Sheriff Wants to Buy Plane to Track Drugs

The Sheriff’s Department would purchase a $250,000 airplane for use by the Regional Narcotics Suppression Program under a proposal that the Board of Supervisors will consider next week.

The fixed-wing aircraft would be “an aerial surveillance platform for ground units tracking sophisticated and adept narcotics smugglers,” according to a county report.

For the past year, the department has leased an airplane for drug enforcement activities and has found it to be “a pivotal component in narcotics seizures,” the report stated. Officials said buying a plane would be cheaper than leasing one or using a Sheriff’s Department helicopter.

The plane would cost $256,000 after surveillance modifications. The money would come from a federal grant and from the Regional Narcotics Suppression Program’s drug assets forfeiture fund, officials said.