KAZAKHSTAN: A/S PATTERSON'S MEETINGS WITH GOK

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 05 ALMATY 001960

SIPDIS

SENSITIVE

SIPDIS

STATE FOR INL (PRAHAR, MCCOWAN, AND HOOKER); EUR/ACE
(MLONGI); SCA/CEN (JMUDGE); DHS FOR TOM WALTERS AND CHARLES
WHITMIRE

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: SNAR ASEC KCOR KCRM PREL KZ

SUBJECT: KAZAKHSTAN: A/S PATTERSON'S MEETINGS WITH GOK
OFFICIALS IN ASTANA

REF: A. Almaty 1661, B. 05 ALMATY 4353

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1. (SBU) Summary: During a May 12 visit to Astana, INL A/S
Anne Patterson, accompanied by Ambassador Ordway, secured
agreement with the Vice Minister of Interior to initiate a
counter-narcotics strategy dialogue. Her conversation with
the Deputy Procurator General broke through a logjam on the
delivery of long-promised statistical data on crimes. She
also met with the Chairman of the Committee for National
Security (KNB),who agreed to establish a relationship
between the KNB Military Institute in Almaty and the U.S.
Border Patrol Academy in Artesia, New Mexico. During her
meetings, A/S Patterson also discussed bilateral and
multilateral efforts to combat narcotics trafficking, the
draft AML law, and Kazakhstani progress to combat
trafficking in persons. End Summary.

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MINISTRY OF INTERIOR
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2. (SBU) During a May 5 meeting with A/S Boucher (Ref A),
Interior Minister Mukhamedzhanvov suggested a periodic
bilateral information exchange on counter-narcotics. INL
Assistant Secretary Anne Patterson agreed to support
periodic meetings between U.S. and Kazakhstani counter-
narcotics officials to discuss measures that can be taken to
address the massive volume of Afghan-origin heroin that
transits Kazakhstan. At the Ministry of Interior (MVD),A/S
Patterson met with two Vice Ministers, Mr. Kalmukhambet
Kasymov and General Anatoliy Vyborov, who is also the head
of the MVD Committee on Combating Narcotics and a close
contact of the Embassy's INL section. The discussions
focused on strengthening bilateral cooperation and expanding
multilateral information sharing and joint activities, and
interdiction of heroin from Afghanistan.


3. (SBU) A/S Patterson noted the importance of the Central
Asia Regional Information and Coordination Center (CARICC)
to creating a regional response to the Afghan narcotics
problem. She queried the MVD Vice-Ministers on when the
promised building would be made available so CARICC could
become operational. Vyborov announced that the Government
of Kazakhstan has already allocated the money for renovating
the future site of the CARICC facility. By the end of June,
Vyborov added, it is planned that President Nazarbayev will
appoint the Head of CARICC after joint approval by all seven
heads of the CARICC-member states, per the procedures in the
founding documents of the regional body. After this,
Vyborov continued, liaison officers would need to be
nominated and over the next year CARICC would become
operational. (Note: Subsequently, the Head of the UNODC
Regional Office in Central Asia told us that early 2007 is
the best estimate at the moment and that the current holdup
is moving out the current building occupants - a GOK
statistics agency. End Note)


4. (SBU) A/S Patterson asked whether there was a centralized
naro-trafficking organization in Kazakhstan. Vyborov
responded that Kazakhstan does not have a single narcotics
trafficking structure like that of Pablo Escobar in
Colombia, but smaller ethnically based narcotics rings
operated by the Chechens, Roma, and Russian nationals do
exist. He offered that their ethnic and other differences
are sufficient to keep them from creating a unified
structure.


5. (SBU) Speaking broadly about the narcotics situation in
Kazakhstan, General Vyborov stressed the difficulties the
country is facing with drug addiction. He said there are
54,000 registered drug addicts in Kazakhstan, although the
actual number of addicts is believed to be twice this
official figure. According to Vyborov, this is an
alarmingly understated number and bodes very ill for the
future, because even the number of registered drug addicts
is increasing at 10% per year.

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6. (SBU) Furthermore, Vyborov stated that with the huge
territory that must be monitored, capabilities are limited.
(Note: Kazakhstan is the ninth largest country in the world
with 15,000 kilometers of border. End Note) He offered
that, notwithstanding the transit of Afghan-originated
narcotics, there were 150,000 hectares of marijuana growing
in the Chu river valley in south Kazakhstan and
approximately 60 tons per year was harvested and exported
each year. He highlighted the need for specialized
equipment, especially air assets, and expressed the hope
that CARICC would provide usable information for
interdiction operations.


