[Congressional Record Volume 147, Number 51 (Monday, April 23, 2001)]
[Senate]
[Page S3782]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




APPRECIATION OF SERVICE BY THE DRUG ENFORCEMENT ADMINISTRATION, UNITED 
  STATES CUSTOMS SERVICE, UNITED STATES COAST GUARD, AND THE NATIONAL 
                                 GUARD

  Mr. GRASSLEY. Mr. President, as chairman of the Senate Caucus on 
International Narcotics Control, I rise to highlight some of the recent 
interdiction and investigative successes by the men and women of the 
Drug Enforcement Administration, DEA, the United States Customs 
Service, the United States Coast Guard, and the National Guard.
  These men and women, and their agencies, are dedicated professionals 
committed to protecting our great nation from the devastating affects 
of the illegal drug trade. They are frequently called to place their 
lies in harm's way in an effort to keep our national secure.
  As announced by the Attorney General in January 2001, DEA 
successfully concluded a 10-month narcotics trafficking investigation 
named Operation White Horse, that involved the movement of heroin by 
``swallowers'' from Colombia to the United States via the cities of 
Philadelphia and New York. Sixty-five members of the organization, from 
the Colombia headquarters of the street-level dealers, were arrested in 
what was described as a ``wholesale dismantling'' of the smuggling 
organization.
  The United States Customs Service also had an impressive spring 2001, 
including a recent week on the Southwest border that netted 61 drug 
seizures, yielding 5,449 pounds of marijuana and 82 pounds of cocaine, 
as well as 16 export violations, 6 seizures of prohibited medications, 
and additional seizures of undeclared merchandise, stolen vehicles, 
counterfeit credit cards, and illegal fireworks. The Customs Service is 
rapidly distinguishing itself with the front-line use of X-ray, Gamma-
ray, and other non-intrusive technologies at their inspection stations 
and ports of entry. Customs also completed major domestic and 
international child pornography cases involving Germany and Russia, as 
well as continued interdiction of large amounts of the drug Ecstasy.
  Coast Guard successes, supported by the Department of Defense, 
include a 6-day period in February 2001 when it seized 28,845 pounds of 
cocaine and arrested 24 smugglers, on numerous vessels in both the 
Caribbean and Eastern Pacific. To date, the Coast Guard has seized 
60,636 pounds of cocaine, 20,194 pounds of marijuana, as well as 
interdicted 1,681 illegal migrants at sea, all in a period of 10-
percent operational reductions due to budget constraints.
  Finally, I appreciate the superb job the National Guard does in 
operating the four domestic counterdrug training schools, and hopefully 
soon a fifth one in Iowa, throughout the country that provide much 
needed training of Federal, State, local, and community personnel in 
various counterdrug topics.
  I am extremely proud of these successes and the personnel involved. 
As we consider the budgets for these agencies in the weeks ahead, we 
need to remind ourselves from time to time that it is real, flesh-and-
blood individuals out there on the front lines and not bland numbers on 
spreadsheets and in our briefing books. Their commitment does us all 
proud.

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