2006-2007 INTERNATIONAL NARCOTICS CONTROL STRATEGY REPORT

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 03 GEORGETOWN 001215

SIPDIS

JUSTICE FOR AFMLS, OIA, AND OPDAT
TREASURY FOR FINCEN
INL
WHA/CAR

SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: EFIN KCRM KTFN GY
SUBJECT: 2006-2007 INTERNATIONAL NARCOTICS CONTROL STRATEGY REPORT
(INCSR) PART I: GUYANA

REF: A.STATE 147534
B.STATE 146694
C.STATE 146620

GEORGETOWN 00001215 001.2 OF 003



1. The following text is post's narrative for Part I of the
2006-2007 International Narcotics Control Strategy Report, Drugs and
Chemical Controls for Guyana.

BEGIN TEXT:


2. Guyana is a transshipment point for cocaine destined for North
America, Europe, and the Caribbean. Interdictions and seizures of
drugs in Guyana totaled approximately 47 kgs of cocaine and 6,560
kgs of marijuana in 2006. The Government of Guyana's (GOG)
inability to control its borders, a lack of law enforcement
presence, and a lack of aircraft or patrol boats allow traffickers
to move drug shipments via sea, river, and air with little
resistance. The GOG launched its National Drug Strategy Master Plan
(NDSMP) for 2005-2009 in June 2005. However, the GOG has yet to
implement the NDSMP's substantive initiatives. Guyana is a party to
the 1988 UN Convention Against Illicit Traffic in Narcotic Drugs and
Psychotropic Substances (the 1988 UN Drug Convention) but still
needs to pass and implement additional legislation to meet its
obligations under the convention.
II. Status of Country

3. The United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime last estimated the
quantity of cocaine transiting Guyana in 2000-2001 at 20-25 metric
tons annually. Updated figures are not available. Using those dated
figures, narcotics traffickers may earn US$150 million annually, and
possibly more, by trafficking cocaine through Guyana. Accurately
determining the trend in drug transit is difficult given the gap
between the amount of drugs seized and the estimates of total drugs
trafficked. There have not been any large domestic seizures since a
1998 joint Guyanese/U.S. operation confiscated 3,154 kilograms of
cocaine from a ship docked in Georgetown.

4. Guyana's vast expanse of unpopulated forest offers cover for drug
traffickers. In 2005, Aurelius Inc., a company controlled by now
indicted drug trafficker Shaheed 'Roger' Khan, applied for a State
Forest Exploratory Permit for a large tract of land in Guyana's
interior. Although Aurelius withdrew its application following
Kahn's arrest, the potential for abuse still exists. Such
concessions in the remote interior may allow drug traffickers to
establish autonomous outposts beyond the reach of Guyanese law
enforcement. In response to this threat, the GOG announced proposed
legislation requiring stronger background checks on investors
applying for timber concessions. The legislation has not yet been
introduced.

5. There are allegations that high-ranking officials in the Guyana
Police Force (GPF) have ties to drug traffickers. Government
counternarcotics efforts are further undermined by the lack of
adequate resources for law enforcement, poor coordination among law
enforcement agencies, and a weak judicial system. The Guyanese media
regularly report murders, kidnappings, and other violent crimes
commonly believed to be linked with narcotics trafficking. Guyana
produces cannabis, but not coca leaf or cocaine. Guyana is not known
to produce, trade, or transit precursor chemicals on a large scale.

III. Country Actions Against Drugs in 2006

6. Policy Initiatives. Guyana launched its ambitious 2005-2009 NDSMP
in June 2005. The NDSMP's programs are divided into Supply Reduction
and Demand Reduction. The Supply Reduction agenda calls for
improving the justice system's ability to handle drug cases, making
the Joint Intelligence Coordination Center (JICC) operational,
closer cooperation between and better technology for law enforcement
agencies, and tighter control of border posts and airstrips. The
Demand Reduction agenda includes developing rehabilitation
capabilities as well as media and education programs. The government
estimates that implementing the 2005-2009 NDSMP will cost
approximately US$3.3 million. The Financial Investigations Unit
(FIU),established in 2003 with material support from the U.S., is
handicapped by the lack of effective legislation to deal with money
laundering, such as the absence of regulations to allow for seizing
assets.

7. Accomplishments. The launch of the 2005-2009 NDSMP after a
five-year gap was significant. The GOG, however, has yet to
establish a secretariat to oversee the plan and has made little
progress in achieving or maintaining compliance with the goals and
objectives of the 1988 UN Drug Convention. In 2006, Guyanese law
enforcement agencies made no publicly reported cocaine seizures in
excess of 10 kilograms.

