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Drug-Sniffing Drones Take Flight Over Bolivia

pigrabbitbear writes "Anti-drug squads are now using Brazilian spy drones to sniff out drug labs that dot Bolivia in increasing numbers. Felipe Caceras, Bolivia's top anti-drug official, claims that some 240 drug labs have been busted in Santa Cruz, an eastern lowlands state bordering Brazil, this month alone, all thanks to Brazil's drones."

51 of 84 comments (clear)

  1. I for one... by Roachie · · Score: 1, Funny

    would like to welcome our olfactory overlords!

    --
    This sig is not paradoxical or ironic.
    1. Re:I for one... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Funny

      would like to welcome our olfactory overlords!

      While many business and government leaders are drug sniffing drones, it's a little late to be welcoming them. They've been here forever.

    2. Re:I for one... by daem0n1x · · Score: 1

      Happy to see a beneficial use for drones, instead of imposing the will of the Empire on the other side of the world, or spying on American citizens because they can all be eeeveeel tarrrrrraaaaaissssts!

  2. countdown to anti-aircraft missles. by Ralph+Spoilsport · · Score: 4, Insightful
    To sniff accurately, they have to fly low. Perhaps a simple anti-aircraft gun will do.

    Of course, the USA could just DO THE RIGHT THING and legalise drugs and remove the profit from the drug cartel system, but then a bunch of congressmen won't get campaign funds to keep it all illegal.

    --
    Shoes for Industry. Shoes for the Dead.
    1. Re:countdown to anti-aircraft missles. by jhoegl · · Score: 2, Insightful

      Right... because nothing could be safer than a Heroine addict that has no money because they can not keep a job due to their addiction.

    2. Re:countdown to anti-aircraft missles. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

      Hey, just give them as much heroin as they want and problem solved!

      Go do a cost benefit analysis between addicts long-term with limited supply and high pricing, and short term with unlimited supply and low or non-existant pricing. The latter will clean up the drug using population in a matter of years. The hard users will wipe themselves out, the weaker ones will manage it themselves, in a few generations the problem will have self-regulated.

      Horrible perhaps, but it beats the current system.

    3. Re:countdown to anti-aircraft missles. by realityimpaired · · Score: 5, Informative

      Seriously? Not even basic research?

      We can find other, more reputable sources... start with the reference list on that Wikipedia article. You would do well to actually do some reading before you decide that it's automatically a bad thing. What has actually been seen is the exact opposite of what you seem to think would happen: because it can be obtained legally with a prescription, and because "addiction" is a legitimate reason for a prescription, the junkies are actually getting it from the hospital, and the overwhelming majority of them actually get addiction counseling and the help they need to break their addiction. In other words, the Netherlands, where heroin is essentially legal, has a *lower* percentage of hard drug users than the rest of the world, not higher.

    4. Re:countdown to anti-aircraft missles. by Dunbal · · Score: 1

      Confirming there are no penniless heroin addicts today. Oh wait you think that legalising drugs means that everyone will start consuming drugs, just like everyone smokes and everyone drinks alcohol, right?

      --
      Seven puppies were harmed during the making of this post.
    5. Re:countdown to anti-aircraft missles. by Dunbal · · Score: 2

      It's actually very hard to "wipe yourself out" with opioids. The problem comes when an addict either receives a stronger dose than usual because there is no regulation on how drugs are "cut", or an addict that has stopped using for a while, loses his tolerance, and starts using again at his old dose. However there is no upper limit to the amount of opioids a body can take over time. The curve simply shifts to the right.

      --
      Seven puppies were harmed during the making of this post.
    6. Re:countdown to anti-aircraft missles. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 4, Informative

      Thank goodness Heroin is illegal and there are no Heroin addicts in the U.S. It's debatable whether the legalization of drugs would increase or decrease their usage. It's also debatable how secondary crimes are affected. One can easily argue that lower prices would result in less theft and that being able to go into a business establishment instead of the 'bad' part of town could help decouple a lot of the criminal element associated with drugs.

      Look at that classic example of alcohol. How did alcohol related crime during prohibition compare to when it was legal?

