Joint Task Force Combats Transnational Crime

Bangladesh Navy Special Warfare Diving and Salvage Force members conduct a noncompliant visit, board, search and seizure exercise on a Bangladeshi patrol boat. [JOINT INTERAGENCY TASK FORCE WEST]

A lone “vessel of interest,” its hull loaded with cocaine, worked its way across the Pacific Ocean. Little did the vessel’s captain know that the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration, the U.S. Coast Guard, the U.S. Navy and law enforcement agencies from Ecuador, the Philippines and China had been monitoring his every move for two months. Then in December 2009, air and sea craft, part of the international counterdrug operation, intercepted the vessel, confiscating several metric tons of cocaine and other illicit drugs. The U.S. Joint Interagency Task Force West, or JIATF West, coordinated the raid, which shut down a major transnational crime network.

“The ability for organizations and nations to set aside agency or national differences to confront common security challenges for the safety and security of this region is professionally rewarding,” said U.S. Coast Guard Rear Adm. Christopher Tomney, who became JIATF West director in March 2010.

The JIATF West has come a long way since its beginnings in 1989 as the Joint Task Force Five. At that time, counterdrug agencies were judged merely on the amount of drugs they interdicted. The U.S. military originally charged the task force with searching for and observing “vessels of interest” and sometimes gave it tactical control over U.S. naval and coast guard surface vessels and aircraft. After shifting operations to Hawaii, JIATF West progressed from a mere drug buster to a partner in counterdrug efforts throughout the Pacific.

Today, JIATF West’s mission is to “combat drug-related transnational organized crime to reduce threats in the Asia-Pacific region in order to protect national security interests and promote regional stability,” according to its mission statement. The production and distribution of narcotics and compounds for synthetic drugs affect every single country within the Asia-Pacific theater, Tomney says. “No country is immune from their effects on society.”

“The manufacture, transportation, distribution and use of illegal drugs results in a huge loss of productivity for all nations — large and small. While no nation desires this problem, the stark reality is that every nation in the region recognizes that they must confront the challenges of drugs in Asia in their own ways, be it from enhanced laws, increased enforcement, or more focus on prevention and treatment. In one way or another, all our countries produce, consume or act as a transit vector for the movement of drugs in Asia.”

The joint task force’s role as partner to multiple agencies and militaries across the Pacific puts it in a unique position — as a provider. Partner nations that request to work with JIATF West have much to gain in the way of training and facilities for strategic counternarcotics projects. For example, Thailand received border checkpoints and training facilities; the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency, a new national training academy; and Indonesia, boat berthing facilities and police and customs outstations to aid in the fight against transnational criminal organizations.

In the past, partner nations also received the following:

• New or refurbished classrooms, fire-arms ranges, barracks and training facilities
• Increased maritime patrol capability (JIATF West’s Small Craft Maintenance Training teams deploy and help maintain, instruct and rebuild boats.)
• Vital law enforcement skills training from agencies such as the U.S. Federal Bureau of Investigation, Drug Enforcement Administration, and Immigration and Customs Enforcement
• Additional training from U.S. military forces such as the Coast Guard, Special Forces, Navy SEALs, Marine Corps, Marine and Air Force Pararescue

“To be successful, our task force must continually network with other outside agencies and organizations including staffs and units within the Pacific Command and the U.S. intelligence community, elements of the U.S. and global counterdrug community, regional U.S. country teams, and Asia-Pacific foreign military and law enforcement counterparts,” Tomney said. “With all these disparate organizations collaborating and integrating their capacities and capabilities, the united effort presents a powerful force multiplier to confront the drug-related transnational criminal challenges occurring within this region of the globe.”

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