Operation Snowcap

Operation Snowcap
	Part of the War on Drugs
Date	1987-1995
Location	Primarily Bolivia, Peru and Ecuador; Also Guatemala, Panama, Costa Rica, Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Venezuela, Colombia and Mexico.
Belligerents
United States DEA; 7th Special Forces Group; USBP BORTAC; US Coast Guard DAIT; Navy SEALs/Special Boat Teams; State Department ISM; State Department Air Wing; DOD; Bolivia UMOPAR; Bolivian Navy; Bolivian Air Force; Peru Civil Guard Police; Peruvian National Police; Colombia Colombian National Police;	Cali cartel; Shining Path guerrillas; Illicit cocaine manufacturers
Commanders and leaders
DEA SAS Frank White	unknown
Strength
about 140 DEA Agents	Unknown
Casualties and losses
six DEA Agents, five State Department contractors, and twelve Peruvians were killed in two plane crashes	hundreds of tons of cocaine seized, thousands of suspected traffickers arrested, several hundred thousand gallons of precursor chemical seized, hundreds of precursor facilities destroyed, dozens of aircraft and vehicles seized

Operation Snowcap (1987–1995), launched in the spring of 1987, was a counter-narcotics operation conducted by the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA), BORTAC (U.S. Border Patrol Tactical Unit) and military/police forces in nine Latin American countries. Operation Snowcap followed Operation Blast Furnace, a four month operation that started in July 1986, which deployed 160 Army personnel and six Blackhawk helicopters to assist Bolivia in operations against cocaine laboratories in the Beni and Santa Cruz regions of Bolivia.^[1] At an annual cost to the DEA of $80 million, and involving approximately 140 agents at its onset, Snowcap was the largest counter-narcotics operation that had been launched in Latin America. The U.S. Department of Defense leased 6 UH-1 Huey helicopters, and provided flight training to Bolivian air force pilots and Special Forces training for UMOPAR and DEA agents.^[2]

^ Gross, Richard C. (September 17, 1986). "Bolivia agrees to keep U.S. troops in drug war". UPO.
^ See also: Ledebur, Kathryn (2005). "Bolivia: Clear Consequences". In Youngers, Coletta; Rosin, Eileen (eds.). Drugs and democracy in Latin America: the impact of U.S. policy. Lynne Rienner Publishers. p. 150. ISBN 978-1-58826-254-7.

[UPI-1] Gross, Richard C. (September 17, 1986). "Bolivia agrees to keep U.S. troops in drug war". UPO.

[2] See also: Ledebur, Kathryn (2005). "Bolivia: Clear Consequences". In Youngers, Coletta; Rosin, Eileen (eds.). Drugs and democracy in Latin America: the impact of U.S. policy. Lynne Rienner Publishers. p. 150. ISBN 978-1-58826-254-7.

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