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Updated:10/30/01 |
| Excerpt
from 2002 Congressional Budget Justification, State Department Bureau
of International Narcotics and Law Enforcement Affairs, May 2001 *[Andean Counterdrug Initiative (ACI) program begins in FY 2002. The ACI is the INL component of the Andean Regional Initiative.] Bolivia Budget Summary ($000)
__________________ 1Does
not include $110 million in FY 2000 Emergency Supplemental funding. Objectives
Justification The United States Government and the Government of Bolivia share a common goal to halt the production and exportation of cocaine from Bolivia by eradicating illicit coca, increasing the interdiction of essential chemicals and cocaine products, promoting alternative development, and more successfully prosecuting narcotics related cases. The GOB plan to eliminate all illegal coca in Bolivia by 2002 is achievable with sustained effort and increased support. In 1999, the GOB successfully eradicated 68 percent of coca in the Chapare, the principal growing region, and eradicated nearly all of the remaining Chapare coca in 2000. However, sustained efforts will be needed to prevent replanting. The cocaine industry in Bolivia continues to be fragmented into small trafficking organizations, and a highly effective chemical interdiction program has forced Bolivian traffickers to rely on inferior substitutes and recycled solvents causing the purity of Bolivian cocaine to be greatly reduced. Counternarcotics alternative development support remains fully conditioned on the eradication of illegal coca and offers viable options to its cultivation. The wholesale value of licit produce leaving the Chapare is expected to increase from $56 million in 2000 to more than $91 million by 2002. The eradication and alternative development programs is expanding into the Yungas in 2001 when the GOB begins eradicating illegal coca in that region. However, the expected increased tempo of operations in Colombia as a result of significant supplemental resources from the Congress provided in FY 2000 is likely to cause a displacement of coca cultivation throughout the Andean region. Bolivia has become a transshipment zone for Peruvian cocaine products enroute to Brazil. Bolivian coca leaf prices are the highest they have been since 1996, increasing the temptation for coca growers to plant new seedlings—perhaps in areas where it has not traditionally been seen before. There is also substantial diversion of Yungas "legal" coca to the illicit market and few controls on the sale of coca leaf in the legal markets. FY 2002 Programs. The FY 2002 budget request is significantly larger than previous years because of the need to conduct parallel counternarcotics operation in two distinct regions, the Chapare, where replanting of coca must be prevented, and the Yungas, where many displaced narcotics traffickers from the Chapare have relocated and areas of legal and illegal coca are not clearly defined. This effort will require increases in both manpower and commodities. The FY 2002 budget request is needed to support Bolivian efforts to eliminate all illegal coca cultivation and processing through support for law enforcement operations and chemical control efforts, enhancing investigations and prosecutions of major drug traffickers, improving intelligence gathering and dissemination, improving the quality of investigations into alleged human rights violations, and supporting ongoing efforts to strengthen the Bolivian judicial system. The budget request will support continued economic growth in the Chapare and expansion of counternarcotics alternative economic development programs to the Yungas regions of Bolivia, as well as helping Bolivia to meet its international financial obligations and stabilize its economy, a necessary condition for sustained growth. Bolivia, one of the poorest countries in the hemisphere with a per capita GNP of less than $900 in 2000, is unable to support any of the present counternarcotics or alternative development programs on its own. There are twenty-four counternarcotics programs in Bolivia for which INL provides funding and support. They can be grouped into four distinct areas: Narcotics Law Enforcement and Eradication; Counternarcotics Alternative Development and Economic Incentives; Rule of Law and Administration of Justice; and Program Development and Support. The Narcotics Law Enforcement and Eradication Operations Projects support civilian police units—that conduct counternarcotics law enforcement—and coca eradication operations and the military units dedicated to counternarcotics operations. It also assists the Office of the Vice-Minister of Social Defense to assume greater responsibility for planning, coordinating and funding the GOB’s counternarcotics efforts. Police units receiving U.S. support include the Special Force for the Fight Against Narcotics Trafficking (FELCN), with its uniformed interdiction force; the Police Rural Mobile Patrol Units (UMOPAR), and the Special Prosecutors of Controlled Substances that are assigned to the units; the Office of Professional Responsibility, which investigates allegations of corruption and human rights violations by narcotics police; various criminal investigative and intelligence gathering units; canine units; and two schools—the International Anti-Narcotics Training Center (Garras Del Valor) and the International Waterways Law Enforcement Training School. The Bolivian military provides transport and logistics support to the police via air, land and river. The Red Devils Task Force (RDTF) consists of Bolivian Air Force units operating UH-1H helicopters used in eradication enforcement operations, and C-130 aircraft used to transport police, heavy equipment, and pre-stage fuel in areas not reachable by road or made impassable through much of the year by heavy rains. The Blue Devil Task Force (BDTF), a Bolivian Naval unit with law enforcement authority, is responsible for maintaining a military/counternarcotics law enforcement presence on all rivers and waterways in Bolivia to deny narcotics traffickers the use of fluvial transportation and to make arrests and seizures. The army Green Devil Task Force (GTDF) provides extensive ground mobility/logistics support to the police. FY 2002 will be the final year of the Bolivian five-year plan to eliminate illegal coca cultivation. The successes of the GOB "Plan Dignidad" must be consolidated to ensure that coca cultivation and drug trafficking do not regain a foothold in Bolivia. The institutionalization of this effort will depend largely on the Ecological Police, DIRECO, the Joint Eradication Task Force, and the newly re-formed General Directorate for the Legal Trade of Coca (DIGECO), which will control and closely monitor the two legal coca markets in the Yungas to prevent deviation to illicit markets. While coca cultivation has been almost totally eliminated from the Chapare, the eradication task force must ensure that replanting does not occur, particularly as a result of Plan Colombia successes in the region. Eradication operations in the Yungas will encounter challenges not found in the Chapare operation. Illegal coca cultivation occurs at very high altitudes, at which the present inventory of INL helicopters in Bolivia will not be able to operate. Coca is located in remote areas that are well guarded by resistant and militant coca growers, making it difficult, dangerous and costly to remove. INL plans to improve a GOB military airstrip in the Yungas region to enable the C-130B aircraft to fly in supplies and personnel. Ground transportation will then have to move these resources to areas where counternarcotics operations are taking place. However, the Inter-American Development Bank has dubbed the road traversing the Yungas "the world’s most dangerous road". Aside from tricky hairpin turns, the rocky and rutted road is seldom wider than eleven feet, necessitating its closure at either end by soldiers to allow only one-way traffic during varying times of the day. Coca eradication, law enforcement and alternative development programs will require additional resources and new infrastructure, including road improvements, in the Yungas region. A new task force consisting of military, police and civilian personnel was established in 2001 to carry out eradication operations in the Yungas. Expanded INL support for interdiction, particularly along border areas, will be key to head off any influx of drug trafficking activity resulting from Plan Colombia implementation. Increased support for the Controlled Substance Prosecutors, and re-establishing support for the Seized Assets Directorate (discontinued in 1998 due to inefficiency and corruption, but