AP: Military radar sought for northern drug crackdown

ALBANY, N.Y. — U.S. senators from states along and near the nation’s northern border requested Thursday that the Department of Defense provide military radar to crack down on drug trafficking by low-flying aircraft.

Drug smuggling across the border with Canada is much more prevalent than indicated by the number of cases in which drugs have been seized, according to a federal report from November and recent media stories that Sen. Charles Schumer of New York cited.

Less than 1 percent of the 4,000-mile border is considered under the operational control of U.S. border officials, a General Accountability Office report found this month. Most areas of the northern border are remote and inaccessible by traditional patrol methods, the report said.

Customs and Border Protection believes it can detect illegal entries, respond and deal with them on only about 32 miles of the northern border. The Border Patrol was aware of all illegal border crossings on only 25 percent of the border, or 1,000 out of 4,000 miles, the GAO report said.

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