zone flight hours. Second, Customs  could not provide us with reliable data on its transit zone drug interdiction  ship days. Before the merger of the air and marine units in 1999 and  modifications to the agency’s data collection system in October 2000, the  marine unit did not have a centralized reporting system.
section_title: The Results Agencies Track to Demonstrate Effectiveness Vary
paragraphs: The measures of results which DOD, the Coast Guard, and Customs track  to demonstrate their effectiveness in transit zone drug interdiction varied  during fiscal years 1998, 1999, and 2000. Each agency collected different  kinds of measures, which varied in terms of whether they focused on  detection and monitoring or on drug seizures and whether or not they  focused specifically on the agency’s activities in the transit zone. DOD is  developing measures of results that focus on its role in the detection and  monitoring of drug trafficking, and are specific to the transit zone. The  Coast Guard tracks the amount of drugs seized, as well as the cocaine  seizure rate, although neither measure is specific to the transit zone.  Customs tracked transit-zone specific measures, including drugs seized as  a result of Customs assistance, up until fiscal year 1999, and then began to  track results of its detection and monitoring efforts more generally, not  just in the transit zone.
DOD, the Coast Guard, and  DOD, the Coast Guard, and Customs tracked different measures of results  Customs Track Different  Results  to assess their effectiveness in transit zone drug interdiction efforts. DOD  and Customs focused on the results of detection and monitoring efforts  and the Coast Guard focused more on seizure-based information, which is  consistent with their roles. Table 2 presents examples of DOD’s, the Coast  Guard’s, and Customs’ measures of results during fiscal years 1998  through 2000.
subsections: section_title: DOD Measures of Results Focus on Detection and Monitoring Role
paragraphs: DOD began tracking measures of results in fiscal year 2000, as a step  towards developing formal measures of effectiveness. DOD is not allowed  to make drug seizures, and thus has begun to develop measures of results  that focus on its role in detection and monitoring. DOD’s measures of  results are specific to the transit zone, and include, among other things,  the amount of cocaine seized in the transit zone where ships, planes, or  radar under DOD’s control were the initial detection assets, as well as the  proportion of cocaine seized out of the total estimated amount of cocaine  flow in the transit zone where ships, planes, or radar under DOD’s control  were the initial detection assets. DOD also collected more detailed  information on these results, broken down by specific types of ships,  planes, and radar under the control of JIATF-East and JIATF-West, in  order to examine the effectiveness of each type of asset. All results data  are classified.
section_title: The Coast Guard Tracks Drugs Seized and Cocaine Seizure Rate
paragraphs: During fiscal years 1998 through 2000, the Coast Guard tracked: (1) the  amount of cocaine seized, (2) the amount of marijuana seized, and (3) the  cocaine seizure rate. The amount of cocaine or marijuana seized is not  isolated to the transit zone. Tracking the amount of drugs seized alone as  a measure of effectiveness has limited utility. That is because increased  seizures may be a function of either the increased effectiveness of  interdiction agencies or increased drug flow into the United States. The  Coast Guard has attempted to address this issue by tracking the cocaine  seizure rate. The cocaine seizure rate is the amount of cocaine seized as a  percentage of the total estimated cocaine flow into the United States.None of these measures are specific to the transit zone.
section_title: Customs Has Discontinued Tracking Transit-Zone Specific Measures of Results
paragraphs: In fiscal year 1998, Customs kept track of three transit-zone specific  measures of results, including the amount of cocaine and marijuana seized  in the transit zone and the track rate (whether suspect air targets were  successfully tracked). According to agency officials and Customs reports,  transit zone cocaine and marijuana seizures were those made by foreign  law enforcement agencies with assistance from Customs air or marine  assets. In fiscal year 1999, Customs dropped the track rate but continued  to track transit zone cocaine and marijuana seizures. As of fiscal year 2000,  Customs no longer tracked measures of results specific to the transit zone.
Customs officials said that the agency’s primary responsibility in the  transit zone is to provide detection and monitoring and support to  agencies, such as the Coast Guard and foreign law enforcement, that are  charged with apprehending drug smugglers. Customs officials also said  that its air and marine assets travel across the source, transit, and arrival  zones and are not isolated to the transit zone. Due to these factors,  Customs has discontinued reporting transit-zone specific measures,  including seizures, and is developing new measures of effectiveness of its  air and marine assets in detecting drug smugglers. The new measures  include the number of incidents in which cocaine that was intended to  enter the borders of the United States is dropped by smuggler aircraft  before entering the country and the number of times drug-smuggling  aircraft enter the United States from outside of its borders. These  measures are reported in Customs’ reports as baselines for future data  collection. None of the new measures isolates the results of Customs’  activities in the transit zone.
section_title: Multiple Agencies Report the Same Cocaine Seizures in Their Individual Agency Databases and Reports
paragraphs: Both the Coast Guard and Customs have counted the same cocaine  seizures in their individual agency databases and subsequently reported  the same seizures as contributing to the measures of results used to track  their effectiveness in drug interdiction. And although DOD does not seize  drugs, it has begun to track whether DOD ships, planes, and radar  participated in detection and monitoring activities that resulted in cocaine  seizures in the transit zone, and many of these cocaine seizures are the  same ones reported by the Coast Guard or Customs. Agency officials we  spoke with told us that they believe it is appropriate for each agency to get  credit for its involvement in seizing cocaine, since without the  participation of any one agency, the seizure may not have occurred.  Agencies have also established mechanisms designed to ensure that the  seizures in which they participate are being reported accurately. We  identified two interagency databases—the FDSS, and the Consolidated  Counterdrug Database (CCDB)—which were designed, among other  things, to improve the accuracy of cocaine seizure data when multiple  agencies participate in the seizures. While designed to improve accuracy,  neither the agencies’ database controls nor the two interagency databases  were designed to prevent multiple agencies from each counting the same  seizure in their specific agency databases.
