SITREP:

DEA’S DRUG WAR

LWRC arms the
good guys.
BY ERIC R. POOLE
PHOTOGRAPHY BY
MIKE ANSCHUETZ

N
inety percent of the cocaine
that has come into the U.S.
from Columbia travels through
Mexico. Along the way, more
Inset photos courtesy of LWRC
South America photo courtesy of NASA
than 11,000 people (in Mexico alone) have
suffered death since 2006 to deliver American
drug addicts their source of pleasure.
32 TACTICAL OPERATOR | www.shootingtimes.com www.shootingtimes.com | TACTICAL OPERATOR 33
 SITREP: DEA’S DRUG WAR
Photo courtesy of LWRC
Fox News anchor and retired Col. Oliver
North has made extraordinary efforts to
give the American public a true under-
standing of what DEA agents are up against.
Photo courtesy of LWRC
34
The source of the drug trade often
begins in very remote locations like
Columbia’s jungles. Inserting and
extracting agents has proven to be
extremely dangerous.
TACTICAL OPERATOR | www.shootingtimes.com
REPORTING SAVAGERY
Almost 50 years ago, the revolution-
ary armed forces of Columbia (FARC)
was born as the military branch of a
Columbian communist party, and they’ve
been doing business ever since. Recent
attention to the current situation was
brought to public awareness by a Fox News
exclusive on the extradition of FARC
terrorist Gerardo Ramirez and the rescue
of three American defense contractors
who crashed and were taken hostage on
February 13, 2003.
“The pilot, Tom Janis, and the
Columbian intelligence specialist were
murdered,” anchor Oliver North reported.
“The three others were forced at gunpoint
to march into the jungle for the next 24
days straight.”
Tom Howe, one of the former hostages,
described the torturous journey through
the jungle: “It was not long before the
blisters rubbed off and you were down to
the bare basically raw meat on our feet.
Every step was painful.”
For more than five years, Tom Howe,
Marc Gonsalves and Keith Stansell
survived inside the jungle. Chained up on
the neck like dogs, they were constantly
moved on forced marches that Howe
described as “death marches” or “hunger
marches.” FARC still holds dozens of
hostages to this day.
FRONTLINE
The infamous Cali and Medellin cartels
began falling apart in the 1990s after the
Columbian government managed to hunt
down and kill Pablo Escobar. Since then,
rising officers within the remaining drug
empires are adapting. They’ve expanded
business to include export to Europe and
Asia and learned that large organizations
are more vulnerable to attack by U.S. and
Colombian authorities. Unfortunately,
now these leaders are controlling smaller
groups that compartmentalize tasks. One
group handles production in the fields
while another manages the Marxists
guerillas that protect the fields. Once
the cocaine is ready to ship, one group
becomes responsible for transportation
into Mexico and another manages smug-
gling routes to every other industrialized
nation. The DEA believes that more than
300 active drug smuggling organizations
currently operate out of Columbia.
THE AGENCY
“Twenty-three individuals, including
The EOTech 552 is not only standardized by
the DEA, it is also the chosen optic for the
ATF, FBI, SWAT and numerous military units
like the Stryker Brigade, 10th Mountain
and the 3rd Infantry Division.
eight employees of American Airlines,
were arrested today in Puerto Rico and
Miami as part of DEA’s ‘Operation Heavy
Cargo,’ which uncovered a drug traffick-
ing organization that used commercial
aircraft to transport cocaine to the United
States.”
This press release made headlines on
September 15, 2009, as drug trafficker
Wilfredo Rodriguez Rosado and 22 others
were indicted on four counts of conspiracy
to possess with intent to distribute. Since
1999, the DEA estimates that
he has been responsible
for smuggling over $19
million worth of cocaine to
different cities on the East
Coast.
Their
efforts
have
www.shootingtimes.com | TACTICAL OPERATOR
DEA agents have battled the drug trade in
the worst environments Earth has to offer.
Their rifles are never overloaded with un-
necessary kit but typically include a Sure-
fire light, Magpul mags, vertical foregrip,
BUIS and an EOTech red-dot optic.
certainly impacted the drug trade when
you consider that the amount of coca
that’s been destroyed in the last decade
has kept up with the terrorists’ increased
production. Nearly 250,000 hectares of
coca have been eradicated each year on the
ground and from the air since 2006.
MULTIPLE ARENAS
Foreign-deployed Advisory and Support
Teams (FAST) were created by the DEA
in support of the Bush Administration’s
Five Pillar Plan. Tasked with targeting,
dismantling and disrupting transnational
drug trafficking operations, the first two
FAST teams were sent to Afghanistan
in April 2005. These teams provided
guidance to their Afghan counterparts
and helped destroy opium storage sites
and heroin labs. Deployed for 120 days at
a time, they rotated in and out of the DEA
Training Academy in Quantico, VA, two
groups at a time.
When the helicopter
touches down south of
Mexico, the worlds of
narco-terrorists and
American DEA agents
become violently
entwined. Armed
DEA agents and
35
Photo courtesy of LWRC SITREP: DEA’S DRUG WAR