8. In 2006, known Guyanese drug trafficker Roger Kahn was indicted
by a federal court in New York for conspiracy to import cocaine into
the United States. Kahn was apprehended in Trinidad by U.S. DEA

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agents and is currently incarcerated in New York awaiting trial.

9. Law Enforcement Efforts. The GoG's counternarcotics efforts
suffer from a lack of adequate law enforcement resources, poor
inter-agency coordination, and the perception of widespread
corruption. Several agencies share responsibility for
counternarcotics activities: the Customs Anti-Narcotics Unit (CANU)
is tasked with conducting enforcement activities mainly at ports of
entry; the Guyana Police Force (GPF) Narcotics Branch is the
principal element in the police responsible for enforcement of drug
laws domestically; and the Guyana Defense Force Coast Guard (GDFCG)
has the lead for maritime counternarcotics operations. There is
little productive interaction or intelligence sharing among these
organizations. For example, according to the 2005-2009 NDSMP, the
JICC is supposed "to bring together various counternarcotics
agencies in a single work environment, encourage the sharing of
information and intelligence." It is unclear whether the JICC is
currently operational.

10. In 2006, the GPF Narcotics Branch and CANU arrested drug
couriers at Guyana's international airport en route to the
Caribbean, North America, and Europe. However, the arrests were
limited to individuals with small amounts of marijuana, crack
cocaine or powder cocaine, usually on charges of possession for the
purpose of trafficking. Authorities have not successfully acted
against major traffickers and their organizations. According to
publicly reported arrests, authorities recovered only 47 kilograms
of cocaine in 2006. This is similar to 2005, but represents a
significant decrease from 2004 and 2003, when authorities recovered
269 kilograms and 277 kilograms of cocaine, respectively. Government
and DEA officials believe that counternarcotics agencies interdict
only a small percentage of the cocaine that transits Guyana. The
U.S. donated a fast interceptor boat to the GDFCG in May 2005. The
GDFCG conducts patrols with the interceptor boat, but has not yet
interdicted any narcotics shipments. While CANU is responsible for
patrolling Guyana's ports, they have only one team of six officers
available to secure all five main transit points. CANU has no
officers patrolling the numerous land entry points on the Venezuela,
Brazil, and Surinam borders.

11. Corruption. There is no evidence that GOG facilitates the
production, processing, or shipment of narcotic and psychotropic
drugs or other controlled substances, nor is there evidence that it
discourages the investigation or prosecution of such acts. Guyana is
party to the Inter-American Convention Against Corruption (IACAC),
but has yet to fully implement its provisions, such as seizure of
property obtained through corruption. News media routinely report on
instances of corruption reaching to high levels of government that
go uninvestigated and unpunished. The former Minister of Home
Affairs, who underwent a long, public investigation regarding his
possible connection with an extra-judicial killing squad and who had
improperly issued firearm licenses to known criminals, resigned
under pressure from the international community in 2005. He was
subsequently named by the GOG to serve as the country's Ambassador
to India. Guyana is not a party to the UN Convention Against
Corruption.

12. Agreements and Treaties. Guyana is party to the 1988 UN Drug
Convention, the 1961 UN Single Convention on Narcotic Drugs, as
amended by the 1972 Protocol, and the 1971 UN Convention on
Psychotropic Substances. Guyana also is a party to the UN Convention
Against Transnational Organized Crime and its protocol on
trafficking in persons. The 1931 Extradition Treaty between the
United States and the United Kingdom is applicable to the U.S. and
Guyana. Guyana signed a bilateral agreement with the U.S. on
maritime counternarcotics cooperation in 2001. Guyana has bilateral
agreements to cooperate on drug trafficking issues with its
neighbors and with the United Kingdom. Guyana is also a member of
the Organization of American States' Inter-American Drug Abuse
Control Commission (OAS/CICAD).

13. Cultivation and Production. Cannabis cultivation occurs in
Guyana on a limited scale, primarily in the intermediate savannahs.
Police regularly discover and eradicate cannabis cultivation sites
when conducting area sweeps. The 2005-2009 NDSMP reported that
authorities destroyed a total of 68.5 hectares and over 63,000
kilograms of cannabis plants during the 1999-2003 period. Guyana
authorities discovered and destroyed more than 6,500 kgs of
marijuana in 2006.

