POLAND'S 2005-2006 INTERNATIONAL NARCOTICS

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 03 WARSAW 004025

SIPDIS

DEPT FOR INL, EUR/NCE
JUSTICE FOR OIA, AFMLS, NDDS
TREASURY FOR FINCEN
DEA FOR OILS AND OFFICE OF DIVERSION CONTROL

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: SNAR PL EUN
SUBJECT: POLAND'S 2005-2006 INTERNATIONAL NARCOTICS
CONTROL STRATEGY REPORT (INCSR)

REF: STATE 209561

Poland


I. Summary

Poland has traditionally been a transit country for
drug trafficking. However, improving economic
conditions and increased ease of travel to Western
Europe have increased its significance as a consumer
market and a producer of amphetamines. Illicit drug
production and trafficking are closely tied to
organized crime, and, while Polish law enforcement
agencies have been successful in breaking up organized
crime syndicates involved in drug trafficking, criminal
activities continue to become more sophisticated and
global in nature. Poland finalized a National Program
for Counteracting Drug Addiction in July 2002, and
again in 2005 allocated a budget for its
implementation, though this year the budget was
decreased. Cooperation between USG officials and Polish
law enforcement has been consistent and outstanding,
and Poland's EU accession has accelerated the process
of GOP diligence on narcotics policy. Poland is a party
to the 1988 UN Drug Convention.

II. Status of Country

Poland has traditionally been a transit country for
drug trafficking. However, improving economic
conditions and increased ease of travel to Western
Europe have increased its significance as a consumer
market and a producer of amphetamines. Illicit drug
production and trafficking are closely tied to
organized crime, and, while Polish law enforcement
agencies have been successful in breaking up organized
crime syndicates involved in drug trafficking, criminal
activities continue to become more sophisticated and
global in nature. Poland finalized a National Program
for Counteracting Drug Addiction in July 2002, and this
year allocated a budget for its implementation.
Cooperation between USG officials and Polish law
enforcement has been consistent and outstanding, and
Poland's EU accession has accelerated the process of
GOP diligence on narcotics policy. Poland is a party to
the 1988 UN Drug Convention.

III. Country Actions Against Drugs in 2004

Policy Initiatives. The National Program for
Counteracting Drug Addiction, which covers the period
2002-2005, brought Poland into compliance with the 2000-
2004 EU Drugs Strategy. The National Program is a
comprehensive and realistic plan focusing on
prevention, supply reduction, treatment, and
monitoring. MONAR, a non-governmental organization, is
the main actor in the implementation of the National
Program. In 2005, the National Program budget was
decreased slightly from $3.6 million in 2004 to $3.2
million. In addition, individual ministries and local
governments continue to finance Program activities out
of existing counternarcotics budgets.

Accomplishments. During 2005, Polish police shut down
18 major amphetamine-producing laboratories. Many of
these were in the Warsaw region, with two in Katowice
and others scattered throughout Poland. To fight
international crime, the use of informants, telephone
taps, and controlled purchases are now all permitted by
Polish law, and a witness protection program is in
place. In 2005, the US International Criminal
Investigative Training and Assistance Program (ICITAP)
conducted a training of senior level police officials,
such as regional commanders and deputy commanders, on
Code of Ethics and Anti-Corruption Strategy. This
training was part of a series of highly successful
courses presented at the National Police Training
Center under a Law Enforcement Assistance Letter of
Agreement (LOA) signed in November 2002 by the US and
Poland.

Law Enforcement Efforts. DEA agents visit Poland
regularly and in 2005, worked bilaterally with the
Polish National Police in numerous narcotics
investigations targeting drug trafficking organizations
that import controlled substances into Poland as well
as those that export controlled substances to the
United States. The National Bureau for Drug Addiction
is well-known for its openness and cooperation in
discussing drug-related issues.
Corruption. A comprehensive inter-ministerial
anticorruption plan is in existence that contains
strict timelines for legislative action and for the
implementation of strict and transparent anticorruption
procedures within each individual ministry. Instances
of small-scale corruption bribery, smuggling, etc., are
prevalent at all levels within the customs service and
among police, and in April and May, the Central Bureau
of Investigation (CBS) offices in Lodz and Poznan were
closed and the Director of the CBS, Janusz Golebiewski
resigned. An inspection at the CBS in Lodz revealed
that over the last several years over 120 kilograms of
narcotics disappeared from CBS custody, while in Poznan
an inspection revealed that CBS officers were trading
top-secret operational information. The number of cases
investigated and successfully prosecuted relative to
the number of reported incidents, however, remains low.
The U.S. Government has worked closely with the Polish
National Police to improve police training on ethics
and corruption, and has presented several training
courses on the subject under the Law Enforcement LOA
mentioned above.