now refocused under the Minister of Government) are part of this strategy. Traditional support in areas such as equipment purchases, salary supplements, fuel purchases, and vehicle maintenance continue to generate substantial funding requirements. These requirements will increase as the focus of interdiction and eradication shifts to the Yungas region, and the success of interdiction efforts become more dependent upon effective intelligence gathering and analysis. Communications equipment, accessories and spare parts necessary to maintain and expand a secure communications environment are especially critical to the eradication and interdiction forces that face the possibility of violent ambushes and attacks from coca growers and traffickers in the Chapare and Yungas. In April 2001, a new canine training facility opened outside of Cochabamba to address the growing needs of this important interdiction program. Additionally, the Garras School, currently at its maximum operating capacity, will be expanded in size and curriculum to maintain the professional capabilities of the counternarcotics police in anticipation of increased operational requirements as a result of Plan Colombia’s effects in the region. FELCN offices, UMOPAR barracks, and related facilities will also undergo expansion and improvements as interdiction operations increase. Logistic support requirements and expenses will increase as counternarcotics investigative and operational efforts are expanded along the border regions to stem the tide of Peruvian cocaine products being transshipped through Bolivia. Because the Bolivian chemical industry does not produce the full range of precursor chemicals needed to process coca leaf into cocaine base and HCL, cocaine essential chemicals must be imported from neighboring countries such as Argentina, Brazil and Chile. Improved cross-border cooperation in chemical interdiction and enforcement, as well as improved law enforcement intelligence gathering capabilities are needed. The continued replacement of a rapidly aging fleet of USG-provided vehicles, the normal wear and tear of which is accelerated by their use in rough terrain, will be exacerbated by operations in the Yungas region. Two maintenance facilities will be constructed in the Yungas to support vehicles for ground operations. However, because ground transportation will be slow and difficult in the Yungas, the drug-control efforts will become even more reliant on the C-130 aircraft, two more of which will be delivered to Bolivia in FY 2001. Funding for fuel and vehicle spare parts, previously covered by Foreign Military Financing (FMF), is also now provided by INL. The very small amount of FMF available for Bolivia is used solely to procure training, weapons and ammunition unavailable except from U.S. military sources. The success of the counternarcotics strategy depends, to a large extent, on the ability of the GOB to advance Bolivian public understanding that the cultivation of coca and its processing into cocaine as a serious problem for Bolivia, not just for the U.S. INL support for Drug Awareness and Prevention Programs will be especially important in the Yungas, the traditional "legal" coca growing area, to pave the way for initiating eradication, interdiction and alternative development projects. The Counternarcotics Alternative Development and Economic Incentives Project, CONCADE, supports the GOB’s efforts to enable Chapare farmers to support themselves and their families without the need to cultivate coca. CONCADE was originally intended to service 3,000 Chapare families per year with technical assistance to grow high value legal crops. Other donors were expected to provide additional assistance. Because the GOB eradicated twice as much coca in CY 1999 as had been expected, 8,000 Chapare families did not receive technical assistance, planting material, infrastructure and extension services. At the same time, assistance from some other potential donors did not materialize. Continued counternarcotics alternative development assistance is needed to increase and consolidate the capacity of nongovernment organizations (NGOs) and private firms to expand technology transfer, extension services, establish new agricultural processing facilities to former coca-producing farm families, to pave roads and provide electrification to sustain communities that are moving to legitimate crops and enterprises. Eradication operations to eliminate some 2,000 hectares of illicit coca in the Yungas region begin in CY 2001. While counternarcotics alternative and economic development will play a significant role in the success of this endeavor, it will also help lay the groundwork for significant future reductions in legal coca to a level consistent with traditional licit consumption. The Rule of Law/Administration of Justice Project supports structural judicial reform in Bolivia through implementation of the Code of Criminal Procedure (CCP). The CCP was enacted into law in 1999 and INL is currently supporting programs to lay the groundwork for implementation in May 2001, when the code goes into effect. A National Implementation Plan will assist the GOB to train police, prosecutors and judges, promote civil society participation, reduce criminal case backlogs, strengthen judicial institutions, and establish new laws to update police powers and sentencing, and modernize the public ministry and judicial branch. The Program Development and Support funds will provide for salaries, benefits and allowances of U.S. and foreign national personnel, short-term temporary duty (TDY) personnel, and other general administrative and operating expenses for program planning, design, implementation, monitoring and evaluation. Effectiveness Measurements
_______________________ 1INL
funded; USAID administered. Brazil Budget Summary ($000)
__________________ 1Does
not include $3.5 million in FY 2000 Emergency Supplemental funding. Objectives
Justification The recent implementation of Plan Colombia has heightened concerns over potential spillover of narcotics activity into Brazil. Brazil shares borders with all three drug source countries in the region, and more than half of Brazil’s 8.5 million square kilometers is in the sparsely populated Amazonian region. It’s long, porous borders, as well as its well developed communications infrastructure, banking system, and major international airports and seaports, continue to make it a highly desirable transit route for illicit narcotics bound for the U.S. and European markets. These factors, coupled with increasingly successful enforcement efforts in neighboring countries, have contributed to a growing drug transit problem for Brazil. In response to these concerns, Brazil, in late 2000, implemented "Operation Cobra," an ambitious three-year Brazilian government inter-agency effort which allocates greater resources in the Amazonian border area for security and illegal narcotics control. INL intends to expand its programs in Brazil in conjunction with Operation Cobra. FY 2002 Programs. The significant increase in resources requested for Brazil is needed to support programs designed to combat the growing problem of cross-border narcotrafficking, such as Operation Cobra, and in response to measures needed to support the administration’s overall Andean Regional Initiative for Colombia and the bordering countries. The FY 2002 request for the Narcotics Law Enforcement Project will increase intelligence project capabilities and strengthen police counternarcotics infrastructure, enhance rule of law and administration of justice, and at this critical juncture, assist the Brazilian Federal Police to continue to implement Operation Cobra. Increased funding will also assist Brazilian efforts to step up counternarcotics security at major ports, and increase mobile road interdiction operations along the increasingly important southern route for smuggling narcotics, which runs from Bolivia and Paraguay through Sao Paulo and Rio de Janiero to the U.S. and Europe. Upgrading police communications equipment with a secure network system will be key to the success of Operation Cobra, as will the addition of new digital cellular and high frequency intercept equipment and training. Increased patrolling of the Amazon region will also require construction of two new river barges that will act as floating river checkpoints. Additional harbor/coastal patrol boats, zodiacs, Boston Whalers, 4-wheel drive vehicles and troop transport trucks are also needed for this massive law enforcement initiative. Increased operations at airports in the Northeast and Northwest corners of Brazil will require additional canine units and training. Operation Cobra and other new law enforcement initiatives have put a strain on currently available resources required to replace/supply needed field gear such as tents, cots, mosquito nets and bullet proof vests. Drug use continues to increase in Brazil, particularly among young people. In FY 2002, the Drug Awareness and Demand Reduction Project will increase support for demand reduction programs through the National Anti-Drug Secretariat (SENAD), funding grants for PROERD, a highly successful school-based education program modeled on the U.S. DARE concept, and for other demand reduction and education programs throughout the country that promote awareness of problems associated with drug abuse. Program Development and Support funds will provide for salaries, benefits, and allowances of permanently-assigned full-time U.S. personnel and other general administrative and operating expenses for program planning, design, implementation, monitoring and evaluation. Effectiveness Measurements