subsections: section_title: When Multiple Agencies Participate in a Cocaine Seizure, More than One Agency May Take Credit
paragraphs: In fiscal years 1998, 1999, and 2000, both the Coast Guard and Customs  counted in their agency annual cocaine seizure statistics some of the same  transit zone seizures. These seizures ultimately contributed to the totals  reported by the two agencies as measures of their effectiveness in drug  interdiction.
The Coast Guard counted towards its overall agency cocaine seizure totals  cocaine seizures made by Coast Guard personnel, or those made by Coast  Guard personnel working with Customs, other federal law enforcement  agencies, or foreign law enforcement agencies. Coast Guard officials told  us that the Coast Guard only claims credit for participating in seizures  made by other agencies (including foreign law enforcement agencies)  when the Coast Guard was the lead agency in the drug interdiction  operation, or when its participation was “substantial.” In fiscal year 2000,  the Coast Guard’s database shows that it made 58 cocaine seizures,  totaling 132,000 pounds. Of the 58 cocaine seizures, the Coast Guard data  show that in 38 instances multiple agencies participated in the seizure. Of  these 38, 13 instances involved Customs, 16 instances involved DOD  (through the use of Coast Guard law enforcement detachments working  on board U.S. Navy ships), and 9 instances involved local, other federal or  foreign agencies, but not Customs or DOD. In reporting overall agency  cocaine seizures, the Coast Guard included all 58 seizures as part of the  total the agency seized during fiscal year 2000 (and thus contributing to  the Coast Guard’s seizure rate during that year), but the reports did not  indicate whether or not the seizures were made with the assistance of  other agencies.
Customs reported transit zone cocaine seizures in which it participated in  two ways. First, in fiscal years 1998 and 1999, it reported the amount of  cocaine seized by foreign law enforcement agencies as a result of Customs  assistance in the transit zone. In fiscal years 1998 and 1999, Customs data  showed that it assisted in 20 transit zone cocaine seizures, totaling about  19,000 pounds of cocaine. These totals included 6 cocaine seizures  (totaling about 8,000 pounds) that were also included in the Coast Guard’s  statistics because the Coast Guard had also participated in the seizure. As  discussed in the previous section of this report, Customs discontinued  reporting transit zone seizures as a measure of effectiveness after fiscal  year 1999.
Second, Customs also reported the overall amount of cocaine seized by  the agency in fiscal years 1998 through 2000. This measure includes  instances where Customs participated in transit zone seizures with other  federal agencies. According to Customs officials and our review of  Customs seizure data, Customs personnel participated in transit zone  cocaine seizures in different ways, including (1) working on multiagency  drug-smuggling investigations which produced intelligence that resulted in  cocaine seizures by other federal agencies; (2) detecting, monitoring, or  tracking suspect drug-smuggling aircraft or vessels that were ultimately  apprehended by other federal agencies; or (3) discovering cocaine during  searches of vessels seized by other federal agencies and escorted to U.S.  ports. In reporting overall cocaine seizures in fiscal years 1998, 1999, and  2000, Customs did not report separately the number of seizures resulting  from these different types of participation.
Our review of 26 transit zone cocaine seizures that were described in  federal government press releases during fiscal years 1998, 1999, and 2000  showed that both the Coast Guard and Customs counted the same 16 of  the 26 seizures in their respective seizure databases and both subsequently  reported these 16 seizures as contributing to each agency’s measure of  results used to track effectiveness in drug interdiction. A review of the  Coast Guard’s and Customs’ seizure databases, and two interagency  seizure databases, showed that both agencies participated in some  capacity in each of these 16 seizures. The Coast Guard’s role in these  seizures included seizing cocaine after pursuing, apprehending, and  boarding drug-smuggling vessels and locating and retrieving bales of  cocaine jettisoned by smugglers during a pursuit. Customs’ role in these  seizures included participating in drug-smuggling investigations that  resulted in a number of the seizures; detecting, monitoring, and tracking  drug-smuggling aircraft or vessels; and searching vessels that had been  apprehended by the Coast Guard.
Although DOD is not authorized to seize drugs, it had begun to track in  fiscal year 2000 the amount of cocaine seized as a result of detection and  monitoring by its ships, planes, and radar under the control of JIATF-East  or JIATF-West, in an attempt to determine how well DOD detection and  monitoring assets contributed to the drug interdiction effort. These totals  include only those cocaine seizures where JIATF-East or JIATF-West  assets were determined to be the first assets to detect the drug-smuggling  aircraft or vessel. If the actual cocaine seizures were made by the Coast  Guard, Customs, or other U.S. or foreign law enforcement agencies, these  seizures would also be counted in those agencies’ statistics.
