Honduras' Counternarcotics Benefactor

An unnamed U.S. official in Honduras has revealed the existence of Operation Anvil, an aggressive counternarcotics strategy officially established in April by the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA), U.S. media reported June 25. The purpose of the strategy is to track drug-laden aircraft entering Honduran airspace and to intercept those aircraft on clandestine landing strips. Through Operation Anvil, the United States is attempting to disrupt cocaine shipments heading north from South America into Central America, a geographic choke point for U.S.-bound narcotics.

Already the strategy has yielded results. In just two months, U.S. and Honduran law enforcement have intercepted four aircraft, compared to the seven aircraft they intercepted from mid-2010 to December 2011. And on June 23, Honduran police and DEA agents seized some 360 kilograms (793 pounds) of cocaine near Ahuas, Gracias a Dios department, during a raid under the aegis of Operation Anvil.

In addition to the necessary personnel and military hardware, conducting these operations requires extensive intelligence-gathering capabilities, equipment and support infrastructure. In Honduras, where there is limited military capability and capital, the United States must provide the vast majority of these assets. The aircraft intercepts are only the visible part of a larger counternarcotics effort in Central America.