The Air Bridge Denial (ABD) Program is an anti-narcotics program operated by the U.S.

Central Intelligence Agency The Central Intelligence Agency (CIA ), known informally as the Agency and historically as the Company, is a civilian foreign intelligence service of the federal government of the United States, officially tasked with gathering, processing, ...

in Colombia and

Peru , image_flag = Flag of Peru.svg , image_coat = Escudo nacional del Perú.svg , other_symbol = Great Seal of the State , other_symbol_type = National seal , national_motto = "Firm and Happy f ...

. Starting in the 1990s, it targets traffickers transporting

illicit drugs The prohibition of drugs through sumptuary legislation or religious law is a common means of attempting to prevent the recreational use of certain intoxicating substances. While some drugs are illegal to possess, many governments regulate t ...

through the air by forcing down suspicious aircraft, using lethal force if necessary. The program was suspended in April 2001 when a legitimate civilian aircraft was shot down in Peru and two U.S. citizens were killed. It was restarted in Colombia in August 2003 after additional safeguards were established. As of 2005, the United States had provided $68 million for the program, which had so far produced only one drug seizure. In 2010 the Government Accountability Office produced a report stating that the program faced challenges and that the effectiveness of the program at stopping narcotics trafficking was difficult to assess. It noted, however, that the program often advanced broad foreign policy objectives of the United States.

Mistaken shootdown of US civilians

In 2001, a small floatplane carrying a family of four missionaries and a pilot was tracked by a CIA spotter plane as a possible drug-running plane. The

Peruvian Air Force The Peruvian Air Force ( es, link=no, Fuerza Aérea del Perú, FAP) is the branch of the Peruvian Armed Forces tasked with defending the nation and its interests through the use of air power. Additional missions include assistance in safeguardin ...

wrongly identified it as belonging to a drug smuggler, and a Peruvian fighter aircraft shot it down. Of the five people on the plane, Veronica Bowers and her infant daughter were killed in the incident, while her husband Jim and their son Cory, as well as the pilot Kevin Donaldson, managed to survive after crash-landing the plane on the Amazon River despite serious leg wounds. On November 1, 2010 the Central Intelligence Agency declassified a 2008 CIA inspector general report that indicated that retired and current officers were given administrative punishments for their role in the incident. While the report laid the blame for the shoot-down at the feet of the Peruvian military, investigators concluded "there were problems with the program" and mistakes were made, requiring disciplinary action.

References

{{coord missing, Peru 2001 in Peru Central Intelligence Agency operations History of drug control Drugs in Colombia Drugs in Peru Drugs in the United States Colombia–United States relations Peru–United States relations Military history of Peru

Mistaken shootdown of US civilians

See also

References