PERU: NARCOTICS AFFAIRS SECTION, NOVEMBER 2005

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 03 LIMA 005198 SIPDIS SENSITIVE STATE FOR INL/LP STATE FOR WHA/PPC ONDCP FOR D. GEDDINGS E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: SNAR KCRM ASEC PREL PE SUBJECT: PERU: NARCOTICS AFFAIRS SECTION, NOVEMBER 2005 REF: A. LIMA 5033 ¶B. LIMA 5031 -------------- SUMMARY -------------- ¶1. (SBU) On November 13, the GOP eradication team passed the 8,000-hectare mark, its 2005 goal. By the end of November, eradication totaled 8,512 hectares as operations in San Gaban continue. They are scheduled to end on December 15. The GOP's proposed 2006 Eradication Plan is awaiting final approval by senior government officials. The Palmapampa police base in the Apurimac Valley, which has been operating since July, was formally inaugurated on November 16. Interdiction operations continue in the Apurimac, with 497 cocaine-base labs destroyed to date. The Ambassador briefed PM Kuczynski and Peruvian Government Ministers on bilateral CN programs. A SOUTHCOM team traveled to Peru to assess the GOP capabilities for using CNIES information to carry out counter-narcotics operations. The Maritime and Ports Program is connecting GOP entities electronically to share information that is already leading to more seizures in the ports. Canine training is also paying dividends with more opium seizures in the Peruvian postal system. Demand Reduction programs are doing grassroots organizing to mobilize communities to create drug-free communities. Two major evangelical groups will be carrying our anti-drug and Trafficking-in-Persons messages to their communities. (END SUMMARY) -------------- - CORAH REACHES 8,000-HECTARE GOAL IN SAN GABAN -------------- - ¶2. (U) On November 13, the CORAH eradicators working in the area near San Gaban in Puno Department, passed the 8,000-hectare mark, the goal established by DEVIDA for 2005. CORAH workers have eradicated 8,512 hectares for the year up to November 30. Two DEVIDA officials, the CORAH Director, and the NAS Director visited the eradication base camp in Mazuko on November 15 to congratulate the personnel. The goal is to eradicate all coca in San Gaban by December 15, when the eradication effort for 2005 will finish (Ref A). ¶3. (SBU) The DEVIDA Inter-Institutional Committee has sent the 2006 eradication plan forward to the Prime Minister's Office for formal approval. The plan supports the consolidation of Alternative Development areas and programmed eradication to make the regions of San Martin and Ucayali ;coca-free by the end of 2006. (Comment: DEVIDA is still hoping it can marshal the political will and the economic and social assistance needed from the GOP for eradication in the Monzon, but the politics of a presidential election year and a lack of resources makes it unlikely. End Comment) -------------- CN BRIEFINGS FOR PM AND MINISTERS -------------- ¶4. (U) On November 9, the Ambassador, NAS Director and others from Country Team briefed Prime Minister Kuczynski on U.S.-Peru Counter Narcotics Programs. On November 21, Ambassador and team gave a similar briefing to Minister of Interior Pizarro, Minister of Economy Zavala, and Minister of Foreign Relations Maurtua. -------------- NEW DRUG DESTRUCTION FACILITIES COMING -------------- ¶5. (U) OFECOD, the GOP office in charge of storing and destroying seized drugs, inaugurated its new warehouse. The OFECOD Director announced that a modern incinerator, meeting USEPA standards, is being purchased by NAS. The burn carried out after the inauguration destroyed almost 16.5 metric tons of drugs. It was the first burning since November 2004, when the facility was shut down due to complaints from neighbors about the pollution from the smokestack. -------------- POLICE BASE IN PALMAPAMPA FORMALLY LAUNCHED -------------- ¶6. (SBU) On November 16, NAS Director Keogh joined PNP Deputy Director General Vizcarra, Director of DIRANDRO Olivo and other Peruvian Government officials for the formal inauguration of a modern police base in Palmapampa (Ref B). The base was built in the heart of the Apurimac/Ene Valley (VRAE),which is one of the main source zones for coca cultivation and cocaine production in Peru. In the past 4 months, police operations from the new base have resulted in the destruction of over 400 cocaine-base laboratories, over 150 metric tons of precursor chemicals, and over 800 metric tons of coca leaf. The disruption has scared off buyers and reduced the price of leaf by half. To address hostility by the local community, PNP personnel at Palmapampa plan to replicate the outreach programs offered at the Santa Lucia