THE COAST GUARD HAS HAD SOME SUCCESS IN DETECTING AND CAPTURING DRUG SMUGGLERS ON THE HIGH SEAS, LARGELY DUE TO ITS CUTTERS, AIRCRAFT, AND ELECTRONICS GEAR BEING SUPERIOR TO THE EQUIPMENT USED BY THE SMUGGLERS AND THE USE OF A STRATEGY OF SURVEILLANCE OF AREAS THROUGH WHICH SMUGGLERS MUST PASS. CUTTERS ARE ESTIMATED TO BE AT STRATEGIC POINTS ONLY 35 PERCENT OF THE TIME, HOWEVER, BECAUSE NOT ENOUGH CUTTERS ARE AVAILABLE. THE COAST GUARD IS CURRENTLY UPGRADING ITS EQUIPMENT WITH IMPROVED RADAR AND MORE ACCURATE NAVIGATION GEAR. NEW CUTTERS, HELICOPTERS, AND FIXED-WING AIRCRAFT ARE ALSO BEING PURCHASED. THE COAST GUARD SHOULD ESTABLISH LONG-RANGE GOALS REGARDING THE AMOUNT OF DRUGS TO BE INTERCEPTED OVER A PERIOD OF TIME. THE RESOURCES AND ENFORCEMENT APPROACHES NECESSARY TO ACHIEVE DESIRED GOALS SHOULD ALSO BE IDENTIFIED. ADEQUATE LAW ENFORCEMENT TRAINING HAS BEEN LACKING FOR COAST GUARD PERSONNEL. ACCORDINGLY, THE COAST GUARD SHOULD IMPROVE ITS TRAINING, CONSIDER ESTABLISHING A LAW ENFORCEMENT RATING, AND ESTABLISH QUALIFICATION STANDARDS FOR BOARDING PARTIES. THE CUSTOMS SERVICE, THE DRUG ENFORCEMENT ADMINISTRATION, AND THE COAST GUARD DO NOT HAVE A COMMON RADIO FREQUENCY FOR USE IN DIRECT COMMUNICATION DURING DRUG OPERATIONS. THE COAST GUARD SHOULD EXPLORE THE DESIRABILITY AND POSSIBILITY OF ACQUIRING A COMMON LAW ENFORCEMENT FREQUENCY WITH OTHER AGENCIES INVOLVED IN DRUG LAW ENFORCEMENT. THE APPENDIXES CONTAIN THE GENERAL CHARACTERISTICS OF SELECTED COAST GUARD CUTTERS AND AIRCRAFT, 'MOTHER SHIP' SMUGGLING ROUTES, AND A LETTER WHICH BEARS UPON THE ISSUES DISCUSSED IN THE REPORT. (AUTHOR ABSTRACT MODIFIED--RCB)