Drug smugglers using small planes easily evade federal rules requiring the registration of aircraft and pilots, a government informant told Congress on Wednesday. The witness, testifying from behind a screen and identified only as the former bookkeeper of an international drug ring, said the federal registration rules were ``very easy to beat. Nothing to it.'' The witness told the House Public Works and Transportation Committee of airplane bills of sale that never were sent to the Federal Aviation Administration, of fictitious names and addresses reported for buyers and sellers, and of signatures scrawled illegibly on FAA forms and modifications _ such as installation of long-range fuel tanks _ that went unreported to the government. The FAA did not pursue such gaps in documentation and in some cases required no records that would make it easier to track down aircraft owners and pilots, the witness said. ``I didn't see a vast amount of brilliance in the smuggling community,'' said the man, who was referred to by the legislators as ``Mr. Smith.'' ``If you give them an opportunity to make mistakes and leave a paper trail, it seems to me they'll make mistakes and leave a paper trail.'' Rep. Glenn Anderson, D-Calif., chairman of the committee, said 64 percent of the cocaine and marijuana seized in the United States last year was captured on small planes owned by individuals or businesses. He cited a report by the Office of Technology Assessment, a research arm of Congress, that estimated that there are 1,300 to 3,500 drug-smuggling flights by small planes entering the country annually. In what has been the usual procedure in the spate of drug hearings held by Congress during this election year, the witness was accompanied by several armed Capitol police officers who stood guard inside and outside the hearing room. The man said he was a former member of the federal witness protection program and was on probation after pleading guilty to state charges of conspiracy to smuggle cocaine and racketeering. He said he had worked for a ``loose confederation'' of Americans, Colombians, Bahamians and others who smuggled cocaine into the United States aboard aircraft. He was responsible for the registration and ownership documents of more than 40 planes used by the participants, some used for legitimate businesses they owned and others for smuggling. To disguise the planes' ownership, the witness said he often had foreigners sign registration forms and use difficult to trace American mailing addresses. He would at times use addresses of apartment complexes without supplying apartment numbers, and arrange to have people who lived at the complexes watch for piles of undelivered mail and relay it. The witness also said mechanics who modified the planes he used often knew why the equipment was being installed on the aircraft. ``As a result, they had no interest in making any documentation of the work which they would have had to sign, for fear of jeopardizing their licenses,'' he said. At the same hearing, four drug investigators complained that they were frequently hindered by federal regulations that made it possible for smugglers to hide their identities. ``Aircraft identification and registered owner identification is an elusive veil behind which the smuggler finds refuge,'' said Carol Knapik, an undercover detective in the Broward County, Fla., sheriff's office. She also testified from behind screens. Janet Hale, an assistant secretary of the Department of Transportation, told the lawmakers that the FAA was trying to improve its registration systems so it could provide more information to law enforcement agencies. The public works committee is considering legislation that would require the FAA to improve its record-keeping system.
