《GAO-01-435R Drug Control The Department of States Contrac》.pdfVIP

United States General Accounting Office Washington, DC 20548 February 28, 2001 The Honorable Charles E. Grassley Chairman, Caucus on International Narcotics Control United States Senate Subject: Drug Control: The Department of State’s Contract Award for Its Counternarcotics Aviation Program Dear Mr. Chairman: The Department of State’s Bureau for International Narcotics and Law Enforcement Affairs is responsible for implementing policies and programs to combat international narcotics and crime. As part of this effort, the Bureau operates a fleet of aircraft supporting foreign governments in their efforts to locate and eradicate drug crops. The Bureau’s total budget for this program has grown to about $50 million annually, with current operations in the major coca-growing countries of Bolivia, Colombia, and Peru. The Bureau manages the aviation program from its office at Patrick Air Force Base, Florida. Since 1991, State has awarded two contracts to DynCorp Aerospace Technology for aviation services to support the Bureau’s counternarcotics aviation program. Between the time when DynCorp’s initial contract with State was scheduled to expire in 1996 and the current 5-year contract was awarded in 1998, State issued three interim sole-source contract extensions to DynCorp. You expressed concern about whether State complied with applicable contracting requirements in making these awards. In response to your request, we determined whether State (1) followed applicable requirements in issuing the interim sole-source extensions to DynCorp and (2) properly awarded the current contract.1 RESULTS IN BRIEF