      Fun Fact: In 1895, the German drug company Bayer marketed diacetylmorphine as an over-the-counter drug under the trademark name Heroin. The name was derived from the Greek word "Heros" because of its perceived "heroic" effects upon a user.

    7. Re:countdown to anti-aircraft missles. by sonamchauhan · · Score: 2

      > Of course, the USA could just DO THE RIGHT THING and legalise drugs and remove the profit from the drug cartel system,
      > but then a bunch of congressmen won't get campaign funds to keep it all illegal.

      Some say its been tried before:
      http://www.druglibrary.org/schaffer/history/om/om15.htm

      But of course, its not the same, like all Scotsmen today.

      Instead of sorting out the mess caused by the combination of your silly laws with silly individualism (e.g. sending addicts to jails instead of into forced-rehab), just carry on. Those who ignore history...

    8. Re:countdown to anti-aircraft missles. by Vylen · · Score: 1

      Sounds like a great thing and all, but it's not like as if the USA is the only place where the drugs are being sent to.

      Unless you're saying ALL countries should legalise drugs?

    9. Re:countdown to anti-aircraft missles. by puto · · Score: 2

      Well, I am US citizen and a Colombian citizen, and a fairly liberal guy who has probably been higher on most substances in my life during my younger and wilder years. A coke head in Colombia or in the US is equally dangerous, I have seen the dangers of cocaine in both countries, and have had to deal with potential muggies in both countries due to crack heads. Weed, booze, E, is fine, but cocaine is a truly evil drug. Removing the profit from it will not change it. Cheaper cocaine will just lead to addicts who do not have to pay as much to get high. You have no idea how cocaine really works.

      --
      The Revolution Will Not Be Televised
    10. Re:countdown to anti-aircraft missles. by Teresita · · Score: 1

      In other words, the Netherlands, where heroin is essentially legal, has a *lower* percentage of hard drug users than the rest of the world, not higher.

      It's reverse psychology, man. You say, "Don't you dare try smoking fried banana peels" and that's the first thing they do.

    11. Re:countdown to anti-aircraft missles. by b4dc0d3r · · Score: 1

      Dude... I am so fucked up on fried banananana peels it isn't even funny. If I could afford bananananas every day I'd be, like, an addict. Or something.

      Shhhhhhh! Don't tell people about this. I can make serious dolla dolla billz yall just posting on craigslist advertizing banananannanaBATMAN peels.

    12. Re:countdown to anti-aircraft missles. by blind+monkey+3 · · Score: 3, Interesting

      Interesting outcome in Portugal after 5 years and after 10 years - there were warnings of doom if they decriminalised at the time - all the drug addicts in europe were going to move to Portugal apparently. Big difference between decriminalised and legalised (imo) though.

      --
      BM3
    13. Re:countdown to anti-aircraft missles. by drkim · · Score: 1

      ...yes, those were fun times.

      They used to strap radioactive stuff to their nuts, too (The Scrotal Radiendocrinator)
      http://www.environmentalgraffiti.com/offbeat-news/10-radioactive-products-that-people-actually-used/1388?image=4

      But just because they used to do it doesn't mean we should.

    14. Re:countdown to anti-aircraft missles. by redneckmother · · Score: 1

      It'd be safer than letting a dumb redneck (who can't even be bothered to learn how to spell the topic he's blathering about) handle a computer keyboard.

      Hint: It's spelled "heroin". A heroine is a woman hero - like Daisy Duke.

      Hey! Chill! I resemble that remark! ... and... Leave Daisy out of this!

    15. Re:countdown to anti-aircraft missles. by Aighearach · · Score: 1

      Well,

      I am US citizen and a Colombian citizen

      You're either under 18, or telling a fib. Surely you renounced one citizenship as a condition of receiving the other.

    16. Re:countdown to anti-aircraft missles. by ThatsMyNick · · Score: 1

      Many people hold dual citizenship. Renouncing your citizenship is not a requirement to get a US citizenship. So GP could at point have held a Colombian citizenship, then obtained US citizenship. US law or Colombian law does not require renouncing Colombian citizenship.

    17. Re:countdown to anti-aircraft missles. by VortexCortex · · Score: 2

      Right... because nothing could be safer than a Heroine addict that has no money because they can not keep a job due to their addiction.

