Air Bridge Denial Program
Encyclopedia
Starting in the 1990s the Central Intelligence Agency
has operated an anti-narcotics
program in Colombia
and Peru
called Air Bridge Denial (ABD). The ABD program targeted drug traffickers that transport illicit drugs 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. The program was restarted in Colombia in August 2003 after additional safeguards were established.
As of 2005, the United States had provided $68 million dollars for the program, which had so-far only 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.
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 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.
Central Intelligence Agency
The Central Intelligence Agency is a civilian intelligence agency of the United States government. It is an executive agency and reports directly to the Director of National Intelligence, responsible for providing national security intelligence assessment to senior United States policymakers...
has operated an anti-narcotics
Narcotic
The term narcotic originally referred medically to any psychoactive compound with any sleep-inducing properties. In the United States of America it has since become associated with opioids, commonly morphine and heroin and their derivatives, such as hydrocodone. The term is, today, imprecisely...
program in Colombia
Colombia
Colombia, officially the Republic of Colombia , is a unitary constitutional republic comprising thirty-two departments. The country is located in northwestern South America, bordered to the east by Venezuela and Brazil; to the south by Ecuador and Peru; to the north by the Caribbean Sea; to the...
and Peru
Peru
Peru , officially the Republic of Peru , is a country in western South America. It is bordered on the north by Ecuador and Colombia, on the east by Brazil, on the southeast by Bolivia, on the south by Chile, and on the west by the Pacific Ocean....
called Air Bridge Denial (ABD). The ABD program targeted drug traffickers that transport illicit drugs 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. The program was restarted in Colombia in August 2003 after additional safeguards were established.
As of 2005, the United States had provided $68 million dollars for the program, which had so-far only produced only one drug seizure. In 2010 the Government Accountability Office
Government Accountability Office
The Government Accountability Office is the audit, evaluation, and investigative arm of the United States Congress. It is located in the legislative branch of the United States government.-History:...
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
Foreign policy
A country's foreign policy, also called the foreign relations policy, consists of self-interest strategies chosen by the state to safeguard its national interests and to achieve its goals within international relations milieu. The approaches are strategically employed to interact with other countries...
objectives of the United States.
Mistaken shootdown of US civilians
On April 20, 2001 a plane carrying a family of four missionaries and a pilot was shot down after it was wrongly identified by the Peruvian Air Force as carrying drugs. Of the five people on the plane, Veronica BowersRoni Bowers
Veronica "Roni" Bowers was an American Christian missionary who became known as a victim of the War on Drugs.Bowers, her daughter Charity, husband Jim, and six-year-old son Cory were being flown into Peru when the United States' Central Intelligence Agency observed the Peruvian Air Force shooting...
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 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.