7. (SBU) A/S Patterson noted the similarity between
Kazakhstan's challenges and the interdiction struggle on the
southern U.S. border. She said that in her experience, low-
tech solutions were found to be more effective than the more
expensive high-tech options. In her view, officers on the
ground in mobile patrols serve as a better interdiction
approach than very expensive helicopters. She did note that
if the mobile forces were coupled with small fixed wing
surveillance aircraft, their effectiveness could be
increased for a moderate additional expense.


8. (SBU) In response to a query from Ambassador Ordway about
the area of primary drug use, Vyborov pointed out that
intravenous narcotics use is prevalent in the southern
region of Kazakhstan and that the use of synthetics from
Russia and Western Europe is dominant in the northern part
of the country. Given the growing magnitude of this
problem, Vyborov said that it would be beneficial for
Kazakhstanis to learn from the U.S. experience in drug
demand reduction and drug addiction treatment.


9. (U) In response to the request for U.S. advice,
Ambassador Ordway noted that the U.S. and the GOK could
conduct counter-narcotics strategy coordination meetings to
share information on combating narcotics trafficking and
related problems. A/S Patterson secured agreement from
Vyborov that this would be acceptable, and offered to
organize the first meeting later in the year. She offered
also to help the GOK combat the corrupting effect of illegal
narcotics money on the law enforcement community.


10. (U) Vice Minister Vyborov commended to the Assistant
Secretary the cooperation between INL and his Committee,

SIPDIS
pointing to the Ulken checkpoint project as an excellent
example of joint effort. He emphasized that future
cooperation on this and other projects is critical to the
country's efforts in combating narcotics. (Note: Ulken is
one of six checkpoints INL is constructing in cooperation
with UNODC to interdict narcotics flowing northward through
Kazakhstan. End Note.)

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PROCURATOR GENERAL'S OFFICE
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11. (SBU) A/S Patterson requested that Deputy Procurator
General Daulbayev resolve a long-standing issue relating to
the publication of a crime statistics as mandated by the
2003 U.S.-Kazakhstan Letter of Agreement. Daulbayev
announced that the abstract has been declassified and will
shortly be distributed to the Embassy as well as to the
public.


12. (SBU) Turning to a discussion point more to his liking,
Daulbayev was positive and upbeat about the pending anti-
money laundering (AML) law and the location of the Financial
Intelligence Unit (FIU) within the Procurator's Office.
Daulbayev said that the FIU was to be under the authority of
the Procurator's Office in accordance with a Presidential
decree. The Procurator's Office will assist with
establishing the FIU, which, in about two years when it is
fully established, then should become autonomous and

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accountable to the President only. He noted that the
Procurator's Office was the most logical place to house the
FIU because the Procurator's Office coordinates the
activities of all law enforcement institutions. The Deputy
Procurator General thanked A/S Patterson for the technical
assistance the USG had provided and expressed the need for
more compliance seminars targeting secondary banks and other
financial institutions.


13. (SBU) In response to a question by A/S Patterson about
the Procurator Office's role in combating narcotics
trafficking from Afghanistan, Daulbayev cited the following
numbers: in 2005, there were 410 narcotics-related cases
and 408 kilograms of heroin were seized. (Note: This sum
differs considerably from the 130 kilogram figure the GOK
provided to INL for provision in the 2005 INCSR. End Note)
Heroin seizure rates declined in the first quarter of 2006,
however, to only 32.7 kilograms. Daulbayev stressed that
only a fraction of the narcotics crossing the territory of
Kazakhstan is seized by authorities due to Kazakhstan's vast
territory and the mountainous terrain along the Kyrgyz
border.


14. (SBU) Noting her next stop would be to attend the
CENTCOM Central Asia Counter Narcotics Security Working
Group meeting in Dushanbe, A/S Patterson inquired about the
counter-narcotics cooperation between Kazakhstan and its
neighbors. Daulbayev responded that the law enforcement
agencies of Kazakhstan and neighboring countries enjoy close
cooperation, but that given the stable supply of narcotics
from Afghanistan to Tajikistan, it is Tajikistan which must
serve as the first line of defense in combating narcotics.
Daulbayev also pointed out that the number of Kazakhstanis
who are involved in drug trafficking is insignificant in
comparison to the vast number of Tajik children and women
involved in the trade.


15. (SBU) In conclusion, Daulbayev expressed his
appreciation for the assistance provided by the USG and
stressed the need to cooperate in reducing the cannabis
cultivation in the Chu Valley. Daulbayev said that it would
be interesting to learn more about international experience
in processing cannabis for productive use and in purchasing
chemicals to halt the growth of wild marijuana. He
requested technical assistance in the form of drug detection
devices. He also noted that the most effective GOK agency
in countering narcotics is the Committee for National
Security, which focuses on using intelligence information to
break up drug trafficking rings.

