Marines Aid Fight Against Drugs, Transnational Crime

By Donna Miles

American Forces Press Service

WASHINGTON, Sept. 7, 2012 – Officials at Joint Interagency Task Force South are welcoming the contributions that a 200-member Marine Corps detachment is making toward tracking drug traffickers and other transnational criminals.

The Marines -- mostly from the 2nd Marine Expeditionary Force at Camp Lejeune, N.C., and Marine Forces South in Miami -- deployed to Guatemala City at the Guatemalan government’s request Aug. 11, reported Marine Corps Staff Sgt. Earnest Barnes, Marine Forces South spokesman.

Since their arrival, they have been patrolling the skies over Guatemala’s littoral waters with four UH-1N Huey helicopters, reporting suspicious activity as part of Joint Interagency Task Force South’s Operation Martillo mission, which kicked off in January.

Detachment Martillo also is using enhanced communications to increase the task force’s monitoring and detection capabilities to help Guatemalan authorities quickly apprehend and prosecute illicit traffickers, and seize their shipments, Barnes said.

Barnes emphasized that the Marines are not directly involved in apprehending traffickers and are serving only in a supporting role.

Air Force Brig. Gen. Steven J. DePalmer, Joint Interagency Task Force South’s deputy director, praised the Marines’ contributions. “Our Marines are well-suited to work with the Guatemalans against transnational organized crime. With their aerial surveillance helicopters and communication support, the U.S. Marine detachment deployed in support of Operation Martillo provides an enhanced capability to partner-nation efforts.”

Operation Martillo, which translated, means “Operation Hammer,” specifically targets illicit trafficking routes in coastal waters along the Central American Isthmus -- the route for more than 90 percent of the cocaine destined for the United States.

The goal, explained Coast Guard Rear Adm. Charles D. Michel, the task force commander, is to “take pressure off these Central American countries.”

Particularly in the northern triangle area of Honduras, Guatemala and El Salvador, “thousands of their citizens are being murdered,” Michel told American Forces Press Service. “Government officials are being corrupted. Institutions are being rotted from the inside out. Portions of their territory are no longer effectively under their control.”

“That is instability,” the admiral said, “and that is a national security threat, right in our backyard.”

Operation Martillo is showing progress in working with partner nations to address that threat. Since Jan. 15, law enforcement and Coast Guard members operating under its umbrella seized or disrupted shipments that included more than 108 tons of cocaine, almost 8 tons of marijuana and $3.5 million in laundered money, reported Jody Draves, the task force’s public affairs officer.

Michel had high praise for the interagency and international teamwork that has made Joint Interagency Task Force South “the most effective and efficient counter-illicit trafficking, detection, monitoring and law enforcement organization the planet has ever known.”

The task force stood up 23 years ago as Joint Task Force 4 as a new model of intergovernmental cooperation in dealing with drug trafficking. The staff includes representatives of all five armed services, including the National Guard and reserves, members of various federal law enforcement entities, the intelligence community and their counterparts from 13 partner nations.

Even as the Marines tentatively plan to wrap up their support mission Oct. 31, Michel said, he’ll continue to press for more assets – particularly ships and aircraft – to support the task force’s mission.

“If we had more assets, we would be able to make an even bigger dent into this effort,” he said. “You give me assets, and I’ll show you results.”

USS Nicholas Brings Home 4 Tons of Drugs from Operation Martillo

From U.S. Naval Forces Southern Command and U.S. 4th Fleet Public Affairs

MAYPORT, Fla. (NNS) -- Oliver Hazard Perry-class guided missile frigate USS Nicholas (FFG 47) delivered more than four tons of cocaine and marijuana to Naval Station Mayport, Fla., seized from drug interdictions conducted in support of Operation Martillo, July 17.

Crew members offloaded approximately 3,408 kilograms (7,500 pounds) of cocaine, and 109 kilograms (239 pounds) of marijuana, with an estimated wholesale value of more than $93 million. The amount of cocaine seized was enough for 7.2 million doses, each dose approximately the same size as a sugar packet.

USS Nicholas is returning to port after a 175-day deployment supporting counter illicit trafficking operations aimed at disrupting transnational organized crime and keeping drugs off the streets.

