The use of ultralights, which are small, slow, highly maneuverable, single- seat recreation air vehicles is a proven way to smuggle contraband. They are used by Mexican drug cartels.
These planes fly at a very low altitude and do not even have to land; they simply drop their bundles of contraband at a predestined point and fly back undetected.
The term "ultralight aviation" refers to light-weight, 1- or 2-person fixed-wing aircraft, also called microlight aircraft in the UK, India and New Zealand. Some countries differentiate between weight shift and 3-axis aircraft, calling the former "microlight" and the latter "ultralight".
During the late 1970s and early 1980s, mostly stimulated by the hang gliding movement, many people sought affordable powered flying. As a result, many aviation authorities set up definitions of lightweight, slow-flying aeroplanes that could be subject to minimum regulations. The resulting aeroplanes are commonly called "ultralight" or "microlight", although the weight and speed limits differ from country to country. In Europe the sporting (FAI) definition limits weight to 450 kg (992 lb) and stall speed to 65 km/h (40 mph).
Such a definition forces the aircraft to be capable of a slow landing speed and short landing roll in the event of an engine failure
A sheriff in Luna County, New Mexico, was quoted as saying that we need the ability to detect smugglers’ flights before they cross the border to track them and give us a good indication of where they’re dropping their contraband so that we can pre-position our response teams.
"They swoop in drop off and take off. They can also land and take off within a minute or so. They are being used more by drug smugglers and they are great on gas." says one ICE official who wished not to be named in this report.
Congress hopes to address this vexing problem with the Ultralight Aircraft Smuggling Prevention Act of 2012. H.R. 3801. According to the Congressional record: “Every year, hundreds of these aircraft are flown across our borders.” Its a mega huge problem.
They are carrying drugs into the US and weapons and cash back into Mexico. Smugglers favor them because they are hard to detect, they are inexpensive, and they can often avoid radar detection.
The problem is that under current law, Immigration and Customs Enforcement, ICE, and the prosecutors don’t have the authority to charge the users, these offenders, with the existing statute, so they can’t seek the higher penalties or lower the burden of proof.
Congress is currently debating H.R 3801.
One under cover Charlotte-Mecklenburg police detective said "this is ingenious, how they drug cartels use these type of aircraft to smuggle drugs. I hope Congress passed H.R. 3801, because we need help fighting the cartel and Mexican street gangs", he said.
Robert Tilford
Charlotte, N.C.
Charlotte, N.C.
