AIR BRIDGE DENIAL: JULY 2008 PROGRAM UPDATE

UNCLAS BOGOTA 003003 SIPDIS SENSITIVE DEPARTMENT FOR INL/LP E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: SNAR PREL MOPS MASS PGOV CO SUBJECT: AIR BRIDGE DENIAL: JULY 2008 PROGRAM UPDATE REF: 2003 STATE 265910 ¶1. (U) SUMMARY. This is the monthly Air Bridge Denial (ABD) activity report for July, 2008, as required by Reftel. The Government of Colombia (GOC) sorted 7,268 tracks during July. Three were Unknown, Assumed Suspect (UAS). There were no Phase I/II/III events. There were three events in missions in Support of Suppression of Illegal Maritime Traffic (SSIMT) that ended in law enforcement end games with one GOFAST boat and two other vessels impounded with 172 kilos of cocaine and seven arrests. END SUMMARY. -------------- Tracks -------------- ¶2. (SBU) In July 2008, 7,268 tracks were sorted over Colombia, and three were declared UAS aircraft. Host Nation responded to all three, but was unable to locate one of the UAS. The other two were visually identified in the Caribbean Sea and the information passed on to other Central America Nations. Honduran authorities located one and impounded the aircraft, but no illegal substances were located. -------------- Maritime Ops -------------- ¶3. (SBU) On July 6, 2008, an SR-560 on SSIMT patrol sighted a vessel at coordinates N0233W07830 heading 060 at five knots with two crewmembers and a large number of containers. The vessel turned around and entered a river in Colombia. Eventually the crew landed the aircraft at coordinates N0230W07827, where Colombian marines arrested the two crewmembers and impounded the vessel with 43 fuel containers. ¶4. (SBU) On 13 July, an SR-26 on SSIMT patrol sighted a vessel at coordinates N0241W07826. The information was relayed to a Colombian Coast Guard interceptor vessel in the area. The Coast Guard intercepted the vessel, arrested five crewmembers and impounded the vessel and 1,815 gallons of gasoline ¶5. (SBU) On 23 July, a USN helicopter was following a vessel and handed monitoring over to an ABD SR-26. The SR-26 led Colombian Navy vessel to the suspect vessel. The COLNAV impounded the vessel and 172 pounds of cocaine. Five persons were arrested. -------------- Flight Operations -------------- ¶3. (SBU) In July 2008, the Citations flew 203 hours in 85 sorties. Of the 85 sorties, 23 were for GOC ABD intelligence gathering and patrolling; 17 for training; five were for operational support; 24 were for maritime patrolling; one was for search and rescue, and 15 were in reaction to GOC-provided information. The SR-26 aircraft 5741 flew 62 hours in 42 sorties with. Thirty one SR-26 sorties were in support of ABD, of which 30 were maritime missions. Eleven sorties were for non-ABD purposes. SR-26 tail number 5742 is still out of commission after a ground mishap. Further investigation disclosed that it cannot be brought back to operational status. Usable spare parts will be removed and the remains turned over to GOC for disposal BROWNFIELD