Nearly two-thirds of the world’s coca crop is grown in Peru. Most of that coca is processed into cocaine base, which is flown to Colombia to make cocaine for shipment to the United States and Europe. Since the 1980s, the primary coca-growing and drug-trafficking activities in Peru have been in its Upper Huallaga Valley. During the early 1980s, the United States provided support for Peru to conduct manual eradication of mature coca leaf. However, because of security concerns for personnel conducting manual eradication, these activities ceased in 1987. Gradually, the United States began to (1) support Peruvian efforts to eradicate coca seedbeds and (2) conduct law enforcement operations against drug-trafficking activities. Before 1989, both operations were conducted by helicopter from Tingo Maria, about 150 miles southeast of Santa Lucia, the center of illegal drug activities. In 1989, the United States and Peru moved their operations to a base located near the town of Santa Lucia. The base, which became the center of U.S. and Peruvian eradication and law enforcement operations, supported between 430 and 492 personnel, including 32 U.S. personnel. The United States continued to provide support to the base until late 1993. The map on page 3 shows the locations of these bases. The Departments of State and Defense and the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) coordinate antidrug activities with Peruvian law enforcement and military organizations. At the U.S. embassy in Peru, these functions are carried out by the Narcotics Affairs Section (NAS), the U.S. Military Assistance Advisory Group, and the DEA Country Attache’s Office. Other U.S. agencies also provide support to Peruvian antidrug programs and operations. According to U.S. officials, the rationale for building the Santa Lucia base was to place U.S. personnel in the safest possible environment from which to conduct antidrug activities. U.S. personnel flying into the heart of the drug-trafficking area were increasingly at risk because in the mid-1980s, the Sendero Luminoso—a Maoist organization attempting to overthrow the Peruvian government—took control of the area. This group protected those trafficking in drugs in return for monetary support for the Sendero. In 1988, the United States began to build the Santa Lucia base, which included an airfield, a maintenance facility for 6 to 10 U.S. UH-1H helicopters used for eradication and law enforcement missions, and housing. Because the base was in a highly dense, tropical area with no safe, accessible roads, fixed-wing aircraft (C-123s and C-130s) were supplied by the State Department’s Bureau of International Narcotics Matters (INM) to transport personnel, equipment, and supplies to the base from Lima several times each week. In addition, DEA and Peruvian aircraft used the base for law enforcement operations. According to INM and U.S. embassy records, about $49.2 million was provided to construct, maintain, and operate the Santa Lucia base during fiscal years 1988-93. These funds were included as part of the State Department’s International Narcotics Control Program, which is authorized under the Foreign Assistance Act of 1961, section 481, as amended. INM provided these funds for five projects in Peru (see table 1). Included in the $9.8 million construction project are the costs of daily laborers to construct the base and its related infrastructure; installation of prefabricated housing; equipment and commodities needed to construct and operate helicopter and fixed-wing aircraft facilities and an airstrip; recreational equipment, food, and clothing; and miscellaneous items such as payments to the Peruvian engineer in charge of constructing the airstrip and the rental of heavy equipment. The $16.9 million for CORAH was provided for the direct and indirect costs of supporting between 200 and 250 Peruvian workers to help construct, maintain, and operate Santa Lucia base; provide support services; and perform limited antidrug duties. Direct costs were for activities on the base, including operating equipment such as electrical generators, providing food service, cutting the grass, procuring supplies, and monitoring U.S.-provided equipment to ensure that it was used for counternarcotics purposes. Indirect costs were for support provided from the CORAH headquarters at Tingo Maria, including the purchase of food, construction equipment such as trucks and a bulldozer, supplies and materials, and general supplies for Santa Lucia; and administrative support functions for CORAH personnel at the base. Between March 1990 and November 1993, 10 CORAH workers eradicated coca seedbeds about 3 to 4 hours a day, 3 to 4 days a week. This work was suspended in November 1993 because of budgetary constraints. In addition, up to 50 CORAH workers installed concrete obstacles to block 10 illegal airstrips in the Upper Huallaga Valley. The costs for blocking the airstrips could not be readily determined, but the embassy’s Narcotics Affairs