AmEmbassy Brasilia's NAS/DEA Partnership

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 BRASILIA 001337 SIPDIS SENSITIVE SIPDIS DEPT FOR INL, WHA, and P E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: SNAR BR SUBJECT: AmEmbassy Brasilia's NAS/DEA Partnership REF: Brasilia 1069 ¶1. (U) This cable was coordinated with Brazil's DEA Country Office. ¶2. (SBU) Summary. In conjunction with the Brazilian Federal Police, DEA Brazil and AmEmbassy Brasilia's Narcotics Affairs Section (NAS) work together to dismantle large-scale international drug trafficking organizations (DTO),particularly those with ties to the United States (US). To better achieve this objective, DEA Brazil and NAS are constantly searching for new ways to increase productivity and strengthen relationships with the Federal Police (DPF). Our principal means of exerting leverage on the GOB are through: 1) the provision of NAS funding, i.e., training courses, conferences, and necessary equipment, and 2) facilitate the exchange of intelligence and case information between DEA Brazil and the DPF. End Summary. ¶3. (SBU) As Brazil is a transshipment country in which drug trafficking organizations maintain key command and control center, it is key that we maintain the excellent relationship between NAS and DEA here. During the past several years, some Colombian traffickers have been moving their bases of operations from Colombia to Brazil as they (erroneously) see Brazil as a country where they will not be as easily targeted, arrested, prosecuted and/or extradited. The most prominent example of this is the international operation "Twin Oceans," a joint DEA-Brazilian Federal Police investigation which on May 16, 2006 culminated in the arrest of Colombian national Pablo Joaquin Rayo Montano in Sao Paulo and ten other members of his organization in Brazil. (See reftel.) In that operation, the DPF's NAS-supported Sensitive Intelligence Unit (SIU) monitored 25 lines, intercepted over 125,000 phone calls, and was key to the success of the bust. ¶4. (SBU) In addition, DPF intelligence indicates that Colombian drug trafficking organizations have made inroads into Brazil with respect to the transshipment of heroin to the U.S. and other world markets. DEA Brazil has noticed a dramatic increase in the number of heroin seizures in the past six months that have either been seized in Brazil destined for the United States or that have been seized in the United States but originated from Brazil. ¶5. (SBU) INL/NAS involvement is also key to post's efforts in the porous Tri-border area. NAS funding helps DEA Brazil to further enhance its capabilities there and continue to fight the war on terrorism. Indeed, the lack of manpower and funding are the most important issues facing the joint DEA/NAS SIU in Brazil. Without additional agents and funding, in the future post will not be able to replicate the past successes of this program. -------------- Joint DEA/NAS Activities -------------- ¶6. (SBU) Below are examples of ongoing joint activities. -- Border Control. The GOB's flagship anti-drug effort is Operation COBRA (Colombia-Brazil),aimed at reinforcing the country's northern borders with Colombia via riverine patrols. Similar efforts are underway to reinforce the Peru, Venezuela, Bolivia, Guyana and Suriname borders. NAS funding pays for items such as night vision equipment, small riverine boats and port control training, while DEA provides Operation COBRA with intelligence and information support. In addition, NAS has funded the TDY to Brazil of four Bolivian SIU officers who are assisting in SIU investigations targeting Spanish speakers. It is anticipated that four more Bolivians will be assigned to work at the Bolivia-Brazil border this calendar year. -- SIU and Intel Collection. The SIU, jointly funded by NAS and DEA, conducts wiretap investigations which generate thousands of call detail records. These records are sent to DEA Brazil for analysis where they are imported into a database that can be accessed by numerous U.S. law enforcement and Intelligence Community agencies. The NAS- funded SIU wiretap room in Sao Paulo has been so successful that DEA Panama is planning to use it as a model for its SIU. In addition, DEA Brazil and NAS are in the process of BRASILIA 00001337 002 OF 002 convincing the DPF of the importance of signing onto multinational information sharing centers such as the Special Operations Division (SOD) and the El Paso Intelligence Center (EPIC). -- Airport Interdiction. The DEA Sao Paulo Office has a strong interdiction program at the Sao Paulo International Airport. Currently, DEA is working to establish an airport interdiction program at the Rio de Janeiro International airport and in the future it would like to expand this effort to airports in Northern Brazil. DEA Brazil sent two DPF agents from Sao Paulo and two DPF Agents from Rio de Janeiro to attend Sky Narc training in Reno, Nevada. DEA Brazil is also attempting to set up airport training for the DPF agents at airports located within the Tri-border area. DEA is working with NAS to fund this project. -- Analysis of Cocaine Samples. DEA Brazil has established a domestic monitoring program in cooperation with the DPF. The program models the domestic monitoring program in the United States, where samples of cocaine seizures are sent to the Special Testing and Research Laboratory for signature analysis. The analysis of the cocaine samples determines purity levels, identifies the source country from where the drugs originated, and differentiates between source country HCl processing. From a strategic intelligence perspective, this will provide invaluable intelligence on the cocaine threat not only within Brazil but also South America. NAS has provided the funding to send Brazilian chemists to Washington to attend Forensic Chemical training sponsored by DEA and it is anticipated that two additional chemists will travel to Washington in September to attend cocaine signature training. Chicola