WASHINGTON -- The Pentagon publicly signaled Bolivia for two weeks to get the South American country to request formally that U.S. troops and six helicopters be left there to help fight cocaine factories.
Bolivia came through, the Pentagon said Tuesday.
At Bolivia's request, the six Blackhawk helicopters accompanied by about 160 Army crew members and support personnel have been airlifting Bolivian police since July 14 on raids against suspected cocaine factories.
The assaults reflect U.S. desires to wipe out drug smuggling at its source, and the troops originally were expected to remain in Bolivia for 60 days.
The Pentagon said last Tuesday that the South American nation formally requested an extension after noticing U.S. signals in the news media that the Reagan administration would like to leave the troops in place for 'Operation Black Furnace' at least until the start of the rainy season in November.
Defense Secretary Caspar Weinberger said Monday he prefers to have American troops combat the drug smuggling problem at its source in South and Central America rather than commit them to fight the drug war along the U.S. border in accordance with a House bill.
'That operation has been so successful that the government of Bolivia has asked us to stay, and we have agreed to do so,' Chapman Cox, the Pentagon's manpower chief, told a news conference Tuesday.
Cox declined to say how long the troops will remain in Bolivia. He said talks are under way with other countries for similar U.S. support, but he declined to identify those nations as well.
The cost of the operation has not been tallied, he said.
The long-range U.S. plan is to provide support for the Bolivian police and economy until other crops can be grown to make up for the loss in income that is provided by cocaine producers. That could take a year, Cox said.
As for the Pentagon's role in the war against drugs in the United States, Cox said the Defense Department will increase both its support of border surveillance and the amount of equipment it loans to local law enforcement agencies as long as that does not interfere with its chief mission of national defense.
'We're helping as much as we can,' Cox said.
Noting the magnitude of the drug smuggling problem, he said military planes and ships helped interdict $30 billion worth of illegal drugs this year -- yet $100 billion worth entered the country.
Cox said the military increased its ante in the drug war from $5 million of resources in 1982 to $40 million this fiscal year, which ends Sept. 30. It has loaned $111 million in helicopters, intelligence and communications equipment to law enforcement officials this year, he said.
President Reagan has pledged to provide $250 million worth of military gear in fiscal 1987, which begins Oct. 1, Cox said.