Brazil INL Budget ($000)
Colombia Budget Summary ($000)
______________________ 1Does
not include $838.5 million in FY 2000 Emergency Supplemental funding. Objectives
Justification The U.S. provides assistance in support of Colombia’s efforts to counter the drug trafficking threat to its security, political system and economy; to counter the threat such activities present to the security, health and well-being of U.S. citizens; and to disrupt the narcotics trafficking infrastructure. The primary points of focus of the INL-funded counternarcotics program are support for the Colombian National Police (CNP) Directorate of Anti-Narcotics (DIRAN) counternarcotics activities and sustainment of programs launched with funding for the FY 2000 Emergency Supplemental. The program budget funds the aerial eradication program, investigations aimed at the disruption of trafficker organizations and the interdiction of precursor chemicals, cocaine production facilities and shipments of finished cocaine HCL. These efforts are primarily the continuation of on going programs and are integrated into and supportive of Plan Colombia, the Colombian Government’s comprehensive national strategy. The $48 million of the FY 2001 Colombia program budget was supplemented by $1.3 billion in FY 2000 Emergency Supplemental provided by the U.S. Congress in support of Plan Colombia, of which $838.5 million went for assistance to Colombia alone. This supplemental funding is being used to meet critical Colombian needs for helicopters, base security improvements, justice sector reform, human rights protection, and expanded counternarcotics alternative development assistance. Counternarcotics assistance is provided for DIRAN and other CNP elements, the National Narcotics Directorate (DNE), the National Plan for Alternative Development (PLANTE), elements of the military involved in counternarcotics, and other Colombian government entities, like the Civil Aviation Administration. USG assistance supports the world’s largest aerial eradication program that targets both coca and opium poppy cultivation. It also provides operational funds to dismantle narcotics trafficking organizations by strengthening those institutions responsible for investigation of crimes, evidence gathering, arrests, prosecutions, asset seizures, and other law enforcement actions. Other project activities include improving coordination of CNP and military counternarcotics actions, completing infrastructure support programs, supporting counternarcotics alternative development, improving the security of Colombia’s ports and sustaining public awareness and education projects. FY 2002 Programs. The primary USG counternarcotics goal in Colombia is to help the Government of Colombia (GOC) to eliminate all illicit cultivation and the infrastructure which supports production of illicit drugs. In order to achieve this goal, assistance will concentrate on discouraging cultivators or would-be cultivators, and on increasing the GOC’s institutional capabilities in this area. The aerial eradication program is the most powerful tool for accomplishing this, and its scope will continue to expand. Results to date have been mixed due to the difficulty of getting sufficient aerial eradication assets to remote growing areas. The United States will continue to work with the CNP and the newly created counterdrug brigade of the Colombian Army (COLAR) to produce a substantial net decrease in the crop size and cocaine production and trafficking facilities, particularly in the southern departments of Putumayo and Caqueta. Funds will address the on-going training and equipment needs for this 2,500-man unit and support the helicopters to provide the air mobility needed for the brigade to fulfill its mission. The effort in southern Colombia will also rely heavily upon the expansion of the CNP Air Service and Airmobile Companies and the establishment of Forward Operating Locations (FOLs) for the various public security elements involved in counternarcotics operations. Simultaneously, the bilateral effort will continue to support the CNP’s opium poppy eradication campaign, which aims to eliminate the entire crop within two years. The United States will also continue support to Colombia’s alternative development efforts in areas where illegal drug crops are grown. USG assistance to this project reinforces eradication efforts by providing viable alternatives for small farmers currently dependent on illicit cultivation and to help those persons displaced by counternarcotics efforts. The United States will also provide continued support for CNP operations aimed at the destruction of emerging narcotics trafficking syndicates through the arrest and prosecution of syndicate leaders and the confiscation of their assets, and to discourage money-laundering activity. Similarly, funding will support projects to improve the efficiency of Colombia’s court and prison systems. Finally, U.S. assistance will sustain GOC drug awareness and education programs that seek to dissuade Colombians from engaging in illegal drug use and trafficking. The Narcotics Law Enforcement Project for FY 2002 requests an increase for commodity, training and operational support for the CNP units involved in eradication and law enforcement interdiction operations. This increase represents recognition of the central role of Colombia in narcotics trafficking and U.S. resolve to combat it as close to the source as possible. The DIRAN will remain the principal GOC recipient of U.S. counternarcotics assistance to Colombia. The expansion of eradication efforts will require substantial support above FY 2001 appropriated levels for the CNP air wing, including aircraft parts and maintenance, aviation fuel and lubricants, herbicide and other aviation-related support costs. These include pilots and rotary- and fixed-wing maintenance and logistics technicians funded by INL. Additionally, INL provides funding for a variety of DIRAN operating costs, including such items as maintenance and fuel for INL-supplied and CNP-owned vehicles, office supplies and equipment, maintenance of communications and other equipment, utility costs, and minor facilities maintenance and repair. The Armed Forces Counternarcotics Support Project will provide assistance to military units that support the CNP’s counternarcotics efforts or conduct independent counternarcotics operations. A central element of the counternarcotics effort in southern Colombia, the Counternarcotics Brigade, will have substantial needs for sustainment funds. Chief among these needs will be the brigade’s air mobility. In addition to the understandable demand for ammunition and fuel will be a demanding parts and maintenance requirement complicated by the use of three distinct platforms: UH-1N, Huey II, and UH-60. Furthermore, while the FY 2000 Emergency Supplemental provides for pilot training, there is a continuing need to train replacement pilots. In order to do their jobs, members of the counternarcotics battalions will need a reliable supply of field and communications gear, as well as weapons and ammunition. Also needed is continued training support so that new troops can be readied to replace those lost to retirement, reassignment and combat. These troops, like their predecessors, will need to be vetted by the U.S. Embassy, which will also have continuing end-use monitoring and human rights monitoring obligations that will require sustained USG funding. The Colombian Air Force will receive maintenance assistance and training for its helicopter fleet and fixed-wing C-130, OV-10, and A-37 units, as warranted, to advance the overall counternarcotics effort through an expanded program of aerial interdiction and support for ground operations. The Colombian Navy and its