Project North Star: Drug Interdiction at the United States-Canada Border.

摘要

In April of 1989 the largest Canadian cocaine seizure to date occurred in New Brunswick and five South American Drug traffickers were captured. Five months later, U.S. and Canadian law enforcement agencies in Maine and New Brunswick accidently foiled a highly sophisticated guerrilla operation intended to free the April captives from the Canadian prison where they were awaiting trial. These two incidents highlighted a continuing shift of drug related crime to the United States - Canadian border, and the need for a coordinated law enforcement effort to counter the increasing drug threat. President Bush's 1989 National Drug Control Strategy introduced the concept of a central agency to coordinate drug law enforcement along the U.S. Northern border, similar to the Operation Alliance program along the U.S. Southwest border. In July, 1990, the Project North Star office was officially opened in Buffalo, New York. Project North Star is a multi-agency coordination center responsible for assisting drug law enforcement agencies throughout the sixteen U.S. Northern states and ten bordering Canadian provinces along the 5000 mile common border. This study examines the current drug threat, particularly at the United States - Canada border, drug law enforcement efforts thus far, the Project North Star organization and development, and the direction Project North Star must travel to counter the projected drug threat.