Agency officials with whom we spoke recognized that a number of  agencies may be reporting the same cocaine seizures. They told us that it  was appropriate for each agency to count a seizure in which it  participated, for a number of reasons. First, agency time and effort had  been expended on the seizure. Second, there was a central  clearinghouse—the FDSS—where federal agencies were to report cocaine  seizure data. Those data, rather than individual agency data, could be used  to determine the overall amount of cocaine seized by federal agencies in  the United States. Third, interagency cooperation would be hindered if  only one agency could receive “credit” for a specific seizure that involved  several participating agencies. In many cases, the seizure would not have  occurred if any one of the participating agencies had been absent.
section_title: Cocaine Seizures May be Counted by Multiple Agencies, but Press Releases Emphasize Interagency Efforts
paragraphs: DOD, the Coast Guard, and Customs publicized cocaine seizures made  during fiscal years 1998, 1999, and 2000 in 21 press releases that were  available on the agencies’ web sites, and in all but 1 of the press releases,  multiple agencies were credited as having participated in the seizures. A  review of the Coast Guard’s and Customs’ seizure databases, and two  interagency seizure databases, showed that there was general consistency  between what was stated in the press releases and what was reported in  the seizure databases, in terms of the size of the seizures, and the agencies  listed as participating in the seizures. Also, in more than two-thirds of the  press releases, the seizure was highlighted as an example of successful  interagency cooperation.
section_title: Seizure Database Controls Designed to Address Accuracy but Do Not Address Multiple Counting
paragraphs: The Coast Guard and Customs appeared to have established controls in  their agency seizure databases with the goal of recording accurately the  size of the cocaine seizures that were made and preventing multiple  counting of cocaine seizures within the same agency. Both the Coast  Guard’s and Customs’ controls included the assignment of unique case  identification numbers to seizures, supervisory or headquarters review of  seizure amounts, and reconciliation of agency data with interagency drug  seizure databases. DOD, in tracking cocaine seizures that resulted from  detection and monitoring by assets under the control of JIATF-East and  JIATF-West, had also established a number of controls designed to ensure  accurate reporting. DOD’s controls included tracking assets that were  involved in cocaine seizures by a unique case identification number and  reconciling data with an interagency database. These procedures have  been designed so that each agency has an accurate count of the cocaine  seizures in which it participated. More information about agency database  controls appears in appendix IV.
section_title: FDSS Established to Prevent Multiple Counting of Drugs in Overall Total Seized by Federal Agencies
paragraphs: The FDSS was established in 1989 with the goal of eliminating the multiple  counting of drug seizures, so that policymakers could determine the  overall amount of drugs seized by federal agencies. The database is  managed by DEA. Prior to the establishment of the system, there was no  central clearinghouse for seizure reporting, and the only way to obtain a  total for the amount of drugs seized by federal agencies was to add up the  amount of drugs reported as seized by each agency. Because of the  overlap between various agencies’ records, this resulted in an overstated  amount. Although the FDSS has controls to prevent the same seizures  from being counted more than once, FDSS was not designed to prevent  individual agencies from reporting the same seizures in their own  databases.
The El Paso Intelligence Center (EPIC) serves as the central  clearinghouse for the reporting of drug seizure data to the FDSS. Five  federal agencies, including the Coast Guard and Customs, currently report  drug seizures to the FDSS. When a representative from one of these five  agencies calls in to report a seizure, EPIC issues a unique identification  number, and various information on the seizure—such as weight and type  of drug, date and time of the seizure, location of the seizure, reporting  agency, and participating agencies—is recorded in a computerized log.
EPIC has instituted a number of procedures to prevent the same seizure  from being reported to FDSS more than once by the same, or different,  agencies. These include automated and manual checking of records to  identify potential multiple reports, requirements that changes to seizure  information be made by the same agency official who made the first  report, and automated tracking of changes made by EPIC personnel to the  automated log.
FDSS officials told us that FDSS procedures are not designed to prevent  more than one agency from reporting any one seizure in its own database.  Likewise, our review of a nonrepresentative sample of cocaine seizures  made by the Coast Guard and Customs showed that when both agencies  participated in a seizure, some seizures that were reported to EPIC were  also counted in each agency’s individual reports.
section_title: Quarterly CCDB Meetings May Help Verify the Details of Transit Zone Cocaine Seizures
paragraphs: The CCDB contains information on nearly all air and maritime cocaine  seizures made in the transit zone and is used by DOD, the Coast Guard,  and Customs as a check on the accuracy of their agencies’ cocaine seizure  data. Unlike the FDSS, the CCDB database includes information on  transit zone cocaine seizures made by foreign law enforcement agencies,  as well as by U.S. law enforcement agencies. The CCDB also includes  information on cocaine-smuggling events that were observed by drug  interdiction agencies, but did not result in seizures (such as suspected  drug-smuggling vessels that were pursued, but got away), and other  cocaine-smuggling events that were believed to have occurred based on  reliable intelligence reports but where no confirmation of their occurrence  was received. The CCDB data are used as a source for estimates of  cocaine flow through the transit zone. The CCDB database manager said  that the accuracy of the database comes in large part from the opportunity  for interagency discussion and review of information in the database. The  CCDB, like the FDSS, is not designed to prevent individual agencies from  each counting a specific seizure as its own.
The CCDB is managed by USIC. DOD, the Coast Guard, and Customs, as  well as other agencies, submit to the CCDB database manager information  on cocaine seizures. Representatives from agencies involved in transit  zone interdiction, including DOD, Customs, and the Coast Guard, meet  quarterly to discuss each seizure that has been made in the previous  quarter. Topics discussed include which agency and which asset first  detected the drug-smuggling aircraft or vessel, the location of the seizure,  and other participating agencies and assets. When discrepancies exist in  the information that has been reported to the CCDB manager on the size  of cocaine seizures, or regarding the agencies and assets that participated  in the seizure, the agency representatives discuss the discrepancies and, if  needed, vote on what information they believe is most accurate. Following  the meeting, the CCDB database manager sends the revised data back to  the agency for an additional review.
