NEW ANTI-DRUG PLANE JOINS U.S. CUSTOMS FLEET
U.S. Customs received the first of a new generation aircraft designed to
intercept illegal drug shipments.
The P-3 Airborne Early Warning (AEW) plane was built specifically for Customs
by Lockheed Martin. Its powerful onboard radar equipment offers air and surface
surveillance of up to 200,000 square miles per sweep.
The new P-3 AEW is an upgraded version of four other P-3 AEWs in
Customs’ fleet. The agency’s air fleet currently consists of 115 planes. Another
P-3 AEW will be delivered to Customs by early next year. By 2002, the agency plans to have
a total of 16.
The planes are mostly used to intercept drug shipments along the southern
border and in the Caribbean. Since 1987, the Customs Surveillance Support Branch has
seized over 250,000 pounds of cocaine, 160,000 pounds of marijuana and 70,000 pounds of
hashish.