DRUG TRAFFICKING AND POSSESSION TRENDS CHALLENGE

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 05 MADRID 002523 SIPDIS SENSITIVE STATE FOR EUR/WE, EUR/ERA, ALSO FOR INL JUSTICE FOR OIA, AFMLS, NDDS TREASURY FOR FINCEN DEA FOR OILS AND OFFICE OF DIVERSION CONTROL E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: SNAR KSEP PINR PGOV PREL SP SUBJECT: DRUG TRAFFICKING AND POSSESSION TRENDS CHALLENGE SPAIN'S WAR ON DRUGS REF: 04 MADRID 4793 -------------- Summary -------------- ¶1. (SBU) The Government of Spain's National Drug Plan (PND) latest Annual Statistical Report on Drugs reports increases in total drug seizures (29%),trafficking arrests (11%),and arrests for drug possession (22%) between 2003 and 2004. Officials consider these statistics to be an indication that Spain is making a sustained effort in its war on drugs. However, these statistics obscure more disturbing trends in drug trafficking and possession in Spain. Drug traffickers are beginning to choose alternative strategies to delivering drugs to Spain over the high seas, where they face inclement weather conditions and Spanish maritime patrols. Now, some smugglers more frequently traffic drugs first by storing shipments in West Africa and then flying shipments to Spain through third countries. Spanish traffickers also profit from the strong Euro exchange value to buy drugs cheaply, mainly from Latin America and North Africa, and sell them in Spain and other European countries. The flow of drugs into Spain is creating a domestic drug market made up of mostly young Spanish users aged 19 to 25. Spain ranks second in the European Union in cocaine use, and Spanish youth began experimenting with drugs (typically marijuana) before the age of 14, according to EU and Spanish government sources. ¶2. (SBU) Government officials agree that the PND has proved ineffective at reducing drug use, especially among Spanish teens. They have proposed to revise the PND to improve how Spanish Police and Civil Guard coordinate their enforcement efforts and to provide more support for drug abuse programs targeting Spanish youth. The Zapatero government ranks the war on drugs with the fight against organized crime and terrorism. End Summary. -------------- -------------- Updated Statistics & Recent Reports on Drug Seizures -------------- -------------- ¶3. (U) Following the publication of the 2004 International Narcotics Control Strategy Report, the Spanish Minister of Interior's State Cabinet of Analysis and Prospective on Drug Trafficking, Money Laundering, and Related Crimes released �A;its 2004 Annual Statistical Report on Drugs. The guide updates statistical trends on seizures of drugs and related assets, and arrests for drug trafficking and possession. According to the report, the Spanish National Police and Guardia Civil (Spain's national guard) seized 33 metric tons (mt) of cocaine (down 32% from 2003),794 mt of hashish (up 14%),804 mt of cannabis (up 2.4%),797,000 units of ecstasy (up 3%),and 271 kilograms of heroin (up 14%) in 2004. The report notes that 53% of all seizures in 2004 involved cannabis, 32% cocaine, 6% opium, and 6% involved stimulants. These quantitative trends are summarized in the statistical chart below: Statistical Chart -------------- Drug Category Year 2001 2002 2003 2004 Heroin (kg) 631 275 242 271 Cocaine (mt) 34 16 49 33 Hashish (kg) 514 564 727 794 MDMA (pills) 860,000 1,200,000 771,875 797,000 ¶4. (SBU) Government officials have stated that the 2004 seizures statistics represents significant gains in their counter-narcotics efforts, especially their enforcement efforts to prevent drug deliveries on the high seas and along Spanish coasts. Police now have evidence that Latin American drug cartels are also collaborating with Moroccan drug smugglers to transport cocaine into Spain using traditional hashish routes through the Strait of Gibraltar. In Galicia, traditional tobacco smuggling routes, which were used during the Franco era, and heavy port activity continue to attract drug traffickers to the Galician coast, where illicit drugs can easily be transported to other parts of Spain or across its borders to other parts of Europe. ¶5. (SBU) Madrid DEA notes that Spanish Customs Service and Guardia Civil agents have good enforcement control to patrol maritime drug trafficking. However, these patrols and last year's poor maritime winter weather conditions caused some drug traffickers to alter their traditional delivery routes by sea. Traffickers increasingly store drug shipments in West African countries such as Equatorial Guinea, Sierra Leone, Togo, and the Ivory Coast, and fly them from third countries to Spanish airfields, where there are fewer police patrols. DEA also notes how drug traffickers, typically nationals of Latin American countries, are using more sophisticated methods to deliver drugs, especially cocaine, through luggage and container shipments brought to Spain's international airport in Madrid and Barcelona by traffickers posing as visitors. In one example this year, police agents at Madrid's Barajas airport discovered cocaine concealed in a container shipment of rubber fenders, which are used at marine ports to protect ships from being damaged when they are docked. The thickness of the rubber fenders prevented drug-sniffing dogs from detecting the cocaine inside. Police only discovered the cocaine shipment through previous surveillance of the trafficker. Recent Cocaine Seizures -------------- ¶6. (U) Several notable cocaine seizures have been reported specifically in Barcelona and Galicia since the publication of the 2004 INCSR. On January 27, Spanish police