Borderland Beat
To fight the drug cartels in Mexico, the National Guard and the Naval Special Operations Command are integrating a Global Information Network (GINA, acronym in English). From communications, they can locate criminal groups and other transnational criminal organizations, said David Baldwin, the Deputy General of the National Guard of California, yesterday
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Because of the danger posed by these criminal organizations, members of the National Guard are operating with weapons in national parks where drug traffickers have even installed camps with armed surveillance, the General Baldwin added.
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To fight the drug cartels in Mexico, the National Guard and the Naval Special Operations Command are integrating a Global Information Network (GINA, acronym in English). From communications, they can locate criminal groups and other transnational criminal organizations, said David Baldwin, the Deputy General of the National Guard of California, yesterday
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| Deputy General David Baldwin |
Network diagrams show drug cartel communications, which appear as images in three dimensions, detailing the time and space. The United States is able to interpret and locate the place and the time the communicate took place, and sometimes where they will be later.
"That way we can have that information to destroy them," he explained. Meanwhile, he said, the National Guard is implementing a new operational strategy to confront the Mexican drug cartels already expanded their presence in California , where they use land, sea routes and continue to sow in federal parks.
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| Pot encampment in Sequoia and Kings Canyon National Parks - after raid |
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| An illegal marijuana encampment, Whiskeytown National Recreation Area. |
"Drug traffickers are using other routes to try to evade law enforcement and the military, why not just simply crossing in California, but also sailing to the coast and near their established farms in the north woods, "explained General.
The actions taken by drug traffickers, he said, are being forcing us to change the way of attacking transnational drug trafficking organizations within the U.S. territory, which means new plans to react to that threat.
As a result of the expansion of drug trafficking routes into the sea, using big boats and then small boats to reach the coast, the National Guard also plans to use unmanned aircraft, for which awaits approval from the aviation authority of the United States.
Ultralight flights
Additionally, General Baldwin, said the National Guard members are successfully using the "Sentinel" radar, in search of aerial surveillance evade U.S. space especially useful to detect ultralight flights crossing the border to throw drugs into the United States.
Since last April, the National Guard changed its strategy on the border with Mexico and increased air support instead of just adding to the number of elements on the border between the two countries. This strategy has increased surveillance capabilities in both air and ground, said the Department of Defense of the United States.
The National Guard members began the transition from a static rotation system ground support operations , to assets participating in mixed aerial surveillance mixed to monitor and detect threats on the border with Mexico, said Baldwin.
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