Bribes, Bullets, and Intimidation. Julie Marie Bunck
102. CIA, Allegations of Connections, 7.
103. See Dinges, Our Man in Panama, 126; “U.S. Plans to Call Out National Guard,” Christian Science Monitor (US), 29 March 1989, 7.
104. For the alteration of planes to accommodate drug shipments, see United States v. Lee, 743 F.2d at 1244, and United States v. Nichols, 741 F.2d 767.
105. Decker and Chapman, Drug Smugglers, 69, and Reuter, Crawford, and Cave, Sealing the Borders, 46.
106. See “U.S. Radar System Detects Illegal Flights Here,” TT (CR), 9 August 2002, 8, and “Cap-turado avión con cocaína en Quepos,” LN (CR), 3 July 1987, 10A.
107. Shannon, Desperados, 322.
108. Escobar, Accountant’s Story, 64.
109. For the Michael Horn statement, see U.S. Senate, Drug Cartels, 37. One U.S. prosecutor proceeding against air-cargo companies engaged in bulk cocaine imports observed, “What began as single-engine Cessnas island-hopping 100-kilo loads into Florida rapidly evolved into four- to eight-ton loads in Boeing 727s.” “Drug Cartels’ Big Planes Are Big Problem,” WP (US), 6 Feb-ruary 1995, C11.
110. See “Narcotráfico en la frontera Tico-Panameña,” LP (PA), 18 April 2006, 6A.
111. Reuter, Crawford, and Cave, Sealing the Borders, 31; “U.S. Plans,” 7.
112. See INCSR (2002), 4:25; INCSR (2011), 49; Kenney, From Pablo to Osama, 68–69; and Escobar, Accountant’s Story, 68–69. The range of vessels used is illustrated by United States v. Garate-Vergara, 942 F.2d 1543; United States v. Castro, 874 F.2d 230; and United States v. Alvarez, 810 F.2d 879. For submersibles, see “Cocaine-Toting Sub Busted in Pacific Ocean,” TT (CR), 19 September 2008, 8; “Drug Traffic Beneath the Waves,” WP (US), 6 February 2008, A4; and “Cops in Colombia Find Drug Sub,” TR (BZ), 17 September 2000, 23.
113. Until technology improved after the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks, a five-agent U.S. Customs unit might spend three hours inspecting a single container of a size that would fit behind a tractor trailer. Bartilow and Kihong, “Free Traders,” 124. See also “Drug Smugglers Join,” 1A, and “Drug Cartels Have Best Technology Money Can Buy,” Associated Press, 4 June 1997, 12A.
114. See Andreas, “Smuggling Wars,” 89.
115. For the 1987 through 1995 data, see “Mayor decomiso de cocaína en EEUU,” LN (CR), 20 November 1987, 8A; “U.S. Plans,” 7; “Massive Drug Load Seized in Pinellas,” SPT (US), 5 May 1988, 1A; “Abren nuevas rutas para la cocaína a través de México,” El Gráfico (Guatemala), 16 March 1989, 24; and “Castrillón Henao dirigía vasta red de narcotraficantes,” LP (PA), 25 April 1996, 45A.
116. “Drugs Found on Boat Flying Belize Flag,” TR (BZ), 3 October 2004, 1, and “Droga no pasó por el canal,” LP (PA), 23 March 2007, 8A.
117. “Drug-Busting X-ray Units Land at Port of Miami,” Journal of Commerce, 21 August 1998, 1A.
118. See, for instance, “En Guatemala extraditan a narco reclamado por E.U.,” LP (PA), 15 December 1990, 6A; “Hallan cocaína en barco hondureño,” LP (HO), 20 November 1987, 1; “Coca decomisada vale c. 55 millones,” LN (CR), 15 July 1989, 10A; “Cops Find Cocaine in Butane Gas Tanks,” TR (BZ), 26 July 1987, 10; and “Policía decomisó cocaína en barco norteamericano,” LN (CR), 24 July 1985, 10A.
119. See, for instance, “Autoridades decomisaron unos 12 mil kilos de cocaína,” LN (CR), 5 October 1986, 10A; “Perú: Intentaban mandar droga a Italia en el interior de pescados,” LH (GU), 12 July 1991, 20; and Kenney, From Pablo to Osama, 70.
120. See Decker and Chapman, Drug Smugglers, 70, 75–78.
121. “En firme causa contra buzos por narcotráfico,” LN (CR), 29 October 1992, 12A.
122. See “Cien lanchas capturadas se desperdician por líos legales,” LN (CR), 13 August 2007, 14A.
123. “DEA se reúne con empresarios de Zona Libre,” LP (PA), 13 January 1994, 3A; CIA, Allegations of Connections, 7; and “Region Defines Maritime Drug-Prevention Plan,” TT (CR), 25 June 2004, 13.
124. As former DEA agent Michael Garland testified, cocaine headed to Europe would not ordinarily be sent overland into northern Central America. United States v. Martinez, 476 F.3d at 969.
125. Aguilera Peralta, “Fighting the Dragon,” 221.
126. Precisely when traffickers first used these schemes is often difficult to determine, because the police discovering a new smuggling method often lags behind its first use by months or years. Gootenberg, Andean Cocaine, 335.
127. See Abrams, “Drug Wars,” 79; “Gigantesco decomiso de cocaína en España,” LN (CR), 25 April 1988, 22A; and “Armadillos rellenos de marijuana,” LP (HO), 20 June 1989, 20.
128. “One of the bags in a big shipment leaked and killed all the fish, or we wouldn’t have discovered it,” DEA Special Agent Jack Hook said. “Who knows how much moved that way before we caught it?” “The Mexico Connection,” LAT (US), 13 April 1989, 1. See also Zaitch, Trafficking Cocaine, 139n7.
129. See “Incautan otro cargamento con ocho millones de dólares,” LP (PA), 7 March 1992, 1A; “Costa Rica ligada al blanqueo de narcodólares,” LN (CR), 2 August 1994, 10A; “‘Somos inocentes,’ dicen tripulantes de avioneta,” LP (HO), 16 May 1992, 5; “Cerca de L. 100 millones en coca habría enviado a EUA, ex militar,” LP (HO), 12 September 1992, 19; “Banda trasegó 550 kilos de cocaína,” LN (CR), 19 July 1994, 10A; United States v. Bristol, 964 F.2d 1088; and “Descubren otra forma de transportar drogas,” LP (PA), 18 January 2004, 9A.
130. See “Decomisan cadáver cargado de coca,” LP (HO), 16 November 1992, 50, and “Cae cargamento de heroína líquida,” LN (CR), 3 February 1995, 10A.
131. “Best Technology.”
132. Zabludoff, “Colombian Narcotics Organizations,” 23.
133. “Stemming the Drug Flow,” 17.
134.