Identifier
Created
Classification
Origin
05LIMA5198
2005-12-07 18:48:00
UNCLASSIFIED//FOR OFFICIAL USE ONLY
Embassy Lima
Cable title:  

PERU: NARCOTICS AFFAIRS SECTION, NOVEMBER 2005

Tags:  SNAR KCRM ASEC PREL PE 
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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
---------
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