This week White House Office of National Drug Control Policy (ONDCP) Director Jim Carroll released the National Interdiction Command and Control Plan (NICCP), which outlines the Trump Administration’s interdiction strategy to reduce the availability of illicit drugs in the United States. In conjunction with the recently released National Drug Control Strategy, the NICCP provides strategic guidance to relevant drug control agencies regarding interdiction efforts to disrupt Transnational Criminal Organizations that traffic drugs to the United States.
Additionally, the Administration released two counternarcotics strategies, outlining priorities in stopping the flow of drugs along both the Southwest and Northern borders.
The Southwest Border Counternarcotics Strategy aims to prevent drug trafficking along the almost 2,000-mile border that separates the United States and Mexico. The strategy specifically states, “To secure the SWB, the United States must continue to enhance interdiction and law enforcement capabilities at and between the ports of entry (POEs). The United States must bolster domain awareness through the employment of technologies, augmented by the fusion of investigative information and criminal intelligence to enable interdictions, facilitate criminal investigations, and achieve successful prosecutions” and “To deter effectively and reliably the trafficking of illegal drugs between Mexico and the United States, the Federal Government will implement a multi-layered deterrence capability consisting of manned and unmanned systems, physical and virtual barriers, and land and air-based sensors.” And with respect to tunnels and subterranean passages, the strategy calls for Federal agencies and departments to continue “to collaborate to develop ground-based sensors and other technology, thus enhancing domain awareness and cueing investigative and interdiction actions. Enhanced detection and monitoring of tunnel construction and use would enable law enforcement to identify unexplained voids; acoustic, gravitational, electronic, or seismic anomalies; subtle changes in ground moisture; or subsidence (sinking) for further investigation and tunnel discovery early in construction or use. Departments and agencies should continue their efforts to improve tunnel detection technology, including researching existing private sector capabilities and promising new methods. The use of horizontal directional-drilling equipment provides another opportunity for law enforcement.”
The Northern Border Counternarcotics Strategy aims to prevent the illegal trafficking of drugs across the United States-Canada border with regard to our 5,225-mile shared border – the longest in the world between two countries.
National Interdiction Command and Control Plan
National Drug Control Strategy
https://www.whitehouse.gov/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/2020-NDCS.pdf
Southwest Border Counternarcotics Strategy
Northern Border Counternarcotics Strategy