Marine branch are expected to manage a counternarcotics campaign on the rivers and the coast. Equipment, training, and technical assistance will be provided to Colombian riverine and coast guard harbor patrol programs. The Counternarcotics Alternative Development Program is an INL-funded, primarily USAID-administered alternative development pilot program in USG-selected drug growing regions. The project works in conjunction with PLANTE, the GOC’s alternative development program, and aims to implement a full array of sustainable counternarcotics activities, including the cultivation of alternate legal crops, infrastructure expansion, environmental management, and program monitoring support. Alternative development and related social development programs are time- and resource-intensive, and will be implemented in combination with eradication operations. Increased funding levels for alternative development and social programs will be required as eradication operations reach further into growing regions. Alternative development projects generated by the "Push into Southern Colombia" involve an estimated 5,000 families, and unlike eradication, which is a specific event, requires the creation of infrastructure and the transition to a legal economy. These are processes that require extended periods of time to mature, meaning that the ongoing projects continue to demand resources even as new areas are added to the program. Funds also support direct efforts of industry groups seeking to establish local ventures. USAID and the Department of State’s Bureau of Population, Refugees and Migration will continue to receive funding from the Colombia program to provide assistance to internally displaced persons. The assistance is provided primarily through grants to international organizations such as the International Committee of the Red Cross and UNICEF. These efforts are coordinated with PLANTE and other elements of the Government of Colombia. The Counternarcotics Policy Project includes support for the GOC’s counternarcotics policy board, the National Narcotics Directorate (DNE). A permanent DNE research staff recommends, coordinates and monitors many aspects of Colombian counternarcotics policy. The DNE will coordinate and/or sponsor international meetings to foster contact with counterparts in donor and trafficking/producing countries and will carry out environmental monitoring. This project will also fund the purchase of commodities or services needed to support antinarcotics programs in the offices of the Colombian Attorney General and the Prosecutor General, and in the Ministry of Justice and the Courts. Given the fundamental importance of human rights to the INL program in Colombia, projects in the area of judicial reform, particularly programs meant to enhance the physical protection of witnesses, judges and human rights workers, will require continued support. The same is true for Colombia’s human rights investigative units. In addition to the support for these investigative units, funding will also be provided to improve the physical security of human rights monitors and activists. Funds will continue to be provided to the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights to assist its local offices, and for human rights monitoring efforts of both the Colombian Government and the U.S. Embassy. The Drug Awareness and Demand Reduction Project will fund programs to support NGOs and community-based programs; publish and disseminate narcotics education and prevention materials; design and implement public drug awareness campaigns; and sponsor conferences and visits in support of the above activities. Program Development and Support funds will provide for salaries, benefits and allowances of permanently-assigned U.S. and foreign national personnel, short-term TDY assistance, and other general administrative and operating expenses for program planning, design, implementation, monitoring and evaluation. Effectiveness Measurement:
Colombia INL Budget ($000)
Ecuador
Budget Summary ($000)
_______________ 1Does
not include $20 million in FY 2000 Emergency Supplemental funding. Objectives
Justification Spillover effects from the drug eradication efforts and related ongoing violence in neighboring Colombia are threatening Ecuador’s national security. The security situation along Ecuador’s northern border—particularly in Sucumbios province, where most of Ecuador’s oil wealth is located—has deteriorated sharply in recent months due to increased Colombian guerrilla, paramilitary and criminal violence. The insecurity on Ecuador’s northern border is having a severe impact on the country’s overall political and economic stability as well. To assert control over the northern border, the government of Ecuador will require significantly greater USG security and counternarcotics assistance. Ecuador has become a major staging and transshipment area for drugs and precursor chemicals due to its geographical location between two major cocaine source countries, Colombia and Peru. In addition, it has long served as a resupply and rest/recreation site for Colombian insurgents. Arms and munitions trafficking from Ecuador into southern Colombia fuel the violence there. Cocaine and heroin are transported into Ecuador primarily overland by truck on the Pan-American Highway. Narcotics traffickers exploit Ecuador’s porous borders and poorly controlled seaports to consolidate smuggled drugs into larger loads for bulk shipment to the United States and Europe hidden in containers of legitimate cargo. Precursor chemicals imported by ship into Ecuador are diverted to cocaine processing laboratories in southern Colombia. In addition, the Ecuadorian police and army have discovered an increasing number of cocaine refining laboratories on the northern border. Although large-scale coca cultivation has not yet spilled over the border, there are numerous small, scattered plots of coca. As a result, Ecuador could become a drug producer, in addition to its current role as a major drug transit country, unless law enforcement programs are strengthened. The Ecuadorian congress passed a new criminal justice procedural code which will fundamentally change the country’s legal system from an inquisitorial to an accusatorial-style system. The purpose of the reform is to strengthen the criminal justice system and speed up the process by converting to oral trial procedures. Under the new system, the roles of police, prosecutors, judges and other elements of the legal system will be profoundly changed. FY 2002 Programs. During the next two years, Ecuador will face an even greater threat to its internal stability due to spillover effects from Colombia counternarcotics operations. At the same time, deteriorating economic conditions in Ecuador have limited budgetary support for its police. As a result of these two factors, the Ecuadorian National Police (ENP) will need significant increases in USG support to confront the increased drug trafficking and cultivation threat on its northern border. The Law Enforcement Project will support the efforts of the ENP to strengthen its presence on the northern border by establishing new checkpoints at strategic highway intersections and a new police headquarters complex in Lago Agrio in the Sucumbios province. With USG commodity and operational assistance, the ENP is increasing the size of its mobile highway drug interdiction unit from 20 to 100 policemen. This unit will be deployed at the new highway checkpoints, to be built at Lumbaqui (Sucumbios province), Tulcan (Carchi) and San Lorenzo (Esmeraldas). The unit will also act as the ENP’s rapid reaction force to criminal or insurgent threats along the highways. With USG assistance, the ENP is developing communications networks to connect these units with police intelligence centers in Quito and Guayaquil for command and control. In addition, under the new criminal justice procedural code, the ENP will have to completely revamp its criminal investigative procedures in order to comply with the fundamental reform of the Ecuadorian justice system to an accusatorial system based on evidence and oral testimony. The project will provide technical assistance to support the massive retraining effort needed to enable the ENP to build successful cases for the prosecution of drug traffickers and other criminals. Counternarcotics assistance to the Ecuadorian military through the Northern Border Security Project will strengthen their capacity to provide security and to improve operational coordination and logistical cooperation with the ENP. This project includes procurement of communications equipment, vehicles, provision of fuel and spare parts for the Ecuadorian army, design of