Snow Job: U.S. Air Force Flies Cocaine from Costa Rica to Miami
A curious cargo airlift operation recently took place at the
Daniel Oduber Quiros International Airport (LIR), in the northern province of
Guanacaste.
According to a news report by Alvaro Sanchez from online news daily
CRHoy, nearly 24 tons of cocaine were loaded onto a United States Air Force
transport aircraft. The destination of the controversial payload? Miami, a city
that once held the infamous title of “Cocaine Capital of the World.”
The public affairs office of the Organization of Judicial
Investigations (OIJ in Spanish) in Costa Rica explained to CRHoy that the 23
tons and 780 kilograms of powder cocaine hydrochloride were the result of two
years of interdiction work by the National Coast Guard Service, the OIJ, the
Border Police, and Fuerza Publica (the national police force in Costa Rica).
This does not include seizures made by the U.S. Coast Guard and U.S. Navy as
part of the Joint Patrol Agreement between Costa Rica and the U.S.
Too Much of That Snow
White
The OIJ further explained that Costa Rica does not have the
capacity or resources to destroy such a colossal amount of nose candy, which is
the reason for requesting assistance from the U.S. military to take away almost
24 tons of what is often referred to as “the champagne of drugs.” Costa Rica is
considered a bridge between the cocaine producing countries of Bolivia,
Colombia and Peru for further traffic up to Mexico and ultimately the top consumer
nation: The United States.
To understand the irony of such a massive quantity of
marching powder being flown from Costa Rica to Miami, one only needs to screen
the award-winning 2006 documentary Cocaine Cowboys. To really stoke the fire of
conspiracy theory with regard to U.S. military aircraft being used to transport
yeyo, it pays to read Dark Alliance, a masterpiece of investigative journalism
by the late Gary Webb, published by the San Jose Mercury News; it is all about
the U.S. Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) and its role in funding the Contras
in Nicaragua by transporting cocaine to Los Angeles during one of the longest
proxy battles of the Cold War.
In the last few years, law enforcement in Costa Rica has
considerably stepped up its drug interdiction efforts. So far this year, the
National Coast Guard Service seized 4.6 tons of cocaine just in the Caribbean
region. As a result, law enforcement officials in Costa Rica ended up with too
much coke and no means to destroy it, which requires special incinerators that
burn at 816 Celsius (1,500 Fahrenheit). These incinerators feature multiple
chambers that filter out the hazardous fumes and leave nothing but carbon
dioxide.
Mystery Aircraft?
Transporting almost 24 tons of the devil’s dandruff from
different areas of Costa Rica to Liberia was, according to the OIJ, an unusual
task that involved members of the Ministry of Public Safety, the Superior
Council of the Republic, the Third Chamber of Justice, the Presidency of the
Courts, and a judge that will apparently fly with the blow to ensure that it
reaches its destination safely. Once in Miami, the Consul General of Costa Rica
will continue the chain of custody and make certain that the massive stash is
indeed destroyed.
The CRHoy news article mentioned that the OIJ stated that
the aircraft that picked up the tons of flake belongs to the U.S. Air Force,
and journalist Alvaro Sanchez copied reported 7708 AMC as the tail code, which
is a bit puzzling because it does not conform -at least upon cursory
investigation- to the system used by that military branch. If we assume that
AMC stands for Air Mobility Command, perhaps Mr. Sanchez missed the name of the
base that the aircraft belongs to, which should have been lettered on the tail;
but, the number should have five digits.
The Costa Rica Star invites military veterans, subject
matter experts and aviation buffs to leave comments properly identifying this
mystery aircraft. CRHoy published a grainy photograph which shows what looks
like a C-17 Globemaster on the LIR runway with tons of cocaine in the
foreground, but we would like your assistance in determining the aircraft and
the unit or base it is assigned to.
The real mystery of this aircraft, however, is whether it
had the proper authorization to be in Costa Rica. The OIJ says yes, but
legislator Carmen Munoz is not so sure. She questioned this matter during an
open session at the National Assembly and was met with silence because not a
single legislator recalls seeing such a request come through the docket.
Legislator Munoz wants answers about the circumstances under which this U.S.
military cargo aircraft landed in Costa Rica and who authorized it. The
legislative permit in question is a Constitutional matter, and it is specially
sensitive since Costa Rica abolished its military more than six decades ago;
the country can’t afford to have foreign military forces (or paramilitaries)
running around unchecked -it would be an affront to her sovereignty.
In a couple of articles recently published by the Costa Rica
Star, we have discussed the importance of legislative permits for foreign
military forces to enter our country. First there was the snub of the U.S.
Coast Guard Cutter Sherman while a Colombian Navy vessel docked in Puntarenas.
The Sherman did not have permission while its Colombian counterpart did. And
what about the Blackhawk helicopters that arrived on the eve of President
Barack Obama’s historic visit to Costa Rica? They were found to be in the
country without permission and thus “disturbed the peace” in Costa Rica.