"With the help of some partners in the region we accomplished what we set out to do; disrupt the drug trade," said Cmdr. Stephen Fuller, USS Nicholas commanding officer. "Interdictions are challenging, but with the help of other naval units, U.S. Customs and Border Protection, and the partner nation navies, we executed a successful deployment."

During the deployment, Nicholas with embarked U.S. Coast Guard (USCG) Law Enforcement Detachment (LEDET) conducted a combination of six disruptions and interdictions while in the Caribbean Sea, and the Atlantic and Pacific coastal waters of South and Central America.

Also during the deployment, Nicholas transited the Panama Canal twice, conducted passing exercises and an officer exchange with the Colombian Navy, certified 22 pilots through Helicopter Anti Submarine Squadron Light (HSL) 42 Detachment 9, four underway replenishments with a Chilean oiler, celebrated the anniversary of the War of 1812, and a "Crossing the Line" ceremony when the ship crossed the equator.

U.S. Navy and Coast Guard vessels, U.S. military and patrol aircraft from the U.S. Customs and Border Protection agency, along with the support of allied and partner nation (PN) forces assisted with patrolling coastal regions from Colombia to Mexico to detect and monitor illicit traffic in order to cue and support PNs and U.S. interagency interdiction efforts.

Patrol airplanes from Carrier Airborne Early Warning Squadron 77 (VAW-77), Patrol Squadron Eight (VP-8) operating from El Salvador and U.S. Customs and Border Protection long range patrol aircraft operating from Jacksonville, Fla. And Corpus Christi, Tex., use sophisticated sensors to detect suspicious vessels and coordinate interdictions by the U.S. Navy, Coast Guard and partner nations patrolling the region.

More than 80 percent of the narcotics entering Central America and largely transiting through Mexico on their way to U.S. markets enter via maritime littoral routes, with the main conveyance being "go-fast" boats. By teaming up with regional partner nations and allied forces to scrutinize the littorals, transnational organized crime networks will be denied those routes.

LEDETs belong to Tactical Law Enforcement Team South or Pacific Tactical Law Enforcement Team and are an armed deployable specialized force under the USCG's Deployable Operations Group. They were created to support narcotics interdiction operations aboard U.S. Navy and allied ships and are capable of supporting DOD national defense operations. LEDETs provide specialized law enforcement capability and maritime security capabilities to enforce U.S. laws across a full spectrum of maritime response situations, maritime security augmentation and maritime interdiction anti-piracy operations.

Operation Martillo (Spanish for 'hammer') is a U.S., European, and Western Hemisphere partner nation effort targeting illicit trafficking routes in coastal waters along the Central American isthmus. This joint service, interagency, and multinational operation is being led by Joint Interagency Task Force South, the agency charged with detection, monitoring, and supporting the interdiction of illicit trafficking in a 42 million square mile area under the direction of U.S. Southern Command (USSOUTHCOM).

Operation Martillo is a component of the U.S. government's coordinated interagency regional security strategy in support of the White House strategy to combat transnational organized crime and the U.S. Central America Regional Security Initiative.

U.S. Naval Forces Southern Command and U.S. 4th Fleet (COMUSNAVSO/C4F) supports USSOUTHCOM joint and combined full-spectrum military operations by providing principally sea-based, forward presence to ensure freedom of maneuver in the maritime domain, to foster and sustain cooperative relationships with international partners and to fully exploit the sea as maneuver space in order to enhance regional security and promote peace, stability, and prosperity in the Caribbean, Central and South American regions.

Navy’s YouTube Video Warns Against ‘Spice’ Drug

By Donna Miles
American Forces Press Service

WASHINGTON – A new YouTube video developed by the Navy warns service members about the synthetic marijuana known as spice, and how use of the designer drug can negatively impact their health and military careers.

Every military service bans the use of spice, which is comprised of organic leaves coated with synthetic chemicals. Spice is marketed as a safe way to get high while avoiding detection during drug tests.

Officials emphasized in the video that both spice selling points are false.

“The damage these drugs do to your mind, body and career is permanent,” said Navy Rear Adm. Michael H. Anderson, medical officer to the Marine Corps. “It’s not legal. It’s not healthy. It’s not worth it.”