infrastructure improvements for the Ecuadorian navy, and some logistical assistance to the Ecuadorian air force for transport aircraft. The project also provides operations and maintenance funding for helicopters to increase mobility for Ecuadorian military and law enforcement agencies on the northern border. USAID has been working intensively on Alternative Development with the GOE’s unit for development of the northern border (UDENOR) to support alternative, licit production options that will create a "productive barrier" along Ecuador’s increasingly vulnerable northern border. The GOE recognizes that in recent years the economy of this region has simply escaped their control and increasingly provided direct support for illicit activities based in Colombia. During FY 2000, USG funds totaling $8 million were provided to support an agreement with the International Organization for Migration (IOM) to initiate a chain of community infrastructure projects across the three principal border provinces of Sucumbios, Carchi and Esmeraldas, with part of this sum dedicated to assist UDENOR. While the geographic focus of the alternative development project will continue with these three border provinces, FY 2002 funding will also extend to productive activities in Napo, also considered increasingly vulnerable to cross-border influence from Colombia. The GOE may request that the USG partially fund some of the activities that emerge from a major donor’s conference regarding Ecuador’s northern Amazon region which USAID is coordinating with both the GOE and the Inter-American Development Bank. The bulk of cocaine and heroin transiting Ecuador from Colombia and Peru is smuggled out of sea and airports concealed in shipments of legitimate cargo destined for the U.S. and Europe. At present, only a small percentage of outbound cargo is inspected prior to embarkation. The Sea and Airport Control Project will assist the ENP, which is responsible for the physical inspection of all outbound and inbound cargo, in enhancing its facilities, equipment, technical expertise and manpower. This project will also continue USG commodity and technical assistance support for the ENP canine units operating at Ecuador’s two principal international airports (Quito and Guayaquil), which have been very successful in interdicting small quantities of drugs transported by body carriers on international flights. Canine units operating at the Guayaquil seaport have scored some major seizures of drugs hidden in outbound containers, and they have now been integrated into the overall ENP antidrug division command structure and form the nucleus of the sea and airport inspection service. With U.S. assistance, the ENP developed a seaport Joint Information Coordination Center (JICC) in Guayaquil, with links to DEA/EPIC; continued assistance to the JICC will strengthen it and increase its effectiveness in the fight against drug trafficking. Ecuador’s national drug commission (CONSEP) is responsible for drug policy development and coordination and directly operates a chemical control program, an anti-money laundering unit, and drug prevention campaigns. It also manages properties seized from drug traffickers under the asset forfeiture provisions of Ecuador’s drug laws, certifies Ecuador’s drug treatment and rehabilitation programs, and develops drug education and prevention campaigns. CONSEP’s comprehensive national drug strategy, assigns clear roles to government agencies and military services in the fight against drug trafficking. The Interagency Coordination and Legal Reform Project will reinforce the technical assistance given to CONSEP by OAS/CICAD to reform the existing Ecuadorian organic drug law (law 108). Reforms proposed include broadening the scope and definition of money laundering as that derived from any illicit activity, and authorizing the use of controlled deliveries, electronic surveillance and other modern law enforcement techniques. The project will also continue USG commodity support to CONSEP’s programs by procuring computer equipment for the chemical control unit and by providing training assistance to the money laundering unit. Additional funding will be provided for drug prevention and education, which will assist in garnering greater political support for tougher law enforcement actions against drug traffickers, especially in the northern border areas. Program development and support funds will provide salaries, benefits and allowances of U.S. and foreign national personnel, short-term TDY assistance, and other administrative and operating expenses for program planning, design, implementation, monitoring and evaluation. Effectiveness Measurements
Ecuador INL Budget ($000)
Panama Budget Summary ($000)
__________________ 1Does
not include $4.0 million in FY 2000 Emergency Supplemental funding. Objectives
Justification Panama’s proximity to the world’s largest cocaine-producing country and its role as a regional transportation and financial hub make it a convenient transit point for international drug shipments. Large quantities of illicit drugs are stockpiled in Panama before being repackaged for shipment to the U.S. and Europe. An underdeveloped criminal justice system undermined by corruption, and inadequate maritime, airport, and border controls, also contributes to Panama’s vulnerability to transnational organized crime. In addition to drug trafficking, criminal groups engage in money laundering, chemical diversion, illicit arms sales, stolen vehicle trafficking, alien smuggling and other activities. The steady flow of illicit drugs has fueled increasing domestic drug abuse. Panama’s large and sophisticated banking and trading sectors and its dollar-based economy make it an attractive site for money launders. In 2000, Panama was determined by the Financial Action Task Force to not be cooperating effectively with other governments in this area, which it is addressing with new legislation and increased prosecutions, but the Government of Panama (GOP) needs technical assistance. FY 2002 Programs. An increase in INL assistance is necessary in order to help Panama to maintain stability and manage spillover effects from the conflict in Colombia. The additional resources will be used to assist the GOP to ensure that it can better protect its borders, both on the Colombia and Costa Rican frontiers. Furthermore, these resources will strengthen the rule of law in Panama’s undeveloped Darien region along the Colombian border and will assist in strengthening the institutional capacity of Panama to absorb the influx of Colombian refugees. The FY 2002 request will fund various Law Enforcement Sub-Projects. The Public Ministry Upgrade Project will provide support for mobile interdiction teams, technical detection, canine search units, etc., and will increase the ability of Panamanian law enforcement to detect and arrest traffickers and interdict drug shipments. The Panama National Police (PNP) Border Control Project will include the provision of equipment and training to improve the skills, mobility, command and control, and communications and intelligence capabilities of the PNP border units. The Interdiction/Alien Smuggling Project is designed to strengthen Panama’s ability to control the entry of transnational criminals, such as drug traffickers and alien smugglers. The project will provide infrastructure, equipment and training at airports and border points of entry. The National Maritime Service (SMN) Upgrade Project provides additional equipment to the SMN, upgrades existing equipment and vessels, and pays for infrastructure improvements such as facility upgrades at outlying locations, and assisting the SMN in planning a shipyard. The objective of the National Air Service (SAN) Upgrade Project is to work with the SAN and the enforcement agencies to determine projected air mobility requirements, to conduct a thorough assessment of the existing fleet and maintenance operation, and to develop a plan for repair and modernization. Assistance will include a technical advisor, material assistance, and training. The Criminal Justice Institutions Program will assist the GOP to develop a strategy for modernizing and improving its criminal justice institutions. It will focus primarily on technical assistance, agency leadership, and on strengthening the law enforcement training academies. This effort is central to improving management and execution of criminal justice in Panama and to raising standards of professionalism. It will also help to integrate the law enforcement support projects of the Public Ministry, the Panamanian National Police, Maritime, Air and Immigration Services, and the Financial Intelligence Unit in support of coordinated national