Drones cost $28,000 for one arrest

CNN was inside the control room in Fort Huachuca, Arizona, during a recent mission, when a control team inside a virtual cockpit operated the drones.

Opinion: Can U.S. drone policy finally soar?

Flying at 18,000 feet, the drones view the landscape below, lock onto potential suspects crossing the Arizona desert, and agents on the ground move into make the arrests. But it’s outrageously expensive: $28,000 for a single arrest.

Inspector General John Roth says while the drones do contribute to overall border security, Customs hasn’t “put any measurements in place as to whether it’s effective; the measurements we saw show that in fact it’s not effective.”

Alles says he doesn’t want any more drones until he can prove the program works at every level. Then, perhaps, he will be comfortable with acquiring more of them. But there are longterm plans circulating from Republican and Democratic supporters of the drones to buy more and have them constantly in the air.

CNN