The Drug Enforcement Administration issued a decision in March making spice illegal nationwide for at least a year. According to the DEA’s website, the agency took the action as an emergency measure in light of the alarming number of reports about spice-type substances it received from poison control centers, hospitals and law enforcement agencies.

Secretary of the Army John M. McHugh sent a memo to the Army community in February prohibiting the use and possession of synthetic cannabis and other substitutes for THC -- shorthand for tetrahydrocannabinol -- the substance in marijuana that causes a “high.”

Air Force officials released guidance in June 2010 banning the use or possession of spice. The new language was incorporated in Air Force Instruction 44-121 that governs the Alcohol and Drug Abuse Prevention and Treatment Program.

Spice and other designer drugs also fall under Navy and Marine Corps zero tolerance policies.

Vice Adm. Adam M. Robinson, Jr., the Navy’s surgeon general and chief of the service’s Bureau of Medicine and Surgery, emphasized that abstinence isn’t enough to confront the spice problem. Like those who use, possess or distribute spice, anyone who observes these practices and doesn’t report them can be charged with violating the Navy’s policies as well.

“It is not good enough to simply police our own actions with regards to spice and other designer drugs,” he said. “These drugs are dangerous, and we learn more about their damaging effects each day. It is essential that every sailor and Marine be looking out for their colleagues to prevent injury to their health and their careers.”

The military services have the authority to prosecute violators under the Uniform Code of Military Justice.

The forensic toxicology division within the Office of the Armed Forces Medical Examiner tests for spice and other designer drugs at the request of the services. The challenge, explained spokesman Paul Stone, is that with so many different formulas, and new compositions introduced regularly, it’s difficult for testers to keep ahead of the new formulas.

Robinson emphasized that commanding officers don’t need a positive urinalysis to begin the process of removing violators from military service.

Anderson reiterated the point in the YouTube video.

“Because this is a moving target and some chemicals will not show up in routine testing, commanding officers do not need a positive urinalysis to begin administrative separation,” he said.

Like other synthetic drugs including “K2” and “Blaze,” spice is developed using chemicals not intended for human consumption, the video notes. The Food and Drug Administration doesn’t regulate these substances, which means they aren’t subject to oversight during the manufacturing process.

Little is known about the toxicology and safety of designer drugs, officials said. However, they noted side effects such as elevated heart rates and blood pressure, breathing problems, abdominal pain, seizures, extreme anxiety and other emotional problems.

In the most extreme situations, spice has been linked to heart attacks, psychosis and suicides, officials said.

Navy Medicine Produces Video Highlighting the Health Risks of Spice

From U.S. Navy Bureau of Medicine and Surgery Public Affairs

WASHINGTON (NNS) -- Navy Medicine announced the launch of a new informational video and posters detailing the health dangers associated with the use of Spice and other designer drugs Nov. 1.

The videos and posters will be distributed for display throughout the Fleet and available for download at: http://www.med.navy.mil/Pages/Spice.aspx.

The information and educational communication products focus on the real and present risks, particularly the negative health effects, associated with the usage of the unregulated synthetic marijuana commonly referred to as Spice.

The campaign's slogan,"Spice: It's Not Legal. It's Not Healthy. It's Not Worth It!" has had a resonating effect with YouTube viewers and on the Navy Medicine Website as the Navy surgeon general looks to break through to Sailors and Marines and make a positive impact.

"It is paramount all Navy and Marine Corps personnel are aware of the adverse health effects of this drug," said Vice Adm. Adam M. Robinson, Jr., U.S. Navy surgeon general and chief, Bureau of Medicine and Surgery. "Serious side effects have been reported after its use including tremors, panic attacks, delirium, impaired coordination, seizures, paranoid hallucinations, and psychotic symptoms that can last for days, even months in some cases."

Although in development for months, these new products launch on the heels of an announcement from 3rd Fleet leadership last week that 64 Sailors in their area of operation were identified as users of Spice in violation of the Uniform Code of Military Justice and will be held fully accountable as a result.