strategic objectives. There are three subprojects under the Money Laundering Support activity. The Financial Investigation Unit Project will establish a permanent investigative unit for financial crimes including money laundering and black market peso exchange under the Drug Prosecutor’s office and fund it for two years, during which period the GOP will gradually assume responsibility for its operations. The Multi-Sector Control Initiative Project is designed to reach out to the Panamanian financial and business sector, to judges, bank regulators, legislators, academics, and other groups to increase awareness of the threat posed by money laundering to Panama and to promote "buy in" to an effective national control effort. This would include such activities as lecturers, seminars, workshops, technical training, conferences, etc. The Regional Money Laundering Advisor Project will include hiring a money laundering advisor to provide support and technical assistance to the GOP in strengthening laws and regulations, training government and financial institution personnel, and working to help investigators and prosecutors work effectively together to achieve successful prosecutions. The money-laundering advisor will focus primarily on Panama but also will serve as a technical resource for the Central America region. The Demand Reduction and Public Diplomacy activity includes two projects. As with drug abuse, Civic Education Prevention Projects can help to curb the spread of crime and violence. The goal of this program is to reinforce the rule of law by changing societal attitudes toward crime and corruption. Key activities include mobilizing community leaders and education officials, developing lesson plans and incorporating them into high school curriculum, and training teachers. The program uses a "train-the-trainer" approach to assist trained teachers to train others. Ideally, this could serve as a model program that could be expanded to include other countries in the region. The Demand Reduction Project will include working with health and education agencies and NGOs, to help Panama in promoting drug abuse prevention and increased public awareness. The Program Development & Support funds will provide for salaries, benefits and allowances for direct-hire staff of the Narcotics Affairs Section, short term temporary duty personnel, and other general administrative and operating expenses for program planning, design, implementation, monitoring and evaluation. Effectiveness Measurements
Panama INL Budget ($000)
Peru Budget Summary ($000)
__________________ 1Does
not include $32 million in FY 2000 Emergency Supplemental funding. Objectives
Justification The principal goal of the U.S. counternarcotics strategy in Peru is to reduce, and ultimately to eliminate, production of refined coca products. This goal is consistent with the President’s National Drug Control Strategy, and can be attained by helping the GOP develop an institutional capability to carry out an integrated counternarcotics program including law enforcement, coca reduction, alternative development, public awareness and demand reduction. A consistent INL focus on institutionalization over the years has led to "Peruvianization" of most helicopter operations and maintenance, Peruvian design and implementation of alternative development programs, and the creation of a cabinet-level counternarcotics agency, called CONTRADROGAS, to provide Peruvian interagency coordination authority on drug matters. In coordination with CONTRADROGAS, the USG counternarcotics program provides training, equipment and technical assistance to Peruvian government agencies charged with implementing counternarcotics-related programs, including law enforcement programs to disrupt coca cultivation, wholesale purchase, industrial-scale processing, and export of refined coca products. There is also a focus on dismantling narcotics trafficking organizations, and supporting judicial processes that will lead to the arrest, successful prosecution of key trafficking figures, and seizure of their assets. USG economic assistance programs are aimed at providing for the development of local governments, agricultural credit, rural infrastructure (such as roads), improved farming practices and disease control, and access to national and international export markets. Despite the political turmoil created by controversial Presidential elections, and the subsequent resignation of President Fujimori over revelations of deep corruption within his government, over 6,100 hectares of coca cultivation were eradicated as a consequence of the USG-supported Peruvian counternarcotics program in 2000. Statistically, there was a 12 percent decline in the total amount of coca cultivated in Peru. In sum, the total amount of coca cultivation in Peru has been reduced by approximately 70 percent since 1995. Nevertheless, the virtual elimination of Bolivia’s Chapare region as a commercial coca-growing area in 2000, coupled with trafficker uncertainty due to intensified Andean Regional Initiative counternarcotics efforts in Colombia, has restored Peruvian coca leaf prices back into profitability. There is substantial anecdotal evidence that previously abandoned coca fields were being rehabilitated even as law enforcement and alternative development projects continued in key coca growing areas. The Government of Peru has stated its commitment to eradicate coca cultivations in both national parks and private land and towards that end is seeking the virtual elimination of coca cultivation by 2008. There was a substantial increase in the number of opium poppy plants eradicated by Peruvian law enforcement agencies during 2000, multiplying from 34,000 plants discovered and eradicated in 1999 to over 2.4 million plants in 2000. No reliable statistics exist as to the extent of opium poppy cultivation in Peru due to the lack of an airlift capability to reach potential cultivation in inaccessible, mountainous areas. INL-supported Peruvian law enforcement efforts in 2000 resulted in the dismantling of a major Peruvian narcotics trafficking organization, the interception of two narcotics trafficking aircraft, the destruction of several cocaine hydrochloride laboratories, the seizure of over seven tons of cocaine and cocaine base, and a very successful effort to shutdown precursor chemical diversion within Peru. The lack of continuous availability of USG aerial tracking assets has limited the effectiveness of the airbridge intercept effort, while it appears that traffickers have opened new air routes to the south and east into Brazil and Bolivia. This has a direct effect on the GOP’s ability to hold down coca leaf prices in coca producing regions. Spillover effects in Peru from increased operations in Colombia are already evident in high coca leaf prices and new drug trafficking patterns. In order to prevent a major upsurge in drug crop cultivation, and to accomplish economic development and interdiction goals, a substantial increase in funding for FY 2002 will be required. A significant amount of the FY 2002 funding for Peru will be used to support major aviation, police and forward base upgrades, which are long overdue in terms of expanding the scope of bilateral counternarcotics efforts. Increased funding for the Peru program will also reinforce counternarcotics alternative development programs administered by USAID to ensure that coca reduction gains over the past six years do not slow down for lack of resources to reach all coca-cultivating communities. While consolidating coca reduction gains in key areas, such as the Apurimac valley, the alternative development program in FY 2002 and outyears calls for eliminating the traditional strongholds of coca cultivation in the Huallaga and Monzon valleys through a combination of interdiction and economic development. Moreover, there is a growing need to identify and destroy the developing opium poppy cultivation industry in Peru; to support enhanced coca eradication efforts; and interdict drug flows in the air, on roads and out of container shipping ports. FY 2002 Programs. Forced eradication of coca seedbeds and mature coca is the focus of the Coca Eradication Support Project. In 2000, this program was responsible for eradicating over 6,000 hectares of coca, which offset an increase in coca cultivation attributable to rising coca leaf prices and the elimination of the Bolivian Chapare region as a illicit commercial coca growing center. The program uses a two-pronged approach to coca and opium poppy eradication. First, it ensures that coca-growing communities that have signed alternative development agreements remain committed to coca reduction, and also boosts the appeal of alternative