Representatives from ONDCP and DOD charged with preparing  semiannual cocaine flow estimates regularly attend the conference. In  April 2001, we attended a quarterly CCDB meeting and observed that these  representatives were concerned with maintaining the standards for  entering data into the database, and thus appear to serve as an additional  check on the overall accuracy of the data.
Although the CCDB may be used by individual agencies to validate  information in an agency’s database, the database is not designed to  prevent multiple agencies from counting the same seizure in their own  databases. Our review of a nonrepresentative sample of cocaine seizures  made by the Coast Guard and Customs showed that when both agencies  participated in a seizure, and information about the seizure appeared in  the CCDB, some seizures continued to be counted in each agency’s  individual reports.
section_title: Conclusions
paragraphs: DOD, the Coast Guard, and Customs each play a role in interdicting drugs  in the transit zone. It is difficult to determine the funds obligated and the  flight hours and ship days used by the agencies for this effort, and the  results of these efforts, because the agencies tend not to track data  specifically by the transit zone. Instead, agency officials said they track  data in ways that are consistent with their more general responsibilities in  the transit zone and elsewhere and indicated that tracking data specifically  by the transit zone would not enhance their capabilities to manage their  drug interdiction responsibilities.
It is not uncommon for cocaine seizures to involve the efforts of more than  one of these agencies. In an effort to ensure the accuracy of seizure data  collected, agencies we reviewed had established controls in their own  seizure databases, reported seizures to a central clearinghouse—the  FDSS—and participated in quarterly CCDB meetings where they discussed  the details of specific transit zone seizures. Managers of the FDSS and  CCDB had also established controls to ensure the accuracy of the data  reported to them by the agencies. We believe that the interagency  databases can provide policymakers with useful information about the  results of the overall effort by U.S. and foreign agencies to interdict  cocaine in the transit zone. However, the agency database controls and the  interagency databases are not designed to prevent the same cocaine  seizures from being reported by more than one agency.
section_title: Agency Comments
paragraphs: We requested comments on a draft of this report from the Secretaries of  Defense and Transportation; the Commissioner of the U.S. Customs  Service; the Administrator of the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration;  and the Director of the Office of National Drug Control Policy. The  agencies concurred with the report. They also provided technical  comments, which have been incorporated in this report where  appropriate.
As agreed with your office, unless you publicly announce its contents  earlier, we plan no further distribution of this report until 10 days from its  issue date. At that time, we will send copies of the report to the Senate and  House Judiciary Committees, the Senate Caucus on International  Narcotics Control, the Secretaries of Defense and Transportation, the  Commissioner of the U.S. Customs Service, the Administrator of the U.S.  Drug Enforcement Administration, the Director of the Office of National  Drug Control Policy, and the Director of the Office of Management and  Budget.
We will also make copies available to others upon request. Major  contributors to this report are listed in appendix V. If you or your staff  have any questions concerning this report, please contact me on  (202) 512-8777.
section_title: Appendix I: Scope and Methodology
paragraphs: To describe the roles of the Department of Defense (DOD), the U.S. Coast  Guard (Coast Guard), and the U.S. Customs Service (Customs) in transit  zone drug interdiction, we interviewed officials of those three agencies  and officials at selected counterdrug coordinating organizations, including  the Office of National Drug Control Policy (ONDCP), and the U.S.  Interdiction Coordinator (USIC). We also visited the Joint Interagency  Task Force East (JIATF-East), the Joint Interagency Task Force West  (JIATF-West), Customs’ Air and Marine Interdiction Coordination Center  (AMICC), and Coast Guard and Customs field offices in the Miami, Florida,  area. We reviewed documents guiding the transit zone interdiction effort,  such as the 1999 National Interdiction Command and Control Plan, the  National Drug Control Strategy 2000 Annual Report, and agency  authorizing legislation. We also reviewed our published reports and  testimonies (see Related GAO Products).
To determine the extent to which we could identify the funds obligated  and assets used for transit zone drug interdiction activities of DOD, the  Coast Guard, and Customs, we interviewed agency and ONDCP budget  officials, reviewed agency budget documents, and reviewed data on flight  hours and ship days from agency data systems. To obtain data on funds  obligated for transit zone drug interdiction, we requested these data for  fiscal years 1998 through 2000 from agency budget officials using a  structured interview format. The officials told us that they do not track  data on funds obligated specifically for transit zone drug interdiction. We  then asked these officials to attempt to estimate the transit-zone specific  obligation data, which the officials did. We also requested data on flight  hours and ship days used for transit zone drug interdiction activities in  fiscal years 1998 through 2000 from officials at DOD, the Coast Guard,  Customs, JIATF-East, and JIATF-West. We reviewed the resulting agency  data on funds obligated, and the data on flight hours and ship days from  agency data systems for fiscal years 1998 through 2000 (1998 data on funds  obligated were not available for the Coast Guard), and identified several  limitations. We interviewed budget officials from DOD, the Coast Guard,  and Customs regarding the limitations of their estimates of funds obligated  for transit zone drug interdiction. We also interviewed officials from DOD,  the Coast Guard, Customs, JIATF-East, and JIATF-West regarding the  limitations of their data on flight hours and ship days. In addition, we  interviewed ONDCP budget officials, reviewed a study commissioned by  ONDCP on agency methods for calculating their counterdrug budgets, and  interviewed the study’s authors.
