MIAMI, USA (CMC)— The United States Southern Command here, otherwise known as SOUTHCOM, says the US Air Force will temporarily deploy four aircraft and crews to Curaçao to support enhanced counter-narcotics operations with international partners targeting illicit traffickers in the Caribbean.
On Friday, SOUTHCOM said that two patrol aircraft, an E-3 Sentry (AWACS) and E-8 Joint STARS (JSTARS), supported by two KC-135 Stratotanker aerial refueling aircraft, will fly detection and monitoring missions in international airspace “to help the US and international law enforcement authorities disrupt and defeat transnational criminal organizations trafficking illegal narcotics in the region.”
SOUTHCOM said the US Air Force aircraft has previously conducted similar missions from the CSL under a counter-narcotics partnership agreement with the governments of Curaçao and the Kingdom of the Netherlands, dating back two decades.
“Curaçao is a committed regional partner whose longstanding support for multinational counter-drug operations plays a vital role in stemming the flow of deadly narcotics trafficked globally by violent criminal organizations,” SOUTHCOM said.
To date, SOUTHCOM said US enhanced counter-narcotics operations have resulted in the seizure of more than 49 metric tons of cocaine and almost 13,000 pounds of marijuana, an estimated loss of US$1.2 billion to transnational criminal organizations.