development for coca farmers; and second, it provides for a labor force to forcibly eradicate coca cultivated in national parklands and other areas not covered under Peruvian alternative development plans. The FY 2002 budget also anticipates the need to increase USG support for expanding opium poppy eradication efforts. Opium poppy cultivation occurs in inaccessible high altitude areas that will incur significant resource allocations to transport and resupply law enforcement and eradication workers implementing this program. Replacement of the 14 USG-owned "Huey" UH-1H helicopters with a "Super Huey" variant is a critical requirement for the opium poppy program. In order to make significant inroads against hard-line coca cultivating communities in the Huallaga and Monzon areas, FY 2002 funds will greatly expand the number of full-time Peruvian coca reduction workers affiliated with the Peruvian Coca Reduction Agency (CORAH), and cover their operating and transportation costs to outlying coca and opium poppy areas. Coupled with an enhanced alternative development program, the bilateral coca reduction strategy seeks to reduce Peruvian coca cultivation from a 2000 baseline of 38,700 hectares, to 30,000 in 2001 and down to 22,000 hectares in 2002. An affiliated organization of CORAH, called CADA (Coca Survey and Verification), provides a means to verify the extent of coca reduction within communities, which is a critical condition of continued alternative development funding. The CORAH civil construction unit, which is a subset of the main project, provides counternarcotics law enforcement and military agencies with construction and facility improvement capabilities in outlying areas. Demand for both CADA and CORAH construction has been high: CADA statistical information is being used by the international community, such as the OAS Drug Commission, to prioritize its alternative development projects; and CORAH construction services has allowed the police and navy to establish riverine forward operational bases in key coca cultivation areas. The Alternative Development Support Project will develop alternative sources of legal income and employment for coca-growing communities that are subject to coca reduction or that agree to voluntarily eradicate their coca cultivations. Since 1995, the alternative development program has invested approximately $85 million for improved social infrastructure, potable water systems, rehabilitated road systems, new bridges linking key production areas to the market, support to farmers for licit crops, and local government rebuilding. These efforts have been targeted on bilaterally designated priority areas within major coca producing zones. As a result of the alternative development program, many communities, which were previously dependent on the coca economy, have made a sustainable transition to licit agricultural production. In 1999, the farmgate value of licit crops surpassed the value of coca in three coca-cultivating areas (Central Huallaga, Pichis-Pachitea, and Aguaytia). While the value of licit crops was 10 percent higher than coca at the beginning of 2000, this trend is threatened by the near quadrupling of coca leaf prices as alternative development funds lag behind demand, and aerial interdiction efforts weaken due to a lack of tracking assets. FY 2002 funds will initiate a large-scale multi-year development plan which would lock in current levels of coca reduction, prevent negative spillover cultivation effects from a successful Colombian aerial spray eradication program, and allow the Government of Peru to enforce a zero tolerance program in key coca growing areas with the assurance that development funds would be available to transition these communities with a minimum of social unrest. In coordination with this effort is a joint Alternative Crop Research and Extension Project between INL, the U.S. Department of Agriculture, and the drug office of the Organization of American States (OAS/CICAD). This project will continue to perform field research into coffee and cacao diseases, with a focus on finding ways to increase production yields in alternative development areas, and developing international markets. The U.S. private sector has responded favorably to these efforts, and has offered expert marketing and scientific assistance. There have also been discussions with U.S. private industry over the cultivation of specific flowers used to produce pharmaceuticals as an alternative development crop. The FY 2002 funding request will support the dissemination of the practical research results to alternative development farmers throughout the region, and provide access to U.S. export markets. Counternarcotics Law Enforcement efforts are structured around the Anti-Drug Directorate (DINANDRO) of the Peruvian National Police, which conducts airborne operations against major trafficking facilities in outlying areas, develops intelligence and cases against major trafficking organizations, and takes the lead in drug-related precursor chemicals and counternarcotics riverine operations. Headquartered in Lima, it has operating units in several key narcotics trafficking areas, training bases at Mazamari and Santa Lucia, a joint riverine training school in Iquitos, and investigators in major urban areas. The narcotics field support subproject provides essentially all costs, except salaries, for training, equipping, and operating DINANDRO units and personnel, including units which are deployed on the rivers, units investigating trafficking, financial crimes, and chemicals trafficking and a major violators unit. DINANDRO has formed operational task forces with other Peruvian agencies, such as Customs, to address increasing road and maritime port drug trafficking within Peru. In FY 2002, major law enforcement operations are planned for the coca-growing valleys, as well as in the transit zones. These operations are essential to drive down the price of coca, and encourage abandonment and eradication. The operations will significantly expand DINANDRO’s use of canine units in road interdiction, maritime port inspections, riverine operations, force protection for Peruvian eradication teams, and joint operations with the Peruvian Air Force to intercept trafficking aircraft at clandestine airstrips. Performance indicators include a 100 percent increase in the amount of cocaine base seized, from 10 metric tons in 2000 to 20 metric tons in 2002; and a flat 5 metric ton annual seizure goal for cocaine hydrochloride (HCL) between 2000 and 2002, due to the expectation that less HCL will be produced in Peru as coca cultivation continues to go down. The Counternarcotics Aviation Support Project covers operating and maintenance costs for the National Police Aviation Division (DIRAVPOL), which provides general aviation support for the entire PNP. It provides pilots, aircrews, and support personnel for 14 USG-owned UH-1H helicopters and 14 Peruvian Mi-17 helicopters, which support coca eradication and law enforcement actions in the field. INL has procured four K-Max heavy-lift helicopters, using Congressionally earmarked funds from FY 2000, to support police operations at forward operating locations. The aviation support funds the counternarcotics operations of the USG-owned helicopters, providing fuel, maintenance, hangars and warehousing, aircraft rental when needed, and operational support for DIRAVPOL personnel. In addition, the most important priority for FY 2002 under this project is replacing the fourteen Bell UH-1H helicopters with Bell UH-2H "Super Huey" variants. The Super Hueys will provide a heavier lift capability for larger ground operations, make riverborne helicopter float operations feasible, improve search and rescue capabilities and allow police to reach inaccessible opium poppy cultivation areas for survey and eradication purposes. Funds will also be used to operate the USG-owned C-27 or an equivalent cargo aircraft to support forward operating locations from which the Peruvian Air Force and DINANDRO conduct ground and aerial intercept operations throughout the country. The Armed Forces Counternarcotics Support project will provide FY 2002 funds to support Peruvian Navy joint riverine operations with DINANDRO in and around northern and eastern Peru (Iquitos and Pucallpa areas). Funds for the Peruvian Air Force (FAP) are concentrated on providing a more reliable aerial tracking and intercept effort to reinvigorate the airbridge effort which collapsed coca leaf prices between 1995 and 1998. Elements include outfitting Peruvian-owned C-26 fixed-wing aircraft with specialized sensor packages, renovating FAP Tucano and A-37 aircraft to intercept trafficking aircraft, and supporting