Agreements and Treaties. Through the National Program,
Poland has fulfilled requirements to harmonize its laws
with the European Union's Drug Policy. Poland is a
party to the UN Convention on Organized Crime and its
protocols against migrant smuggling and trafficking in
persons, and is a signatory to the UN Convention
Against Corruption. Poland is a party to the 1988 UN
Drug Convention, the 1971 UN Convention on Psychotropic
Substances, and the 1961 UN Single Convention, as
amended by the 1972 Protocol. An extradition treaty and
MLAT are in force between the U.S. and Poland.

In May 2004, Poland became a full member of the Dublin
Group, a consortium of 20 industrialized countries
endeavoring to coordinate bilateral drug-related
assistance policies. Poland, together with the European
Commission, the Baltic States, Russia, Germany, and the
Nordic states, comprise the Task Force on Organized
Crime in the Baltic Sea Region.

Drug Flow/Transit. While end-product synthetic drugs
are manufactured in Poland (the precursors are usually
imported from other countries),heroin, hashish, and
cocaine frequently transit Poland en route to Western
Europe. Ecstasy transits Poland en route to both
Western Europe and the United States. There are also
North-South routes transiting or leading to Poland.
Polish police believe that most of the drugs transiting
Poland are headed to Germany and the United Kingdom.
Sea-based shipping routes are also utilized; some of
the largest seizures in Poland have taken place at the
Baltic port of Gdansk. Police, however, report that
they lack a basis to estimate with any precision the
amount of illegal drugs transiting through Poland.

Domestic Programs (Demand Reduction). Demand reduction
objectives of the National Program include reducing the
spread of drug use, limiting the spread of HIV
infections connected with drug use, and improving the
quality and effectiveness of treatment. On the supply
side, the Program seeks to improve training and
coordination between various Polish law enforcement
authorities including the CBS and the border guards.
Because of the high level of market activity in cheap
precursors, the CBS has made the controlling and
monitoring of precursors the Bureau's top priority.

In addition to the programs mentioned above, the Law on
Counteracting Drug Addiction requires the Ministry of
Education to provide a drug prevention curriculum for
schools and to provide support for demand reduction
projects based on a community approach. The Ministry of
Education requires all schools to incorporate drug
prevention curriculum in their programs, however,
schools are able to modify and tailor their drug
prevention curriculum to meet individual school needs.
To assist teachers with this task, the Ministry has a
Center for Psychological and Didactic Assistance which
offers professional training and programs to develop
drug prevention curriculum.

IV. U.S. Policy Initiatives and Programs

Policy Initiatives. The USG believes that targeting
training to assist the Polish law enforcement community
with more effective investigation and detection
techniques continues to be the best way to serve U.S.
interests. DEA-conducted seminars and train-the-trainer
programs will continue and will be part of the 2005
bilateral activities. Enhancing operational cooperation
through joint investigations and travel assistance to
Polish law enforcement officers will also continue.

Bilateral Cooperation. The DEA maintains close contact
and holds numerous operational liaison meetings with
Polish law enforcement officials, and cooperates with
two full-time agents from the Federal Bureau of
Investigation posted in Warsaw. In 2006, DEA plans to
have two full time agents posted to Warsaw.

The Road Ahead. Poland's accession to EU membership on
May 1, 2004 played a key role in sharpening the
Government of Poland's (GOP) attention to narcotics
policy. The EU is by far the largest donor to Poland's
counternarcotics activities, which serves as a
motivating force for even closer collaboration between
Poland and its neighbors to the East and the West. GOP
priorities for 2005 include better educational
campaigns addressed to specific target groups
(including media campaigns, and a `peer campaign' for
children and students) and a new pilot program for the
assessment of the quality of medical, rehabilitation,
and health damage reduction treatments provided by
various institutions. Authorities will also focus on
the creation of strategy for counteracting drug
addiction at the local (township) level. The U.S.
fully supports these targets.

ASHE