      When's the last time you heard of people buying booze from the Maffia? Do you live in fear of recreational alcohol users?

    18. Re:countdown to anti-aircraft missles. by Time_Ngler · · Score: 1

      In nearly every country in the world the same drugs in the US are also illegal there. Since this wasn't always so and these drugs were once legal, and in each and every country were then made illegal, then how can you argue that legalizing drugs works? How can you explain why the reasons all these countries chose to ban them wouldn't apply today?

    19. Re:countdown to anti-aircraft missles. by ooshna · · Score: 1

      Umm I never heard of a recreational crack or heroin user. Though it would be funny to hear someone say "I'm not an addicted I'm just a social freebaser."

    20. Re:countdown to anti-aircraft missles. by Fned · · Score: 1

      How the fuck did this get +5 insightful? Drug use tends to go down when drugs are legalized. And heroin addicts with access to legal heroin aren't any more unemployable than smokers.

  3. This is fascist. by elucido · · Score: 3, Funny

    Seriously we are using drug sniffing drones?
    The drones are more dangerous than the drugs in this situation!

    1. Re:This is fascist. by ackthpt · · Score: 3, Insightful

      Seriously we are using drug sniffing drones?
      The drones are more dangerous than the drugs in this situation!

      These are pointing them out. Not bombing them.

      --

      A feeling of having made the same mistake before: Deja Foobar
    2. Re:This is fascist. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

      It's ok, The drones are already high most of the time.

    3. Re:This is fascist. by redneckmother · · Score: 3, Insightful

      Seriously we are using drug sniffing drones? The drones are more dangerous than the drugs in this situation!

      These are pointing them out. Not bombing them.

      "Yet."

    4. Re:This is fascist. by fluffy99 · · Score: 1

      I don't think they are "sniffing" in the olfactory sense. I think the article just enjoyed a play on words, and the drones are simply looking for heat sources that indicate someone in the woods is cooking up some coke.

    5. Re:This is fascist. by lvxferre · · Score: 1

      No, it's not the Brazilian government who's doing this, but Bolivian (using Brazilian tech). No sovereignty issues here.

      --
      Nerdy news for your nerdy needs? http://www.soylentnews.org Soylent News is people!
    6. Re:This is fascist. by slashmydots · · Score: 1

      Let me save you some time reading that headline trolling + 1 page of fluff that they call an article. It's not really "sniffing" anything, as particles from drug production don't get that high in the air. They're just looking for abnormal tree patterns and smoke and vehicles and stuff. Of course, even years ago I saw a documentary showing how they camouflage their locations from aerial observation.

  4. Low tech is better by Lord_of_the_nerf · · Score: 5, Funny

    Keith Richards strapped to a glider.

    Done.

    1. Re:Low tech is better by failedlogic · · Score: 1

      I'm surprised there are still drugs left in the world.

      According to Dr. Dennis Leary, Keith Richards already did all the drugs.

    2. Re:Low tech is better by Lord_of_the_nerf · · Score: 2

      Well drugs are a renewable resource.

      Unlike Leary's humour which is finite now that Bill Hicks is dead....

    3. Re:Low tech is better by erp_consultant · · Score: 1

      Hahahaha...best post I've read in months!

  5. How long before drones monitor us all 24/7? by elucido · · Score: 2, Interesting

    Is this the new way to fight crime or the new way to fill up the private prisons?
    Drone manufacturers in bed with private prison owners in bed with law enforcement to create a militarized prison industrial complex?

    I think drones and private prisons are worse than drugs an drug dealers. I support the drug dealers over the drone operators and private prisoner owners. What side are you on?

    1. Re:How long before drones monitor us all 24/7? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

      Actually I support none of them.

      But legalizing cannabis - and maybe few other drugs - might just a) end the "war on drugs" with its insane financial and political costs and b) reduce illegal income sources for the drug cartels. Grow your own cannabis in your garden legally, so no one gets to benefit outside of the fertilizer and seedbank business.

  6. Drug sniffing... by c0lo · · Score: 1

    I hear pigs can smell truffles underground, some flying pigs should do much better than the drones.

