Pentagon anti-fentanyl efforts face operational challenges: watchdog
By Zamone Perez
Apr 18, 12:36 PM
The destroyer Preble, with embarked U.S. Coast Guard Law Enforcement Detachment team, conducts enhanced counter narcotics operations, June 2, 2020, in the Pacific Ocean. {U.S. Coast Guard)
The three combatant commands involved in the Pentagon’s counternarcotics mission in the Americas need more defined roles in their joint operations, according to a watchdog report released Tuesday.
The Government Accountability Office noted that the commands involved in U.S. efforts to curb drug trafficking of cocaine, fentanyl and precursor chemicals — U.S. Southern Command, Northern Command and Indo-Pacific Command — do not have updated agreements on their “individual and joint responsibilities in the overlapping operation area.”
While the Office of the Deputy Secretary of Defense for Counternarcotics and Stabilization Policy collects data on counternarcotics activities, the report found that assessing effectiveness of operations is limited due to an inconsistency of entering data into the respective database.
https://www.militarytimes.com/news/your-military/2024/04/18/pentagon-anti-fentanyl-efforts-face-operational-challenges-watchdog/
