DEA BASIC DRUG ENFORCEMENT TRAINING PROPOSAL AND

UNCLAS DHAKA 006662 SIPDIS SIPDIS DEPT PLEASE PASS TO INL FOR ANTHONY GRESKO; DELHI FOR DEA (BACON AND KHAN). E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: SNAR PGOV BG SUBJECT: DEA BASIC DRUG ENFORCEMENT TRAINING PROPOSAL AND BUDGET REF: GRESKO/WILBUR EMAIL 16 OCT 06. ¶1. SUMMARY AND ACTION REQUEST. Pursuant to a 2002 Bilateral Letter of Agreement on Law Enforcement and Narcotics Control, Post Econ officer and regional DEA representatives in New Delhi propose to conduct a two week course April 2-13, 2007 designed to provide GOB participants basic training in the techniques necessary to conduct counter narcotics investigations and operations. Action request see Paragraph ¶6. End Summary. ¶2. Background. Bangladesh is described as an ideal transit route for illicit drugs due to the country's largely porous borders. Officers who have little, if any, training in counter-narcotics work are responsible for guarding the air, sea, and land ports and borders. GOB officials have admitted that personnel lack basic law enforcement skills required to perform basic counter narcotics work, such as identifying controlled substances, and conducting effective searches of vehicles, containers, boats and aircraft. Previously, DEA conducted training of GOB officers in 2004 but these officers have since moved on to non-narcotics related duties. ¶3. Project Description. The proposed training would be the Basic Drug Enforcement Seminar, to be conducted in Dhaka, Bangladesh by DEA Instructors April 2 - 13, 2007. Currently there are no USG agencies other than DEA capable of delivering this type of curriculum in Bangladesh. The Basic Drug Enforcement Seminar is a two week course designed to provide participants basic training and techniques necessary to conduct drug investigations. The Basic Drug Enforcement Seminar will cover at least the following topics: Case Initiation, Undercover Operations, Confidential Source Management, Interview and Interrogation, Surveillance, Report Writing, Drug Identification and Testing, and Officer Safety and Survival. The course provides the skills necessary to manage, plan, organize, operate, and control a wide variety of investigative and enforcement activities, with the ultimate goal being to develop a drug investigative skill set in each of the participants. A secondary effect of the course is that the training affords the attendees the opportunity to establish professional and personal relationships with not only DEA and other USG representatives, but also with other GOB law enforcement officials. While investigating the illicit drug trade is a unique skill that takes years to master, the Basic Drug Enforcement Seminar is the initial step in establishing an effective drug investigation program. Follow up training is also available in the future. ¶4. Goals/Performance Measures. The short term goal of this training is to produce a core group of Bangladeshi officers similarly trained and competent in counter-drug investigations. The long term goal is eventually to be able to form an effective drug task force-type unit that can assist USG agents in Bangladesh. Effective drug enforcement would also increase the safety and security of Bangladesh's borders. The goal of having drug investigators trained by the DEA is in line with both the Government of Bangladesh's stated goals and the USG strategic plan for the region. A quantitative measure of the program's success will be the eventual arrests and seizures that will be effected by those officers who receive the training. A qualitative measure will be to evaluate the intelligence that can be gathered by a group of similarly trained officers doing counter-narcotics work. ¶5. Budget and Funding. Funding is provided by the following fiscal data: $79,400.00-1911-X10220002-0409241002-0-4121. Advance party: Travel $ 9,000.00 Per Diem (1 Instructor x $212/day) $ 1,484.00 Other $ 500.00 Total $10,984.00 Instruction Travel (4 Instructors x $9,000) $36,000.00 Per Diem (4 Instructors x $212/day) $14,416.00 Other ($500 x 4) $ 2,000.00 Total $52,416.00 Conference Room $ 8,000.00 (if a suitable law enforcement facility is not available) Training Materials $ 4,500.00 Equipment/supplies/shipping $ 2,000.00 Miscellaneous $ 1,500.00 Total $16,000.00 Grand Total $79,400.00 ¶6. Action Request. Please proceed with the Interagency Agreement with DEA as discussed to facilitate this training. BUTENIS