To identify what results DOD, the Coast Guard, and Customs track to  demonstrate their effectiveness in transit zone drug interdiction, we  interviewed agency headquarters officials and obtained available results  data for fiscal years 1998 through 2000. Along with the information  provided by agency officials, we also reviewed annual performance  reports required by the Government Performance and Results Act of 1993  for DOD, the Coast Guard, and Customs, for fiscal years 1998 through  2000.
To determine whether multiple agencies are reporting the same cocaine  seizures, we interviewed managers of agency seizure databases at DOD,  the Coast Guard, and Customs to identify how agencies record and report  cocaine seizures in which they participate. We reviewed user’s guides,  training manuals, and written policies and guidance for the agency seizure  databases (these documents are listed in app. III). We also obtained  cocaine seizure data for fiscal years 1998 through 2000 from the Coast  Guard and Customs and cocaine seizure data for fiscal year 2000 from  DOD. To identify procedures and data systems in place to ensure the  accuracy and completeness of cocaine seizure data when multiple  agencies participate in seizures, we identified two interagency data  systems where such seizures are recorded—the Federal-wide Drug Seizure  System (FDSS) and the Consolidated Counterdrug Database (CCDB). We  interviewed managers of the two systems and reviewed user’s guides,  training manuals, and written policies and guidance (these documents are  also listed in app. III). We also attended one of the quarterly CCDB  conferences, at which representatives of the agencies involved in transit  zone interdiction meet for 5 days to discuss the accuracy and  completeness of data provided by the agencies to the CCDB manager  during the previous quarter.
In addition to reviewing related documentation and reports and  interviewing agency officials (as discussed above), we further assessed the  reliability of the data in the agency and interagency databases by  comparing the records in the Coast Guard and Customs databases and the  FDSS and CCDB for a nonrepresentative sample of seizures that were  reported in agency press releases. We selected the universe of publicly  available agency press releases in fiscal years 1998, 1999, and 2000 and  compared the information in them with information in agency and  interagency seizure databases. We located the press releases through an  Internet search of DOD’s (headquarters, Air Force, Navy, Southern and  Pacific Commands, and JIATF-East and JIATF-West), the Coast Guard’s  (headquarters and districts), and Customs’ (headquarters) web sites. We  found 21 press releases referring to 27 cocaine seizures made during fiscal  years 1998, 1999, and 2000. We requested from the database managers for  the Coast Guard, Customs, the FDSS, and the CCDB available information  on 26 of these seizures from their respective databases and any other  supporting information that the managers may have maintained.  Information was available on 25 of the 26 seizures from the Coast Guard  database, 18 of the 26 seizures from the Customs database, 25 of the 26  seizures from the FDSS, and all 26 seizures from the CCDB. We compared  the press releases with information provided by the agencies from their  databases, in terms of the reported amount of cocaine seized, and the  agencies listed as participating in the seizure. While we determined that  the data were reliable enough for our purposes, our ability to generalize  from our review of agency cocaine seizure press releases is limited by the  fact that the seizures described in the press releases do not constitute a  representative sample of all agency cocaine seizures.
We conducted our work from January through October 2001 in  accordance with generally accepted government auditing standards.
section_title: Appendix II: Interdiction Coordinating Organizations
paragraphs: The Office of National Drug Control Policy (ONDCP) was established by  the Congress to set policies, goals, priorities, and objectives for national  drug control; develop a national drug control strategy; and coordinate and  oversee the implementation of the strategy, among other things. ONDCP  is the President’s primary policy office for drug issues. ONDCP oversees  and coordinates the drug control efforts of U.S. federal agencies engaged  in implementing the strategy and managing programs, but does not  manage drug control programs itself. ONDCP also has authority to review  various agencies’ drug control budget requests, including the Department  of Defense (DOD), the U.S. Coast Guard (Coast Guard), and the U.S.  Customs Service (Customs), to ensure they are sufficient to implement the  objectives of the national strategy, but it has no direct control over how  agency budgetary resources are used.
The U.S. Interdiction Coordinator (USIC) provides strategic advice and  oversight for international interdiction efforts in the source and transit  zones. The USIC is designated by the director of ONDCP. The current  USIC is the Commandant of the Coast Guard, who is advised by  representatives from DOD, the Coast Guard, Customs, the Drug  Enforcement Administration (DEA), and the Central Intelligence Agency.  The State Department position was vacant at the time of our review. The  USIC reports to the Director of ONDCP regarding two areas: (1) what  resources are needed to achieve the objectives of the National Drug  Control Strategy in the future and (2) how interdiction assets are  performing. However, the USIC does not possess authority to exercise  operational control of employed assets or field operations. USIC also  organizes conferences three or four times a year, attended by  organizations that are involved with international interdiction, to discuss  interdiction issues and the status of interdiction efforts. The conferences  allow principal players from various parts of the drug interdiction effort  (law enforcement, intelligence, and the military) to discuss drug  interdiction issues.