Section said they were included in the direct and indirect costs discussed above. About $6.4 million was spent for police support at Santa Lucia, including (1) per diem for Peruvian police officers stationed at the base to provide security for the base and for workers on eradication missions and (2) commodities used by the police to support the base. About $4.6 million was provided for salaries and expenses of the NAS staff and activities related to administrative support of the base as well as other antidrug programs in Peru. Such support included processing procurement vouchers for goods and services. About $11.5 million was spent on operating and maintaining the fixed-wing aircraft that transported personnel, supplies, and other items to and from Santa Lucia. Generally, two C-123 and two C-130 aircraft were used for these missions. This was funded by INM’s airwing account and not included in Peru’s antidrug program budget. The Congress reduced the State Department’s annual International Narcotics Control Program request for fiscal year 1994 from $148 million to $100 million. After coordinating with various U.S. agencies involved in antidrug activities regarding program options, the State Department decided that it could not adequately support maintenance and operations at the Santa Lucia base while supporting its antidrug programs in Peru and other countries. Thus, in December 1993, the United States stopped supporting the base and the Peruvian government assumed responsibility for the base’s administrative and operational control. State Department officials reported that although trafficking activities had moved outside of the immediate range of U.S.-provided helicopters, they would have maintained the Santa Lucia base had the budget not been reduced. U.S. embassy officials stated that they had already begun to cover an expanded area by conducting helicopter operations using forward operating locations outside of the Santa Lucia area. Some aspects of the restructured programs have been completed and are in place. Specifically, NAS has moved its helicopter maintenance facilities from Santa Lucia to Pucallpa and the government of Peru is now responsible for operating the Santa Lucia base. In addition, INM-owned fixed-wing aircraft used to support U.S. antidrug operations have been returned to the United States and fixed-wing aircraft are now being rented from Peru. However, the U.S. embassy has faced a number of obstacles to fully implementing a mobile basing concept for conducting antidrug missions, including problems with helicopter maintenance, internal conflicts over the responsibility for planning and coordinating antidrug operations, and a U.S. decision not to share with Peru real-time information and assistance that could lead to the shoot down of civilian aircraft suspected of drug trafficking. To stay within the budget, the State Department moved helicopter maintenance facilities and associated U.S. and Peruvian police personnel from Santa Lucia to several different sites in Pucallpa, where an international airport is located. The airport serves as the center from which operations are conducted and for resupplying and supporting maintenance operations. The airport also houses U.S. fixed-wing aircraft used by DEA and other agencies to support law enforcement operations. The maintenance facilities, aviation ground support equipment, and spare parts for 10 UH-1H helicopters are located at a Peruvian naval base in Pucallpa. About 15 U.S. contractor personnel assist the Peruvian police in maintaining and operating the helicopters. A total of about 30 U.S. and 30 to 35 Peruvian personnel live in a hotel about 10 minutes from the naval base. The United States spent about $450,000 for (1) security improvements to the hotel, (2) improvements to three warehouses behind the hotel, (3) improvements to a refueling area, and (4) refurbishment of a warehouse and extension of the perimeter wall at the naval base. Planned projects include improvements to the hotel and naval base and construction of a small hangar and ramp area at the airport for fixed-wing aircraft. Cost estimates for these projects were not available. U.S. embassy personnel stated that U.S. personnel are not allowed to leave the hotel unless they are transported in official vehicles to and from work because of security concerns. According to NAS personnel, morale at Santa Lucia was much better because personnel were free to move around the base after work and tended to interact more readily. With the loss of U.S. support to Santa Lucia, the government of Peru agreed to administer the base and maintain it as a location from which antidrug operations could be conducted. According to the U.S. Embassy’s NAS Director, U.S. officials were concerned that the government of Peru might be unable to provide the resources needed to maintain and operate the base adequately. At the time of our visit, the airstrip needed repair because of holes in the runway and other maintenance problems.