The synthetic chemicals in Spice-type products have a more potent effect on the brain than traditional marijuana, and the unregulated compounds are often mixed with unknown effects. According to Robinson, these products are not approved for human consumption, and there is no oversight of the manufacturing process. Similar to other drugs on the street, experts warn that no one never knows what mixture of chemicals could be present in the drugs, and users are experimenting with the combination of multiple products which can dramatically change or increase its effects on a case by case basis.

Robinson warns that rapid tolerance in some users can lead to increased dosage and addiction. Additionally, the use of synthetic marijuana has led to a surge in emergency room visits and calls to poison control centers, according to the DEA. This past spring, Navy Medical professionals treated multiple patients at Naval Medical Center San Diego, Calif., for Spice usage, some resulting in months of inpatient treatment for persistent psychotic symptoms.

"It is not good enough to simply police our own actions with regards to Spice and other designer drugs," said Robinson. "These drugs are dangerous and we learn more about their damaging effects each day. It is essential that every Sailor and Marine be looking out for their colleagues to prevent injury to their health and their careers."

Spice and other designer drugs fall under the Navy and Marine Corps' zero tolerance policy, and Robinson further emphasizes that commanding officers do not need a positive urinalysis to begin administrative separation. Personnel found to be using, possessing, distributing or who observe an abuse and do not report the incident can be charged with violating the Navy's policies as well.

As the Navy Surgeon General and Chief, Bureau of Medicine and Surgery, Robinson leads 63,000 Navy Medicine personnel that provide health care support to the U.S. Navy, Marine Corps, their families and veterans in high operational tempo environments, at expeditionary medical facilities, medical treatment facilities, hospitals, clinics, hospital ships and research units around the world.

Hunter Adopted by Hopkins

Editor's Note: The author is former Marine.

July 29, 2008, (San Dimas, CA) Police-Writers.com is a website that lists state and local police officers who have written books. James H. Lilley, the Police-Writer.com Author of the Year (2008), has had his book, The Eyes of the Hunter, adopted by Johns Hopkins University.

James H. Lilley is a former Marine and Police Sergeant with the Howard County Police Department (Maryland). He worked in the Uniformed Patrol Division, Criminal Investigations Division, Forensic Services (CSI) and Drug Enforcement Division. His Street Drug Unit was featured in the book "Undercover" by Hans Halberstadt and published by Simon and Schuster. Some of his awards include The Medal of Valor, Four Bronze Stars, Four Unit Citations and the Governor's Citation. He is also an 8th Degree Black Belt in Shorin Ryu Karate. James Lilley is the author of seven books: A Question of Honor; The Eyes of the Hunter; The Far Side of the Bridge; Just Retribution; A Miracle for Tony Clements; Death Knocks Twice, and, A Tony Clements Christmas Miracle.

According to Sheldon Greenberg, Ph.D. (Associate Dean, School of Education, Johns Hopkins University), “The Eyes of the Hunter will be used as a text for the Communications course in the Master of Science in Intelligence Analysis degree program at Johns Hopkins University.” Dr. Sheldon continued that Lilley’s book will help the students “focus on creativity and critical thinking, research, understanding the audience, and formulating meaningful written documents.”

The course The Eyes of the Hunter will be used in is “Communications: Fact, Opinion, Significance, and Consequence.” According to the course description, “Within the intelligence community, findings are of little value unless they are communicated well. Dissemination of findings is essential to the success of any analysis or research. Students learn to deliver written, oral, and visual presentations for maximum effect by considering factors such as intended outcome, timing, structure, and method. Working individually and in small groups, students address issues such as lack of time to plan and prepare, unfamiliarity with the customer (end user of analytical documents), disruption and change, and coping with the unexpected. Students receive ongoing feedback on their communication style and effectiveness.

The ability to justify and present an analytical conclusion in clear, succinct prose is essential to supplying policy makers with information they need to formulate decisions. Students consider traditional and innovative methods of intelligence writing and briefing, focusing on the difference between fact and opinion. Students prepare written reports and presentations on a variety of topics and, in doing so, construct narratives, establish project credibility, convey recommendations, and reinforce key messages.”

Police-Writers.com now hosts 1029 police officers (representing 431 police departments) and their 2189 criminal justice books in 33 categories, there are also listings of United States federal law enforcement employees turned authors, international police officers who have written books and civilian police personnel who have written books.