Previously, a House-passed version of the Iraq supplemental appropriations bill (H.R. 2642) would have provided DEA with $12.2 million,33 while a Senate-passed version of the bill (also H.R. 2642) would have provided $22.7 million. Both bills would have supported DEA’s efforts to advance a narco-terrorism initiative known as “Operation Breakthrough” as well as efforts to conduct financial investigations, but the Senate version of the bill would have provided additional funding for certain intelligence programs that support the Afghan government’s counternarcotics efforts.
Operation Breakthrough? It began in 1993 in Colombia.
The DEA initiated Operation Breakthrough in 1993 to provide policy makers and the counter drug intelligence community with the scientific data required to more accurately estimate potential cocaine and heroin production in Colombia.
In 2007-2009, it's directed at Afghanistan. From the [Bush] White House Request for Supplemental Funding:
In FYs 2007 and 2008 the Administration is requesting additional supplemental funding and emergency spending for planned expenses associated with operations in Afghanistan.
...The funds requested for counterdrug support will provide additional resources to Afghanistan to interdict drug shipments leaving the country and to encourage Afghanistan’s farmers to grow legitimate crops.
....The supplemental funding request of $8.5 million for DEA provides resources for Operation Breakthrough to support intelligence/analytical support against counterterrorism in Afghanistan, as well as funding to support additional investigative capabilities targeting narcoterrorism and the financial infrastructure of drug trafficking organizations in Afghanistan.
How will the money be used?
Defense requests supplemental funding to support new and nonrecurring counternarcotics interdiction efforts in Afghanistan. The requested amounts will support air mobility, training facilities, and equipment for Afghanistan’s counternarcotics police and border police, along with updated intelligence and tracking equipment.
In addition, to prevent seepage in the drug trade across neighboring countries, Defense requests funding to strengthen and seal certain border systems in Uzbekistan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, Yemen, and Pakistan.
How much in 2008 for "Defense counternarcotics support"? A mere $252 million. Is the military taking over the War on drugs?
Either way, it looks like the U.S. War on Drugs abroad is getting its own stimulus package.