seized 1,700 kilograms of cocaine shipment from Venezuela in Barcelona and arrested four Spanish nationals in the incident. On March 22, police seized 2,000 kg of cocaine in an industrial park warehouse in Barcelona; eight Mexican nationals were arrested in the incident. On March 30, policed arrested one Colombian national and three Spanish permanent residents on possession of 170 kg of cocaine in an apartment. There have also been two major cocaine seizures along the coast of Galicia. On May 31, Spanish police seized a boat carrying an estimated 5,000 kg of Colombian cocaine valued at USD 496 million (EUR 400 million) that was en route to Britain through Spain. Spanish Minister of Interior Antonio Alonso stated that this seizure was the result of a three-month, joint operation with British drug enforcement agents to disrupt a Scotland-based drug-trafficking ring between Morocco and Britain. On June 12, the Spanish Civil Guard and Customs Service reported a seizure of 3 metric tons of cocaine aboard a sailing vessel near Galicia. Police arrested 13 Spanish nationals in the case. Hashish -------------- ¶7. (U) Hashish, and increasingly cocaine, enter Western Europe primarily through Spanish territory from Morocco. The Spanish press has cited reports from the UN Drug Office stating that more than 3,000 mt of hashish is cultivated annually on more than 350,000 acres of land in Morocco, primarily in its northern Rif mountain territory. The press has noted that Morocco is one of the largest producers of hashish in the world. In August 2004, Spanish National Police discovered links between Colombian drug cartels and Moroccan traffickers to introduce cocaine into Spain though the well known "hashish route" between Morocco and the Strait of Gibraltar. On June 18, Spanish police also seized 916 kg of "double zero" hashish from Afghanistan and 1,008 kilograms in cocaine stashed in containers in Valencia. Police agents arrested twelve individuals who were nationals from Spain, Uruguay, and Argentina. Drug Related Asset Seizures & Money Laundering Operations -------------- -------------- ¶8. (U) According to the 2004 Spanish drugs report, police seized USD 27 million (EUR 20 millions) in cash and 52 million dollars in drug-related assets last year. Most officials acknowledge that money laundering is a multi-million dollar underground economy that closely is linked with drug trafficking in Spain. The amount reported in the 2004 PND report appears low considering the assets seizures that Spanish National Police have uncovered thus far this year. In fact, Spain concluded its largest anti-money laundering operation "Ballena Blanca" in March 2005 in the provinces of Malaga, Cadiz, and Alicante (Valencia). More than 300 Spanish National Police had been involved in this operation over the last two years. The Ministry of Interior announced that police agents seized numerous bank accounts containing tens of millions of euros, 200 properties, two aircraft, 42 luxury vehicles, and approximately USD 553,000 (EUR 410,000) in cash. According to Spanish officials, the money-laundering ring involved nationals of Spain, Morocco, France, Finland, Russia, and Ukraine. Officials reported that this criminal network has laundered more than USD 325 million (EUR 250 million) in proceeds from drug trafficking, weapons sales, prostitution, tax evasion and other financial crimes since 2003. Madrid DEA notes that, in many money laundering cases like Ballena Blanca, the Spanish government does not calculate what portion of seized money and assets relate specifically to drug trade, making it difficult to provide accurate statistics on money laundering in official drug reports. -------------- Arrest of Drug Traffickers and Users -------------- ¶9. (U) In 2004, Spanish police arrested 9,071 Spanish nationals and 4,838 foreigners for drug trafficking. The total number of arrested increased nearly 10% from 2003. Among the 4,838 foreigners arrested for drug trafficking, 40% were Moroccans, 13% were Colombians, 21% were other European nationals, and 1% were nationals of Asian countries. Spanish nationals have accounted for 70% all of individuals arrested for drug trafficking over the last four years. However, the statistics show that, over the last ten years, arrests of Spanish drug traffickers has decreased 25% while arrests of non-Spanish nationals has remained constant. Regarding drug possession, Spanish national police arrested 150,193 individuals for illegal possession or consumption of drug, up 10.8% from last year's figure. The statistics show that more than half of those arrested for illegal possession and consumption of drugs were Spanish males between the ages of between the ages of 19 and 25. ¶10. (SBU) Officials at the National Drug Plan state that the latest arrest statistics are one indication that Spanish law enforcement is making a strong effort to battle drug trafficking and illegal possession of drugs. They also emphasize that Spain maintains strong international law enforcement cooperation with drug enforcement officials in Morocco and Latin America. PND officials often cite joint police training programs with Moroccan police and joint Spain-Morocco police patrols along the Gibraltar straight as evidence of their cooperative effort on drug trafficking. However, Spanish enforcement agents carry out most all investigation and seizure activity without Moroccan involvement. In fact, the PND's 2005 report includes no examples of Spanish-Moroccan collaboration in the 22 "most relevant cases" it cites in the section on international cooperation. ¶11. (SBU) The 2004 arrest statistics suggest