US Coast Guard Looking To Drones To Help Them Win Drug War

doitvoluntarily (77) in technology • 8 years ago

The US Coast Guard is using drones in order to get some more eyes in the sky when it comes to their ongoing battle in the war against drugs.

It's reported that there is an uptick in the amount of cocaine being shipped out of Colombia these days, and the US Coast Guard says that for every 1 boat that they capture, there are roughly 3 or 4 that they don't.

So they are looking to drones to help them improve their approach and address the alleged boom in production that's coming in to the US market. It's reported that the US Coast Guard confiscated at least 221 metric tons of cocaine last year alone.

This year marks the first time that the US Coast Guard has deployed fully equipped drones in order to assist them with their policing of the waters.

The one they used is referred to as the ScanEagle drone.

The ScanEagle drone has reportedly already been helpful in assisting them to locate at least $100 million worth of cocaine trying to make its way to the US market; it was about 700 kilograms. When it comes to using drones to help them do the job, they are just getting started.

And whenever it comes to US law enforcement and the drug war, I'm always brought back to thinking about this guy.

That's Gary Webb, he used to work as an investigative journalist and he eventually ended-up working on a story that suggested that the CIA may have been involved in knowing about and protecting those associated in the drug trade.

He ended-up “committing suicide” back in 2004, with two gun shot wounds to the head.

Despite the billions of dollars that they continue to funnel toward battling the ongoing war, the market remains more saturated than ever. And production of it (cocaine, opium etc) has increased in a number of areas overseas.

After decades of failure, law enforcement should come to terms with the fact that those who are determined to consume these controversial substances are going to do so regardless of the trillion-dollar battle that's being waged to try and stop them from doing so.

We can only imagine what the world would be like if they one day decided to reconsider the nonsense, and instead were dedicated to directing all of those countless hours of work and all of those funds (trillions of dollars) toward something else. For example, perhaps they could redirect that concern toward addressing and tending to crimes with actual victims.

Pics:
Pixabay
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Sources:
http://uasweekly.com/2017/05/08/u-s-coast-guard-makes-history-insitu-scaneagle/
https://www.technologyreview.com/s/607846/how-do-you-fight-the-largest-cocaine-boom-in-history-with-drones/
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gary_Webb#Death
https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/the_americas/a-side-effect-of-peace-in-colombia-a-cocaine-boom-in-the-us/2017/05/07/6fb5d468-294a-11e7-9081-f5405f56d3e4_story.html?utm_term=.b2dde56469f7
http://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-37743433

8 years ago by doitvoluntarily (77)

$78.42

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barrydutton (74) · 8 years ago

I watched a movie/doc. a year ago on Gary that you mentioned here, I was so grieved by that.... he seemed like such a solid guy, -- he was taken out like you allude to.

What a story that was.

Are you having any login or posting problems today, I have lost 3 hrs worth of work on 2 blogs so far earlier today -- others are having issues and you post a lot, so if anyone has a problem - someone that posts a lot has the statistical numbers that there would be issues on your end maybe.

What have you noticed or seen today?? Definite issues, you can even see one of the phantom missing posts here, ON my twitter! Which won't show up!

So I posted twice about THESE issues today.