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COMMITTEE FOR NATIONAL SECURITY
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16. (SBU) A/S Patterson and the Chairman of the Committee
for National Security (KNB),Mr. Shabdarbayev, agreed to
broaden cooperation on border security. Shabdarbayev
promised that the Head of the Border Service and the
Director of the Military Institute of the KNB would
participate in an exchange visit to the U.S. Also attending
the meeting was the Deputy Head of the Border Guard Service,
General Uazhanov, who during his briefing divulged that
there are 112 border crossing checkpoints in Kazakhstan, 95
of which are operational. (Note: This was the first time the
Border Guards had provided us with such precise figures. End
Note) Uazhanov continued that last year there were 7,500
violations of the borders of Kazakhstan and 8,000 arrests
with contraband narcotics and consumer goods.


17. (SBU) When the Assistant Secretary asked about
precursors in Kazakhstan, the KNB officials were quick to
point out that there are no laboratories in Kazakhstan that
produce precursors and that most precursors found in the
country are produced in Pakistan and China. With the same
vigor, another KNB officer pointed out that trafficking in
persons is not a serious issue in Kazakhstan since

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Kazakhstan is only a transit country. (Comment: Despite
the gesture of cooperation made by their boss, it appears
old habits die hard. End comment)


18. (U) The KNB Chairman thanked A/S Patterson for the
assistance of the USG and welcomed the idea of a
professional exchange between the KNB Military Institute in
Almaty and the Border Patrol Academy in Artesia, New Mexico.
He hoped that this exchange would strengthen the ties
between the two academies and generate a useful exchange of
ideas and cooperation.

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FINANCIAL POLICE
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19. (SBU) A/S Patterson asked Sarybay Kalmurzayev, the
Chairman of the Agency on Combating Economic Crimes and
Corruption (Financial Police) about the role of his Agency
once the pending anti-money laundering (AML) law is enacted.
The Chairman pointed out that while the law was initially
drafted within the walls of his Agency, responsibility for
it was then transferred to the Procurator's Office, which
subsequently wrote itself into the law as the lead financial
monitoring agency. The FIU, Kalmurzayev added, ought to be
housed in the Agency on Regulating Financial Markets and not
in a law enforcement-related agency. (Comment: The
Chairman's response betrayed the on-going competition
between the Agency and the Procurator General's Office
regarding financial crimes investigation. Given the
historically powerful position of the PGO in Soviet and post-
Soviet governments, for Kalmurzayev to win a bureaucratic
battle with the PGO would be difficult. End comment) (Note:
The draft AML law was submitted by the government to the
Mazhilis (lower house of parliament) for consideration in
November, but as reported Ref B consideration was delayed
until more information on the implications of the proposed
law could be obtained by the parliamentarians. End Note)


20. (SBU) According to the Chairman, the investigation of
suspicious financial transactions should be conducted by
civilians and not by law enforcement officers, who could be
pressured more easily to sway the investigation or to
monitor only selected transactions.


21. (SBU) A/S Patterson complimented Kalmurzayev, noting
INL's positive cooperation with the Financial Police
Academy, and expressed her desire that the Academy continue
to serve as a training venue for U.S. experts teaching
investigation techniques and other AML courses for financial
investigators in Kazakhstan. Kalmurzayev concurred.


22. (U) On the subject of detecting, investigating and
prosecuting financial crimes, Kalmurzayev, stressed that it
is difficult to tie economic and corruption-related crimes
to narcotics-related crimes. In particular, the Chairman
noted that it can be very difficult to identify the source
of illicit money when it is being laundered. Mr.
Kalmurzayev continued, saying that the Agency has been
somewhat successful in fighting corruption-related crimes in
prisons and has arrested several heads of prisons on
corruption-related charges. According to Kalmurzayev, it
has become common practice to pay a bribe in exchange for an
early release from prison. He noted that, depending upon
the circumstances, such a "paid-for" early release costs
approximately $30,000.

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COMMENT
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23. (SBU) Post views the visit of the Assistant Secretary as
a resounding success. In resolving the long-delayed
statistics issue, cementing counter-narcotics cooperation
through establishment of periodic strategy sessions, and
securing agreement for border security cooperation, the

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visit significantly advanced the U.S.-Kazakhstan bilateral
relationship.


24. (U) This message was cleared by the Assistant Secretary.

ORDWAY