The Joint Interagency Task Force East (JIATF-East) is the primary center  for detection, monitoring, identification, and handoff of suspect air and  maritime drug trafficking events in part of the Pacific Ocean; the Gulf of  Mexico, Caribbean Sea, Mexico, Central America and surrounding seas;  the Atlantic Ocean; and the continental landmass extending to the  southern end of South America. JIATF-East also focuses on support to  foreign nations’ counterdrug initiatives and the detection, monitoring, and  handoff of suspect drug targets to foreign law enforcement agencies.  JIATF-East hands off control of operations to law enforcement agencies  (such as the Coast Guard) at the arrest stage of an event. Detection and  monitoring responsibilities within this area of responsibility extend to  within 100 nautical miles from the continental United States for air targets,  to continental U.S. territorial seas for maritime targets, and to the U.S.  territorial seas of Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands for both air and  maritime targets, and the Bahamas. JIATF-East is under the command of  DOD’s Southern Command and is staffed by representatives from DOD,  the Coast Guard, Customs, the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), and  DEA.
The Joint Interagency Task Force West (JIATF-West) focuses primarily on  illegal drugs originating in southeast and southwest Asia, support of  foreign nations’ and U.S. country teams’ counterdrug initiatives, and the  detection, monitoring, and identification of suspect drug targets in their  area of responsibility for subsequent handoff to U.S. or foreign law  enforcement authorities. Its area of responsibility includes part of the  Pacific Ocean. Detection and monitoring responsibilities within this area  extend to the U.S. territorial seas for maritime targets and up to 100  nautical miles from the continental United States for air targets.  Additionally, JIATF-West may provide counterdrug support outside of its  area of responsibility for foreign nations (such as Mexico). JIATF-West is  under the command of DOD’s Pacific Command and is also staffed by  representatives from DOD, the Coast Guard, Customs, the FBI, and DEA.
Customs’ Air and Marine Interdiction Coordination Center (AMICC)  identifies aircraft coming to the U.S. border and coordinates the  interception and apprehension of suspects. Its area of responsibility  extends 100 nautical miles from the U.S. landmass (except for the territory  of the Bahamas, which is within the area of responsibility assigned to  JIATF-East). AMICC is the primary center responsible for the  identification of aircraft tracked within the JIATF-West area of  responsibility and the transit zone portion of the JIATF-East area of  responsibility. AMICC uses the Federal Aviation Administration’s flight  system and more than 70 radar to identify and track aircraft. In addition,  AMICC supports U.S. drug interdiction operations from airfields in Mexico  and Aruba and assists the Mexican government’s law enforcement.AMICC also provides support for drug interdiction activities in the  Caribbean. AMICC is staffed by detection systems specialists from DOD,  the Coast Guard, and Customs; intelligence research specialists; and  communications specialists.
section_title: Appendix III: Agency and Interagency Drug Seizure Database Documentation
paragraphs: Counterdrug Performance Results. Memorandum from the Office of the  Department of Defense Coordinator for Drug Enforcement Policy and  Support, October 10, 2000.
Aviation Marine Operations Reporting System, Student Guide. U.S.  Customs Service Air and Marine Interdiction Division.
Air and Marine Operations Reporting System Users Guide. U.S. Customs  Service Air and Marine Interdiction Division.
SEACATS Search/Arrest/Seizure Procedures. U.S. Customs Service Office  of Information and Technology and Office of Field Operations, March  2001.
SEACATS Air/Marine/Foreign Incident Report (AMFIR) Short Form  Seizure Case Initiation. U.S. Customs Service Office of Information and  Technology and Office of Field Operations, February 2001.
EPIC Procedures for Issuing Federal Drug Identification Numbers, from  EPIC Watch Operations Training Book, El Paso Intelligence Center, Drug  Enforcement Administration.
Federal-wide Drug Seizure System Automated FDIN Log User Guide.  Drug Enforcement Administration, May 1991.
Federal-wide Drug Seizure System Data Element Description and  Validation Criteria for FDSSLOG File and FDSS Master File. Drug  Enforcement Administration.
Federal-Wide Drug Seizure System Federal Drug Identification Number  (FDIN). El Paso Intelligence Center, July 2000.
FDIN Threshold Weights and Equivalents. Drug Enforcement  Administration, January 1, 2001.
Consolidated Counterdrug Database (CCDB) User’s Guide. U.S.  Interdiction Coordinator’s Office, February 2001.
section_title: Appendix IV: Agency Drug Seizure Database Controls
paragraphs: This appendix contains additional information on the controls in the U.S.  Coast Guard’s (Coast Guard) and U.S. Customs Service’s (Customs)  seizure databases designed to ensure the accuracy of cocaine seizures  reported by these agencies. The appendix also contains additional  information on the databases that the Department of Defense (DOD) uses  to track cocaine seized in the transit zone as a result of detection and  monitoring by ships, planes, and radar under the control of the Joint  Interagency Task Force East (JIATF-East) or the Joint Interagency Task  Force West (JIATF-West).
subsections: section_title: The Coast Guard
paragraphs: The Coast Guard had instituted the following controls to ensure that it was  reporting an accurate total for the cocaine seizures that it made. These  included: (1) tracking cocaine seized in the transit zone by a unique case  identification number, (2) reviewing each seizure at several levels of the  Coast Guard command structure, and (3) reconciling the Coast Guard data  with data reported to two interagency databases.
Coast Guard cocaine seizures are to be reported by the Coast Guard  district in which the seizure occurs. If the seizure is above a specified  weight threshold, the district reports the approximate amount, the  location of the seizure, and which Coast Guard unit made the seizure to  the El Paso Intelligence Center (EPIC), which serves as the central  clearinghouse for reporting of drug seizure information to the Federal- wide Drug Seizure System (FDSS). EPIC assigns a unique identification  number that the Coast Guard uses to track the seizure. The weight of  drugs seized will be an approximate number until the drugs arrive on  shore and are turned over to Customs or, in some cases, to DEA or a  foreign law enforcement agency. Coast Guard district staff contact the  agency with control of the drugs to find out the final weight of the seizure  and report any revisions to EPIC using the already assigned identification  number.
