WASHINGTON, Jan. 7 (UPI) -- Expanding the use of drones for surveillance on the U.S.-Mexican border would be a waste of money, an internal audit said.
The report released Tuesday by John Roth, inspector general of the Department of Homeland Security, said that the nine Predator B drones currently in use are grounded much of the time by weather or maintenance problems and are not effective when they are in the air. Roth called the drones "dubious achievers" and suggested the $400 million plan to add to the program could be used more effectively on manned planes and helicopters or ground-based sensors.