| | |  Americas & Beyond | July 2009 
US Anti-Drug Force Flies Last Flight from Ecuador
 Gonzalo Solano - Associated Press
go to original
July 19, 2009
Quito, Ecuador — A U.S. anti-narcotics force flew its last surveillance mission from Ecuador's Pacific Coast on Friday.
For a decade, E-3 AWACs and P-3 Orion planes operated by about 220 Americans at Manta's international airport have been identifying suspicious vessels and planes so U.S. Navy and Coast Guard ships could intercept them and search for drugs.
The force was credited with about 60 percent of drug interdictions in the eastern Pacific, but Ecuadorean President Rafael Correa refused to renew the lease. U.S. officials are negotiating with Colombia to shift the operation to that South American nation.
In a ceremony in Manta, 260 kilometers (160 miles) southeast of Quito, U.S. Ambassador Heather Hodges said the force had begun dismantling its operation and would be out of the country by September, two months before the lease ends. |
|
| |
Vallarta Weddings
Tell a Friend
Site Map
Print this Page
Email Us