In addition to reporting to EPIC, Coast Guard districts report cocaine  seizures up the chain of command to a Coast Guard headquarters database  manager. The manager receives information from a variety of sources  (e.g., electronic mail message traffic from Coast Guard ships, district  reports, and area reports). When discrepancies exist between the various  sources, the manager checks with each source to determine the most  accurate information on the seizure.
The database manager also checks Coast Guard cocaine seizure data  against two interagency databases. Each quarter the manager receives a  list of the Coast Guard seizures that were reported to EPIC. The weight of  cocaine seizures listed by EPIC may vary from the weight reported by the  districts to Coast Guard headquarters, because a final weighing of the  drugs after the cocaine was turned over to Customs may have resulted in a  different amount. The manager, as well as personnel from Coast Guard’s  field units, also attends the quarterly Consolidated Counterdrug Database  (CCDB) conference in which all seizures in the transit zone are discussed.  He said that there was an instance when he had received information from  EPIC about a number of seizures made by the Coast Guard that did not  appear in the Coast Guard’s database. At the CCDB conference,  representatives from the Coast Guard’s field units had further information  on the seizures that helped clarify whether they should or should not be  included in the Coast Guard’s seizure database.
The Coast Guard cocaine seizure data was stored in spreadsheet format at  Coast Guard headquarters. The spreadsheet was linked, electronically, to  written documentation that supported each seizure, such as electronic  mail messages from Coast Guard ships and daily operational summaries  from Coast Guard districts, so that a paper trail existed to support changes  made to seizure information in the database. According to the Coast Guard  database manager, this information, as well as the hardcopies supporting  any changes made to the information in the database, were deleted about 6  months after it was received.
section_title: Customs
paragraphs: Customs had instituted the following controls in its seizure database:  (1) assignment of a unique agency case identification number to each  seizure where Customs assisted with the seizure, seized drugs, or took  custody of drugs seized by other agencies; (2) reconciliation with the  CCDB; (3) supervisory review of seizure reports, and periodic review of  seizure information by headquarters personnel; and (4) automated  tracking of any changes made to the seizure database.
Customs’ transit zone cocaine seizures were recorded in two different  ways. First, if Customs assisted a foreign agency with a cocaine seizure,  Customs air or marine enforcement officers were to report information  about their participation in the seizure to a Customs database. Customs  field and headquarters personnel subsequently obtained information on  the seizure from the seizing agency, and input the information into the  database, with a special code signifying that Customs was an assisting  agency, rather than a seizing agency. Reported seizure amounts are  reconciled with the CCDB data at the quarterly CCDB conferences.  Second, if Customs took custody of a cocaine seizure turned over to it by  another agency, Customs personnel tracked the seizure in its tracking  system. In both cases, a unique identification number would be associated  with the seizure, so that all information on the seizure that resided in  separate Customs’ data systems (such as the flight hours spent tracking a  suspect aircraft) would be linked to the seizure record.
Customs required review of each seizure report by a supervisor. In  addition, headquarters personnel periodically review seizure reports and  check for duplicate records and seizure amounts that appear to be  peculiar. Customs officials told us they believed these controls had  prevented instances of multiple counting of seizures by two separate  branches of the agency.
Customs’ seizure data system is constructed so that updates, deletions,  and revisions of seizure records are automatically tracked. Thus, deleted  records do not disappear from the system.
In fiscal year 2000, DOD began to collect data from JIATF-East and  JIATF-West on the amount of cocaine seized in the transit zone as a result  of detection and monitoring by ships, planes, and radar under the control  of the JIATFs. The JIATFs are each required to provide to DOD a report on  how much cocaine was seized as the result of detection by assets under  their control, broken out by type of asset (e.g., detection by DOD ground- based radar, Customs surveillance aircraft, or Coast Guard helicopters).  The JIATFs had each instituted the following controls to ensure that the  data they reported on cocaine seizures were accurate: (1) the tracking of  assets and drug-smuggling events by specific identification numbers and  (2) reconciling the internal JIATF data with data in the CCDB. Although  these controls may help ensure more accurate reporting, there remains the  potential for multiple counting of seizures in those instances where a drug- smuggling aircraft or vessel crosses over both the JIATFs’ areas of  responsibility. In those cases, both JIATFs may report that an asset under  their control was the initial detection asset for a particular cocaine seizure,  thus potentially inflating the overall amount of cocaine seized that is  reported to DOD.
A DOD official informed us that DOD has provided guidance to the two  JIATFs that the CCDB is to be used as one source for the report. However,  DOD has left it up to each JIATF to determine how the CCDB will be used,  and what other specific data sources and calculations will be used to  provide data for the report. Analysts for JIATF-East and JIATF-West  informed us that the data they report to DOD on cocaine seizures are  derived from a combination of two sources: (1) data maintained internally  by each JIATF on the activity of each asset under its control and (2) data  from the CCDB regarding the type of aircraft, ship, or radar that was the  initial detection asset for each seizure.