    --
    Questions raise, answers kill. Raise questions to stay alive.
    1. Re:Drug sniffing... by ackthpt · · Score: 1

      I hear pigs can smell truffles underground, some flying pigs should do much better than the drones.

      Sure, all we need is Arnold Ziffle and Zsa Zsa to translate for us.. <_<

      --

      A feeling of having made the same mistake before: Deja Foobar
    2. Re:Drug sniffing... by redneckmother · · Score: 1

      I hear pigs can smell truffles underground, some flying pigs should do much better than the drones.

      Sure, all we need is Arnold Ziffle and Zsa Zsa to translate for us.. <_<

      (love the Green Acres reference)

      "... and watching, for pigs on the wing ..." (mandatory Pink Floyd reference)

  7. This gives a whole new meaning to by presidenteloco · · Score: 1

    "Straighten Up and Fly Right"

    (Nat King Cole)
    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ekaqtBcfhwk

    --

    Where are we going and why are we in a handbasket?
  8. Mmmh by drumlight · · Score: 1

    I had a temporary warehouse job where I worked with drug sniffing drones; generally a bunch of tedious mother&*@#*s.

  9. Re:I think he meant by Dunbal · · Score: 5, Informative

    Except, given a product with a guaranteed standard strength and some education, it's likely they wouldn't ever overdose, which is the point I am trying to make. When have you heard of terminal cancer patients accidentally overdosing on their morphine? Some do it on purpose, choosing suicide instead of the long drawn out death process that awaits them. But that is not by accident. The more opioids you take, the more tolerant you become, and the higher the dose you need to achieve the desired effect but also the more dose you can tolerate. Addicts regularly take doses that would kill you and me very quickly, without their suffering any of the dangerous cardiovascular depressive effects. There is no limit to the amount of opioids a person can tolerate, over time. The limit is the amount of money they can afford to spend daily on their habit.

    As a doctor I happen to know quite a bit about these drugs. It's unfortunate that they have been demonized so much, because you will not ever find a better painkiller, a better cough suppressant, and a better anti-diarrheal medication, all rolled into one. People used to take opium derivatives all the time 100 years ago with little if any professional oversight, and society failed to collapse. But today mention opium and suddenly people are afraid of the boogey-man.

    --
    Seven puppies were harmed during the making of this post.
  10. If the drones sniff all the blow... by Teresita · · Score: 1

    ...there won't be any left over for the street. Problem solved.

  11. Vietnam by redneckmother · · Score: 1

    I can't help but remember the towed methane sensors used by the US in Vietnam... "sniffing" for "charlie's farts" above the jungle...

    1. Re:Vietnam by ThatsMyNick · · Score: 1

      Humans hardly produce significant methane. Are you sure, they were not looking for cows, cockroaches or termites?

    2. Re:Vietnam by tinkerton · · Score: 1

      I can just see it: a vietcong suddenly comes running straight at you, then farts and passes at top speed. And then a missile lands on your head.

  12. Next up.. by tinkerton · · Score: 1

    Drug drones discover the smell of coca leaves is present in all of bolivia.

  13. Re:I think he meant by Dunbal · · Score: 1

    I think you needed to read the next sentence, where I said "Some do it on purpose... but that is not by accident".

    --
    Seven puppies were harmed during the making of this post.
  14. Re:I think he meant by ooshna · · Score: 2

    Exes mother ODed on pills after years of abusing them. Current girlfriend's father ODed on heroin after first being addicted to pain pills. Best friend's brother ODed injecting oxycontin but luckily was found by his mother and was saved by EMS. There is a reason opiates are demonized they are abused very badly by many people. Education or not people will abuse and do stupid things when drugs are involved. Look at all the drunk driving deaths every year and that's with every bottle labeled with the strength and plenty of education about the dangers.

  15. Neal Stephenson was right again! by RPI+Geek · · Score: 1

    The first image that popped into my head was a German Shepherd with aviator glases in a Predator drone painted like the Red Baron's plane, flying over the jungle and barking into a radio when it smelled some pot. Then I thought, "why not just make a flying Rat Thing with the nose intact?"
    I should really patent this idea so I can sue the first company who actually makes one!

    --

    - "Nobody came out that night, not one was ever seen. But Old Man Stauf is waiting there, crazy sick and mean!"