14. Drug Flow/Transit. While there is little concrete evidence of
large cocaine shipments transiting through Guyana, strong anecdotal
evidence suggests that cocaine flows through Guyana's remote,
uncontrolled borders and coastline. Light aircraft land at numerous
isolated airstrips or make airdrops into rivers where operatives on
the ground retrieve the drugs. Smugglers use small boats and
freighters to enter Guyana's many remote but navigable rivers.
Smugglers also take direct routes, such as driving or boating across
the uncontrolled borders with Brazil, Suriname, and Venezuela.

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Inside the country, narcotics are transported to Georgetown by road,
water, or air and then sent on to the Caribbean, North America, or
Europe via commercial air carriers or cargo ships. "Go-fast" speed
boats may also carry cocaine from Guyana's rivers to mother-ships in
the Atlantic. Authorities have arrested drug mules attempting to
smuggle cocaine on virtually every northbound route out of the
international airport.

15. Drug traffickers also use cargo ships to export narcotics from
Guyana, either directly to North America and Europe, or through
intermediate Caribbean ports. In July, Spanish police broke up a
drug-smuggling ring that used yachts hired out for family holidays
to import more than 800 kgs of cocaine into Britain and Spain.
Authorities said the drugs were loaded off Venezuela, Guyana and
Suriname and hidden below the decks while paying passengers took
cruises. Drug traffickers have used export commodities as a cover
for shipping cocaine out of the country. For example, in August
2006, a woman was arrested at Guyana's international airport
attempting to ship approximately 10 kgs of cocaine concealed inside
cabbages.

16. Demand Reduction (Domestic Programs). Marijuana is sold and
consumed openly in Guyana, despite frequent arrests for possessing
small amounts of cannabis. CANU and the 2005-2009 NDSMP both note
that consumption of cocaine powder, crack cocaine, ecstasy, and
heroin has been on the rise. According to local drug abuse
counselors, the number of school-aged ecstasy users has grown
alarmingly. A survey cited in the 2005-2009 NDSMP reported that 27
percent of the 11-19 year-old children interviewed nationwide had
seen cocaine. The same survey reported that 60 percent of children
in Region 1 (on the border with Venezuela) said they had seen
cocaine. The 2005-2009 NDSMP includes several measures to reduce
demand for narcotics. The strategy includes safe lifestyle programs,
stronger health and family life education, targeted surveys and
compilation of social statistics, and a media strategy to promote
drug awareness. The Ministry of Health and the Office of the
President will administer most of these plans. As with the 2005-2009
NDSMP's other components, the government has yet to fully implement
a program to reduce demand for illegal drugs. Guyana's ability to
deal with drug abusers is limited by a lack of financial resources
to support rehabilitation programs. Guyana only has two facilities
that treat substance abuse - the Salvation Army and the Phoenix
Recovery Center. Both of these facilities are "men only" - there
are no treatment facilities for women in Guyana. There are no
adequate programs to deal with substance abuse in the prisons.
IV. U.S. Policy Initiatives and Programs

17. U.S. Policy Initiatives. U.S. policy focuses on cooperating with
Guyana's law enforcement agencies and promoting good governance.
U.S. funded training and technical support are key components of
this strategy. U.S. officials continued to encourage Guyanese
participation in bilateral and multilateral counternarcotics
initiatives. USAID is funding projects to improve governance in
Guyana, which includes parliamentary and judicial reform.

18. Bilateral Cooperation. The DEA works with Guyana's government
and law enforcement agencies to develop initiatives that will
enhance their counternarcotics activities. The GOG recently granted
diplomatic credentials to DEA officers covering Guyana out of
Trinidad. High-ranking representatives from the GPF and the GDF
attended the Regional Air Force Conference in San Antonio in 2006.
U.S. officials continue to work closely with the FIU in its
fledgling efforts to curb money laundering.

19. The Road Ahead. Guyana's lack of resources significantly hampers
its ability to mount an effective counternarcotics campaign. As is
the case in many drug transshipment countries, there is a growing
problem with drug use in Guyana. The U.S. will channel future
assistance to initiatives that demonstrate success in interdicting
drug flows and prosecuting drug traffickers. Efforts in this area
include strengthening Guyana's judicial system, law enforcement
infrastructure, and counternarcotics legislation. Trafficking and
corruption put added pressure on an already challenged economic,
social and political infrastructure. The U.S. will continue to
encourage participation in bilateral and multilateral initiatives,
as well as implementation of current international conventions and
agreements.

END TEXT.


20. Requests for further information should be submitted to John
Zak, Political Officer at zakje@state.gov.

ROBINSON