Each JIATF maintains its own data on the activity of the assets under its  control. The data come from such sources as daily planning documents,  watch logs, and daily operational briefing documents. Each suspect  cocaine-smuggling event that takes place within each JIATF’s area of  responsibility (whether or not the event resulted in a cocaine seizure) is  identified by a unique JIATF-East or JIATF-West case identification  number and each asset involved in the incident is identified by a specific  call sign. The JIATF analysts examine the various data sources and  determine which asset first detected the smuggling aircraft or vessel.
It is up to the JIATF-East and JIATF-West analysts to reconcile their asset  data with data from the CCDB in order to determine whether a specific  ship, plane, or radar was the initial detection asset for a specific cocaine  seizure. The CCDB contains a field for the detection asset that initially  reported the drug-smuggling target. Data are entered into this field after  the quarterly CCDB meeting, where each seizure (and other drug- smuggling events that did not result in seizures) is discussed in detail by  representatives from the agencies involved in drug interdiction in the  transit zone. The representatives must agree on which asset was the initial  detection asset.
The CCDB database manager informed us that this specific field only  describes the type of asset that made the initial detection (e.g., a Coast  Guard ship or a Customs surveillance aircraft), but not whether the asset  was under the command of either JIATF-East or JIATF-West. Thus, it is up  to the judgment of the JIATF analysts how to report the incident. A  JIATF-West analyst told us that there might be situations where both  JIATF-East and JIATF-West could each claim that an asset under its  command made the initial detection that resulted in a subsequent cocaine  seizure. According to the analyst, this could happen because some  cocaine-smuggling events in the Eastern Pacific, particularly those  involving maritime vessels, take place over a series of days or weeks, and  may cross over the areas of responsibility of the two JIATFs. JIATF-East  may make the initial detection, but then lose the target. JIATF-West may  re-acquire the target a few days later, leading to the seizure of a load of  cocaine. According to the analyst, it is unclear which command should be  credited with the initial detection (and the subsequent seizure), and both  JIATF-East and JIATF-West may report the detection (and the seizure) to  DOD. Thus, both JIATFs would be reporting the same seizure to DOD, and  DOD seizure totals would be inflated. The JIATF-West analyst did not  provide evidence that such reporting had occurred. However, a DOD  official agreed that, given the nature of the DOD reporting requirements,  such multiple reporting could take place.
section_title: Appendix V: GAO Contacts and Staff Acknowledgments
subsections: section_title: GAO Contacts
section_title: Acknowledgments
paragraphs: In addition to the above, Tom Jessor, Jessica Lucas, Hiroshi Ishikawa,  Carolyn Ikeda, David Alexander, Michael Curro, Christine Davis, Allen  Fleener, Jared Hermalin, Barbara Johnson, and Judy Pagano made key  contributions to this report.
section_title: Related GAO Products
paragraphs: Drug War: Observations on the U.S. International Drug Control Strategy  (GAO/T-NSIAD-95-182, June 27, 1995).
Drug War: Observations on U.S. International Drug Control Efforts  (GAO/T-NSIAD-95-194, Aug. 1, 1995).
Drug Control: U.S. Interdiction Efforts in the Caribbean Decline  (GAO/NSIAD-96-119, Apr. 17, 1996).
Drug Control: Observations on U.S. Interdiction in the Caribbean  (GAO/T-NSIAD-96-171, May 23, 1996).
Customs Service: Drug Interdiction Efforts (GAO/GGD-96-189BR,  Sept. 26, 1996).
Drug Control: Long-Standing Problems Hinder U.S. International  Efforts (GAO/NSIAD-97-75, Feb. 27, 1997).
Drug Control: Observations on Elements of the Federal Drug Control  Strategy (GAO/GGD-97-42, Mar. 14, 1997).
Drug Control: Reauthorization of the Office of National Drug Control  Policy (GAO/T-GGD-97-97, May 1, 1997).
Drug Control: Update on U.S. Interdiction Efforts in the Caribbean and  Eastern Pacific (GAO/NSIAD-98-30, Oct. 15, 1997).
Drug Control: Status of U.S. International Counternarcotics Activities  (GAO/T-NSIAD-98-116, Mar. 12, 1998).
Drug Control: An Overview of U.S. Counterdrug Intelligence Activities  (GAO/NSIAD-98-142, June 25, 1998).
Customs Service: Aviation Program Missions, Resources, and  Performance Measures (GAO/GGD-98-186, Sept. 9, 1998).
Drug Control: Observations on U.S. Counterdrug Activities  (GAO/T-NSIAD-98-249, Sept. 16, 1998).
DOD Counterdrug Activities: Reported Costs Do Not Reflect Extent of  DOD’s Support (GAO/NSIAD-98-231, Sept. 23, 1998).
Coast Guard: Key Budget Issues for Fiscal Years 1999 and 2000  (GAO/T-RCED-99-83, Feb. 11, 1999).
Drug Control: ONDCP Efforts to Manage the National Drug Control  Budget (GAO/GGD-99-80, May 14, 1999).
Drug Control: Assets DOD Contributes to Reducing the Illegal Drug  Supply Have Declined (GAO/NSIAD-00-9, Dec. 21, 1999).
Drug Control: DOD Allocates Fewer Assets to Drug Control Efforts  (GAO/T-NSIAD-00-77, Jan. 27, 2000).
Drug Control: U.S. Efforts in Latin America and the Caribbean  (GAO/NSIAD-00-90R, Feb. 18, 2000).
Drug Control: International Counterdrug Sites Being Developed  (GAO-01-63BR, Dec. 28, 2000).