that drugs continue to be a lucrative trade in Spain, and many, if not the majority of traffickers, as well as consumers, are Spanish nationals. A higher percentage of Spanish involvement in the drug trade may be the result of the fact that Spanish traffickers profiting from the difference in low price of drugs from source countries in the Americas and high sale price in Europe, where the euro is strong and domestic demand is high. Madrid DEA notes that a kilo of cocaine bought at in Latin America may sell for two to three times its purchase price in Spain or the United Kingdom, respectively. Hashish is also sold in Spain at as much as three to four times its purchase price in Morocco. Spanish nationals involved in trafficking are more likely to set up small operations in which they buy drugs from foreign traffickers and make profit from selling it to domestic users rather than from smuggling it across Spanish borders on behalf of foreign traffickers. -------------- Drug Abuse and Drug-related Deaths in Spain -------------- ¶12. (U) The Ministry of Health noted that Spain has the highest rate of cocaine and cannabis use among school children aged 14-18 in the European Union. Other government studies revealed that school children began to experiment with marijuana before the age of 14. More than 20,000 individuals died prematurely from excessive drug and alcohol consumption in 2004, according to official studies. Health Minister Salgado also noted a 420% increase in the number of reported cases of psychosis caused by drugs between 1993 and ¶2002. In Madrid, a July 2005 study by the city's Counter Narcotics Agency attributed 158 deaths in 2004 to overdoses or adverse reactions to cocaine or heroin. There were 3,553 individuals who received emergency treatment hospitals in Madrid due to excessive drug or alcohol consumption. Eighty-six death cases involving minors who had overdosed on drugs or alcohol: 26 cases involved hashish or marijuana and 12 involved cocaine. Most deaths were the result of individuals who experienced an adverse reaction to taking illicit drugs but were unable to receive emergency treatment in time. Many cases also involved individuals who took a combination of several drugs and alcohol, according to the report. -------------- -------------- Spain Tackles Drug Abuse Through the National Drug Plan -------------- -------------- ¶13. (U) Officials at the Ministry of Health have stated that Spain's current National Drug Plan has been ineffective at reducing drug abuse among Spanish youth. In a March 17 testimony before the Joint Commission for the Study of the Drug Problem in the Spanish Congress, Minister of Health Elena Salgado acknowledged that government statistics on consumption of drugs, especially among Spanish youth, demonstrated that PND had only partially met its objectives in the areas of preventing drug use. She presented a new Plan of Action for final trimester of 2000-2008 National Drug Plan (PND) (covering 2005 to 2008) to make more aggressively efforts targeting drug prevention, awareness, and rehabilitation programs on Spanish youth. ¶14. (U) Salgado stated that the Government's anti-drug abuse efforts had ineffective, in part, because it lacked funds for public information campaigns on demand reduction. She also noted that Spanish law enforcement officials were not cooperating as effectively as possible on supply reduction measures and enforcement activities. The Health Minister introduced announced a new Plan of Action to strengthen the Government's demand and supply reduction efforts. The plan adds 12 new action priorities to the National Drug Plan for 2005-2008 in the areas of coordination, prevention and awareness, research on drug abuse, and rehabilitation programs. It recommends strengthening the participation of state security agencies and law enforcement in preventing drug flow, and calls for greater Spanish government participation with the European Union on drug policy and with Latin America and Morocco on supply reduction. However, the Ministry's plan did not elaborate on specific measures, funding, or joint international cooperation to combat international drug trafficking into Spain. Salgado also did not comment on the status of Socialist Party's 2004 campaign proposal to hire provide 34,000 special police agents in Spain's autonomous communities to assist in breaking up organized drug mafias. -------------- Conclusions -------------- ¶15. (SBU) Recent statistics on drug seizures and trafficking arrests from the Spanish National Drug Plan show that Spain has made modest gains over the past year in fight against drugs trafficking and abuse. The Spanish Health Ministry has adopted a tougher stance toward drug consumption and contemplated a number of new measures to strengthen its harm reduction efforts. The Zapatero government has made the fight against drugs one of its top priorities, according to Minster of Interior Antonio Alonso, who stated in Parliament in September 2004 that the Government would combat drugs trafficking with the same intensity and give it the same priority as the fight against terrorism and organized crime. ¶16. (SBU) Despite improving its record on drug seizures and arrests and strong international counter narcotics cooperation, Spain does not yet cooperate fully with Morocco in curbing the flow of hashish and cocaine through Spain's southern borders. Spain continues to be a primary transfer point for cocaine, heroin, hashish, and other illicit drugs to other parts of Europe. It is also becoming a lucrative domestic market for drugs consumption, especially among Spanish youth. AGUIRRE