A bipartisan group of lawmakers wants to boost the Coast Guard’s ability to seize illicit drugs with the assistance of drones.
Spearheaded by Sen. Rick Scott, R-Fla., lawmakers introduced legislation Thursday that would allocate $5 million in both fiscal years 2020 and 2021 for additional long-range maritime patrol aircraft within the Coast Guard’s land-based unmanned aircraft system program.
The Coast Guard Drug Detection and Interdiction Act would also provide $2 million in fiscal years 2020 and 2021 to examine the expanded use of medium range unmanned aircraft systems in the program. It also requires the Commandant of the Coast Guard to provide a report to Congress on using unmanned aircraft systems for surveillance of marine protected areas and the Arctic.
