AIR BRIDGE DENIAL: NOVEMBER 2009 PROGRAM UPDATE

UNCLAS BOGOTA 000214 SENSITIVE SIPDIS DEPT FOR INL/LP E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: SNAR PREL MOPS MASS PGOV CO SUBJECT: AIR BRIDGE DENIAL: NOVEMBER 2009 PROGRAM UPDATE REF: 03 STATE 265910 ¶1. (SBU) SUMMARY. This is the monthly Air Bridge Denial (ABD) activity report for November, 2009, as required by Reftel. The Government of Colombia (GOC) sorted 2,808 tracks during November. There were three Unknown, Assumed Suspect (UAS) for the month. END SUMMARY. -------------- Tracks -------------- ¶2. (SBU) In November, 2009, there were 2,808 air tracks over Colombia with three declared Unknown, Assumed Suspect (UAS). Host nation did not react to one due to no assets being available at the time. They responded to the other two but could not locate one. For the other UAS, on November 1, 2009, a Cessna 210 flew from Barrancabermeja to Caucasia then filed a legal flight plan to Medellin. It took off Sunday afternoon November 2nd, and instead of going to Medellin it headed elsewhere and was picked up again near the Gulf of Uraba northbound to Honduras. A Citation was scrambled , performed a Visual Identification over the Caribbean after coordinating with Panama Air Traffic Control and passed it off to a Customs P-3 that followed it until just short of Honduras. The aircraft was later picked up departing Honduras by the Relocatable over the Horizon Radar (ROTHR) and a Citation was scrambled to intercept it over the Caribbean. As it approached Colombia, it was replaced by another Citation and an A-29 Super Tucano from Barranquilla (An AH-60 Arpia later joined them). Once within 12 miles of the Coast, ABD Phase I was started with no response. Phase II was started and before the warning shots the pilot responded and gave false information. The A-29 again told them to land. The pilot landed in Ayape and two people left the airplane and got into a small boat. An A-29 stayed over the aircraft and another followed the boat. The CNP arrived on a CNP helicopter and impounded the aircraft with a suitcase containing $2M USD. They later impounded the boat and arrested the owner of the boat. -------------- Flight Operations -------------- ¶3. (SBU) In November 2009, the Citations flew 164 hours in 79 sorties with a 97% OR rate. Of the 79 sorties, 41 were for GOC ABD intelligence gathering and patrolling, seven for training, 16 were for maritime patrolling, two were in reaction to GOC-provided information, 12 for operational support, and one for Search and Rescue. NICHOLS