NSIAD-98-30, Oct. 15, 1997 (41 pages). Drug Control: Update on U.S. Interdiction Efforts in the Caribbean and Eastern Pacific. [Text] [PDF]

The flow of cocaine into the United States via sea routes in the Caribbean and the Eastern Pacific continues unabated, with drug traffickers using speed boats, fishing vessels, and coastal freighters to transport hundreds of metric tons of cocaine through the region. The United States lacks maritime agreements with many transit zone countries, and although the United States has provided technical assistance and equipment to many Caribbean and Eastern Pacific nations, the amount of cocaine seized by those countries is small relative to the estimated amounts flowing through the area. Limited resources have hampered these nations' drug interdiction efforts.