American defense contractors join mem-
bers of the Columbian army and national
police as they instinctively duck below the
sweeping rotors and bring their rifles to
the ready. They’re in the highlands to fight
the FARC and prevent drugs from creating
a bloody trail that ends on U.S. streets.
LWRC M6
Many of the DEA agents have championed
numerous narcotic operations with the
M6 from LWRC International. LWRC has
concentrated its efforts in eliminating the
inherent shortcomings of the common
M16 and M4 direct impingement (DI)
rifles. The M6 is a family of short-stroke,
gas piston-operated rifles that is quite
possibly the best variation of Eugene
Stoner’s modular concept.
Eduardo Arellano-
Felix Arrested,
October 27, 2008
Gun battle in Tijuana, Mexico,
ends with the capture of drug
trafficking kingpin.
• $5 million reward
• Last original member of a family
cartel not in custody or deceased
36 TACTICAL OPERATOR | www.shootingtimes.com
With LWRC’s basic model founded on
the classic M4 carbine, operators benefit
from immediate familiarity and the
reliability that comes with their unique
piston operating system, a NiCorr-treated
hammer-forged barrel and coated bolt
groups. Shouldering the carbine comes
with the lightweight comfort of a Magpul
MOE collapsible stock and MOE pistol
grip. Also standard is a Magpul 30-round
PMAG for the 5.56 NATO variant or a Bar-
rett 30-round magazine for rifles chewing
through 6.8 SPC. It proves to be a little
more than just “basic.”
Choose the M6A1 and you get the
SOPMOD M4-equivalent featuring a
free-floating quad rail, nickel-coated bolt
carrier and Magpul CTR stock. An-
other step up the option ladder is LWRC’s
ultimate carbine,
the M6A2. It’s
optimized for optics
with a low-profile
gas block instead of a
traditional A-frame
front sight assembly/
gas block that could
obscure the field of
view when using
optics. Without the
Photo courtesy of the DEA
A-frame, the M6A2 also uses a longer,
mid-length free-float rail system with a
monolithic profile for mounting acces-
sories that work in tandem like a red dot
optic and a magnifier.
M6A2 rifles also feature a match grade,
target crowned, cold rotary hammer-
forged barrel cut from 41V45 steel alloy.
It, too, is treated with the NiCorr surface
conversion that purportedly enhances the
rifle’s accuracy and effective range to 600
meters using a 16.1-inch barrel.
Break apart the upper and lower
receivers of the M6A2 and you’ll find
that the bolt carrier and entire trigger as-
sembly are coated in LWRC’s proprietary
nickel that serves as a hard, permanent
lubrication to moving parts. Filth doesn’t
build up and detract from the M6A2’s
performance. Remove the parts and you
can wipe them clean. This rifle comes with
a standard trigger, but when you draw it
back, it feels like an aftermarket. During
testing, it fooled so many that I checked it
with a trigger pull gauge. It measured just
less than 6 1/2 pounds. The hard lubricant
improves the relationship of the trigger,
disconnector and hammer’s engagement
surfaces, providing for a smoother and
deceivingly lighter pull. The best part is
Many agents replace the standard M4 col-
lapsible stock with one from Vltor. The EMOD
shown here has a toe that is rolled under the
rubber buttplate that improves feel when
the rifle is positioned out of the pocket.
that geometry is unchanged, so the opera-
tor benefits from the reliability of the
standard trigger that most aftermarket
match triggers sacrifice. Rounding out
the M6A2 package is a Vltor EMod stock,
Magpul MIAD grip and Troy backup iron
sights (BUIS).
PERFORMANCE
The M6 has had two opportunities to When charged, the ejection
port cover flips open to re-
prove itself to me. The first came among veal LWRC’s revolutionary
a group of industry professionals. After bolt carrier group, specially
a thorough briefing in a classroom, we coated to resist fouling, dirt
and debris. During testing,
moved out to a 200-yard range where the M6A2 never needed any
we comparatively fired a collection of type of lubricant.
M4-style rifles and an assortment of
ammunition. I witnessed my counterparts
put round after round through each
sample as I observed functioning and SPECIFICATIONS
listened to their comments. But I came
back to one when a battle buddy pulled me
over to his lane. “Dude, you have to check M6A2 Ds-DEA
this one out. It’s dead on. I’m serious. You
CALIBER: 5.56x45mm NATO
can’t miss. It’s just dead on.” This friend
has a lot of weight in forming my opinions BARREL: 16.1 ins.
because he still goes to far-off distant WEIGHT: 7.3 lbs. (empty)
lands as an armed operator. OA LEngth: 33.3 to 36.5 ins.
Standing up, I loaded a PMAG of
Federal ammunition into the M6A2 with
RATE OF FIRE: 850 rpm
a 16.1-inch barrel and flipped the selector RIFLING: 1:7 inch RH twist
STOCK: Vltor EMod
off Safe. I placed the dot of the EOTech
on a white steel target at 100 yards and PISTOL GRIP: Magpul MIAD
drew the trigger to the rear. “Hit.” Again. SIGHTS: Troy Folding BUIS
“Hit, move to another.” With 12x12-inch
MAGAZINE: Magpul 30-rd. PMAG
targets spread along the hillside at incre-
mental distances, I continued to hammer
www.shootingtimes.com | TACTICAL OPERATOR 37
SITREP: DEA’S DRUG WAR

