We keep hearing about them, but what exactly is a panga boat?
Panga boats are outboard-powered fishing boats that are used by Mexican drug cartels to transport drugs and unknown contraband into our communities.
I think everyone in Santa Barbara County is aware of the horrific violence currently being imposed upon Mexican citizens by drug cartels in Mexico. These are the same cartels that are landing panga boats in our communities with frequency. We are seeing panga boats on our beaches with regularity. Have you ever thought about how many more are not found and come onto our shores and leave without being noticed? Has the incumbent sheriff talked openly to the media and our citizens about what kind of threat the cartels pose to our county? I do not believe he has been vocal enough and fought for our safety with the threat.
As our sheriff, I would be vocal about the fact that the federal government needs to look at our coastline as the new California border. The threat of weapons, drugs, and terrorists crossing into our country has never been easier.
My focus is and always has been public safety, and being silent about the potential danger is unacceptable.
The county currently receives a small amount of money from the federal government to provide resources to investigate pangas coming on our shore. This is not enough; we need the federal government to give us federal resources to protect us from this criminal element.
I know the likely dangers of terrorist groups using pangas to move people and weapons into our country. I also know the threat every time a boat lands and the potential danger for our citizens. It is naive for the conversation to be about marijuana. We need to be proactive and realize the potential and the probable issues that are in our backyard.
When millions of dollars of drugs are being dropped off, doesn’t that pose a huge threat to our community? What if someone were to walk up on the off-loading of the boat? What kind of weapons do you think these criminals carry when they are protecting millions of dollars’ worth of drugs?
This danger then moves to our roadways and on to the neighborhood or industrial areas in which the drugs are stored.
Let’s change the conversation into the threat of terrorist groups using panga boats to move people and weapons into our country. The boats we do find are not evaluated for trace evidence of explosives and radioactive material. Is this the federal government once again ignoring threats to our country? Shouldn’t our sheriff be educating all of the citizens of the potential and probable dangers? As a community, we should demand better resources from the Coast Guard and Homeland Security to take on the enforcement of our ocean and coastline.
Do we have to wait for a tragedy? I believe there will be one if we do not take steps for better enforcement and funding from the federal government.
Sandra Brown is a sergeant with the Santa Barbara County Sheriff’s Department and candidate for sheriff. Send comments to the executive editor at rmiller@santamariasun.com.
This article appears in Feb 20-27, 2014.