police base that have been successful. -------------- POLICE INTERDICTION AND ERADICATION SECURITY -------------- ¶7. (U) Since January 2005, DIRANDRO's Special Operations Group (GOES) has destroyed 497 cocaine-base laboratories. The on-going GOES operations in the Apurimac Valley have resulted in countrywide total seizures of 4.4 metric tons of cocaine base, 11.2 metric tons of cocaine HCl, 500 kg of opium latex, 560 metric tons of precursor chemicals destroyed, 64 metric tons of precursor chemicals seized, and 92.5 hectares of opium eradicated. ¶8. (U) The DIRANDRO Road Interdiction Unit continues operations in the Ayacucho area and has expanded its operations into the San Francisco/Quimbiri area. On November 14, the Unit seized 17 kg of cocaine base and made one arrest. -------------- NEW FISCAL GENERAL -------------- ¶9. (U) Dr Nelly Calderon stepped down as Fiscal General of the Nation at a ceremony on November 7 attended by NAS Director. Dr Adeleida Bolivar has replaced her. -------------- --- CNIES: SOUTHCOM TEAM ASSESSES GOP CAPABILITIES -------------- -- ¶10. (U) A SOUTHCOM team visited Lima on November 15-17 to assess how best to use the limited GOP and USG resources to create a non-lethal Regional Aerial Interdiction Initiative (RAII) program for Peru. It was agreed that the Coordinating Nations Information Exchange System (CNIES) and Participating Nation Network (PNN) would provide the communications capability. One of the CNIES nodes will be located in the Peruvian Air Force (FAP) Headquarters in Lima. The FAP will share and coordinate information as appropriate with the PNP, the Peruvian Army, and other CN agencies. FAP ground-based radars would be integrated into JIATF-South for information sharing. SOUTHCOM will be sending a team to assess the condition of the FAP radars. -------------- -------------- PERUVIAN PORTS SHARE INFORMATION, SEIZURES INCREASE -------------- -------------- ¶11. (SBU) NAS Maritime and Ports Program is supporting a first-ever electronic information exchange between Port of Callao's centralized Port Operations Center and the Manifest Review Unit (MRU). The program will begin in early December. The data will provide arrival and departure information for all international cargo from the principal ports in Peru as well as ship berthing locations, with up to 10 days lead time. With this data, the MRU will be able to track cargo locations within the port/terminals and storage locations. In addition, NAS will electronically link the MRU in Callao with the DEA-sponsored Peruvian Coast Guard Port Program. Currently, DEA has linked 13 Peruvian Coast Guard units (10 seaports and 3 river ports) in order to exchange information on suspect ships entering and leaving Peru. The estimated time of completion is two months. ¶12. (U) Key seizures - The PNP used K-9 dogs to find and seize over 14 kg of opium latex from October 15 to November 30 at the Peruvian Postal Services (SERPOST) mail handling facilities. One trafficker was shipping the opium in plastic bottles labeled "vegetable extract" or "natural vegetable medicine" to Mexico, Spain, and Argentina. On November 30, a NAS/DEA operation in Paita (Peru's second largest port) resulted in the seizure 23 kg of cocaine HCL hidden in a container shipment of Peruvian ceramics bound for Canada. The US Customs and Border Protection (USCBP) advisor was present to advise the police during the search. ¶13. (U) NAS sponsored the training of 7 Peruvian Customs counternarcotics canine handlers and program managers at the USCBP Canine Academy at Front Royal, Virginia. The four-month training began on November 28. This effort will double the number of trained handlers and canines. -------------- -------------- DEMAND REDUCTION: RAISING AWARENESS AND MOBILIZING PEOPLE -------------- -------------- ¶14. (U) Besides funding six community anti-drug coalitions (CAC),NAS is also supporting four other Demand Reduction (DR) programs. These DR programs focus mainly on schools, parent/teacher organizations, and youth groups. The CACs continue to break new ground in overcoming years of community neglect and citizen distrust through grassroots organizing techniques and social marketing strategies. ¶15. (U) The NAS Programs Officer is working with two major evangelical church groups ("Agua Viva" and "Camino de Vida"), who claim hundreds of thousands of adherents. Both groups are eager to learn more about the DR and Trafficking in Persons (TIP) programs in order to educate their congregations about these issues. CAC teams and DR NGOs will be participating in interdenominational leadership training sponsored by the Camino de Vida church. STRUBLE