Photos courtesy of LWRC

Operation
Xcellerator,
February 25, 2009:
DEA targets Sinaloa Cartel, a
major Mexican drug trafficking
organization.
• 23 tons of narcotics
• 21-month investigation
• 52 arrests in California, Minnesota
and Maryland
• $59 million seized in drug money

A lull in action gives this DEA agent a

breather. After this particular opera-
tion, the agent placed his M6 setup on
an electronic scale used to measure
drugs. It weighed 4.635 kilograms.

the steel silhouettes while standing all in my personal journal as the quietest sup- a vertical forgrip under the forarm. The
the way out to 200. He was right. You can’t pressed auto-rifle platform I’ve ever fired. rifle came with a very effective Yankee
miss. Now that it had my attention, I found Hill Machine Phantom flash hider and a
I went over to LWRC’s rifle rack and it necessary to perform an accuracy lower with a laser-engraved rendition of
grabbed another fitted with a suppressor. test in a controlled environment. So I the Stars and Stripes. Marked DEA just be-
LWRC’s innovative gas piston system is brought one home. Inspired by the DEA, I neath the upper’s monolithic flattop rail,
so quiet, the nagging slam of a bolt going equipped the M6A2 D-DEA just as these this rifle still weighs less than 10 pounds
into the chamber after firing a suppressed agents do—EOTech 552 holosight on top, in a battle-ready condition.
round all but disappears. This goes down Surefire tactical light on the side and Accuracy tests
that mean something
PERFORMANCE are often done on a
bench and on some
Velocity Energy Best Group type of rest with an
LOAD (fps) (ft-lbs) (ins.) optic at 100 yards.
Winchester USA FMJ (USA223R3) 3,100 1,323 1.24 The test usually
Lake City M855 FMJ 3,222 1,398 1.39 involves at least three
types of com-
Hornady TAP FPD 3,240 1,282 1.24
mercially available
ammunition fired

38 TACTICAL OPERATOR | www.shootingtimes.com

SITREP: DEA’S DRUG WAR
Every steel component of the trigger group
gets LWRC’s electroless hard nickel coat-
ing. The coating’s natural lubricity makes
the trigger pull feel lighter than it actually
is without changing the part’s geometry.
Unlike many piston-driven ARs, the M6’s
bolt carrier isn’t an adapted part from an
M4 or M16. It is specifically engineered
to minimize carrier tilt and prevent any de-
bris from interrupting proper functioning.
with a high-powered optic under ideal
conditions. But this isn’t how DEA agents
are using the M6.
Pulling from a can of M855 green tip,
I loaded a variety of magazines from
Brownells, Magpul, Tapco and Microtech
MSAR. Operation is the same for the M6
as any other AR-style rifle but the chosen
furniture makes the M6 handle better.
I can get on target and stay on through
rapid fire. Distance doesn’t matter with
the EOTech if I can hold the one-MOA dot
in the right place. It’s a 6 1/2-pound trigger.
In my head, I know that. But my fingers
keep telling me that it’s closer to 4.
I run through a series of drills and
expend 300 rounds of 5.56 ammo while
indiscriminately shredding silhouettes.
Not a round misfired. Not a single jam.
I set myself in a prone position 100
yards away and begin to wonder if I’m
going to get a false impression of what this
rifle is capable of. I mean, who tests a rifle
at 100 yards with a red dot and expects
good numbers? I proceed anyway by plot-
ting five five-shot groups with Hornady’s
55-grain TAP, Winchester’s white box and
military-issued Lake City M855 ball.
Winchester’s USA 62-grain full metal
jacket grouped an impressive 1.24 inches.
40 TACTICAL OPERATOR | www.shootingtimes.com
Operation
Albatross,
June 9, 2008:
DEA makes record-breaking
seizures in Afghanistan.
• 262 tons of hashish
• 5 narcotic superlabs
• 12 suspects arrested
That’s right, I’m using white box with this tions abroad. It’s a war that may never
one. The military ball, something I usually end. These agents find their battles in
have mixed results with, prints its best all types of climates and can’t afford to
group at 1.39 inches. Fluke? I finished my question their primary weapon’s depend-
accuracy test with Hornady’s TAP and ability. As seen on the range, across the
shot a best 1.24 inches. Now, if you look desert and in the jungle, an
at other reports I’ve written, I’ve never M6-equipped operator
experienced a test where I managed to fire never chances life on
a best group that was identical to another speculation.
load. Maybe it’s just the circumstances,
but I assume that these results
are an accurate representation
of what an operator is capable
of when he’s switched “on.” The
brand of ammunition doesn’t
appear to faze the EOTech-
equipped M6 if it’s from a quality
ammunition manufacturer.
JUSTICE
Besides the fact that the
DEA is the lead agency for
domestic enforcement
of U.S. drug policies,
specialized teams Troy industries provides
the heavy-duty HK-style
continue to BUIS. The sight quickly
pursue flips up without buttons
narcotic or levers.
inves-
tiga-