the establishment of forward operating locations for FAP and DINANDRO in Iquitos, Pucallpa, Tarapoto and Puerto Maldonado. Support costs include training for pilots and mechanics, facility improvements, spare parts for aircraft and boats, and a search and rescue capability. Performance indicators include driving coca leaf prices down from an average of $3.30 per kilo in 2000, down to $1.00 per kilo in 2002; and increasing the number of interdiction/eradication operations from 250/1500 in 2000 to 400/2000 in 2002. The Narcotics Prosecutions Project supports a unit of GOP prosecutors that has been granted special national jurisdiction to accompany police and military narcotics law enforcement operations to interrogate suspects and witnesses, take charge of evidence, supervise destruction of illegal facilities such as laboratories or airstrips, and prepare cases to be carried to trial. This project will continue support for the national narcotics prosecutors, provide training to personnel of the judicial branch that handle these cases, and provide selected jurisdictions with adequate resources to handle heavy narcotics caseloads. The Counternarcotics Policy and Institutional Development Project provides support to the cabinet level agency (CONTRADROGAS) charged with coordinating and directing the overall counternarcotics efforts of the Government of Peru. In FY 2002, this project will support the further development of national drug control policies, make contact with multilateral and bilateral donors, and enhance communication and coordination between the various GOP counternarcotics agencies. Drug Awareness and Demand Reduction Project activities will focus on providing the Peruvian public with information about the harmful personal and societal effects of cocaine production and abuse, conducting surveys on drug abuse to identify groups requiring assistance, and supporting educational fora for prevention and treatment professionals. This project will continue to provide assistance to drug awareness institutions, and the Ministry of Education, to support drug awareness, abuse prevention and treatment programs. Program Development and Support funds will fund salaries, benefits and allowances of permanently-assigned U.S. personnel, foreign national personnel, short-term TDY assistance, and other general administrative and operating expenses for program planning, design, implementation, monitoring and evaluation. Effectiveness Measurements
Peru INL Budget ($000)
Venezuela Budget Summary ($000)
__________________ 1Does
not include $3.5 million in FY 2000 Emergency Supplemental funding. Objectives
Justification Colombian narcotics traffickers heavily exploit Venezuela’s geographic location next to Colombia on the Caribbean route for drug transit to the U.S. The recent implementation of Plan Colombia has heightened concerns over potential spillover of narcotics activity into Venezuela, and for that reason it is important to expand programs that counter narcotics trafficking and its ramifications. Venezuela’s modern seaports, multiple regular daily flights to U.S. destinations, and its developed infrastructure all aid drug smuggling. Large-scale drug shipments, which originate in Colombia, are hidden in commercial cargo shipments leaving Venezuela’s seaports. Air couriers on commercial flights and in air cargo to the U.S. Narcotics-smuggling aircraft and "go-fast" boats from Colombia use Venezuelan air space and territorial waters to deliver and receive drugs in the Caribbean carry out narcotics smuggling in smaller quantities. In addition, Venezuela is a source for chemical precursors used in the manufacture of narcotics in the Andean source countries, and its modern financial sector is a target for the laundering of drug proceeds. Seizures of Colombian-origin cocaine and heroin have increased dramatically in recent years and the GOV is increasingly concerned about corruption related to narcotics trafficking. The administration of President Hugo Chavez Frias has made actions against corruption a centerpiece of law enforcement programs. The GOV has moved against money laundering by setting up the National Financial Intelligence Unit and participating actively in multilateral money laundering control organizations such as the Caribbean Financial Action Task Force and the Egmont Group of Financial Intelligence Units. Venezuela cooperates closely with DEA in a worldwide operation against major chemicals used in illegal drug production. FY 2002 Programs. Interdiction efforts under the Narcotics Law Enforcement Project build on separate programs to target the principal weakness in drug flows through Venezuela. This project, initiated in 1998, provides training and equipment for Venezuelan police and military authorities with illegal drug interdiction responsibilities. An indication of its success is the quality of cooperation between Venezuelan and U.S. law enforcement agencies and the achievement in 2000 of a complex joint operation that led to the seizure of 8.8 metric tons of cocaine, numerous arrests in Venezuela, and the expulsion of two significant third-country narcotraffickers to the U.S. for trial. The project will build on successful cooperation targeting containerized cargo, including search techniques, shipping manifest investigations and database creation, and will also support the Venezuelan military’s plans for a mobile road interdiction program along the major land route from Colombia by providing training and technical assistance. The project also addresses airports and air traffic. The interdiction project will also assist law enforcement to target chemicals used in the production of cocaine and heroin in the Andean source zone. These chemicals are diverted from international sources or from Venezuela’s own chemical industry. Venezuela law enforcement units continue to seize chemical precursors, such as potassium permanganate, a vital precursor for the production of cocaine, destined for Colombian drug labs. The GOV has implemented new administrative controls on a comprehensive list of such chemicals and is reorganizing its investigative and law enforcement arms to focus on the chemical diversion programs. The project will continue to work with investigators and prosecutors to bring narcotics traffickers to justice. In 1999, a new penal system entered into force, similar to the U.S. system, with the introduction of oral and adversarial trials. INL will assist in the implementation through training and technical assistance on gathering of evidence in drug crimes, prosecutor-investigator cooperation, and successful oral presentation of evidence. The Money Laundering Project builds on cooperation with Venezuela’s new central Financial Intelligence Unit (FIU). This unit is implementing international standards set by the Caribbean Financial Action Task Force, in conjunction with the USG’s Financial Crimes Enforcement Network, and has responsibility for regulating financial institutions. The project will build on the ability of the FIU to analyze financial information and to prepare actionable intelligence for law enforcement. Training, technical assistance and equipment will assist rapid, focused investigations of the large quantity of financial information being collected under Venezuela’s strict currency transaction reporting requirements. The Drug Policy and Demand Reduction Project supports the National Commission Against the Illicit Use of Drugs, known as CONACUID. On the national level, CONACUID is responsible for promoting better coordination among GOV law enforcement entities combating drugs, drafting and promoting counternarcotics legislation, and coordinating the national demand reduction efforts. The embassy has a long-standing relationship with CONACUID, which is a central element of our strategy to maintain Venezuela’s commitment to combating narcotics-related crime. The FY 2002 request will assist CONACUID programs to host training seminars, participate in multilateral counternarcotics conferences, provide assistance for the Joint Intelligence Coordination Center, and fund specific projects on demand reduction that meet shared goals and objectives. Program Development and Support funds will provide for salaries, benefits and allowances of permanently-assigned U.S. personnel, U.S. contract personnel, foreign national personnel and other general administrative and operating expenses for program planning, design, implementation, monitoring and evaluation. Effectiveness Measurements
Venezuela INL Budget ($000)
As of October 30, 2001, this document was also available online at http://www.state.gov/g/inl/rls/rpt/cbj/fy2002/index.cfm?docid=3701 |
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