NAS MONTHLY REPORT, OCTOBER 2006

UNCLAS LIMA 004270 SIPDIS SIPDIS STATE FOR INL/LP STATE FOR WHA/PPC ONDCP FOR LT COL RONALD GARNER E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: SNAR KCRM ASEC PREL PE SUBJECT: NAS MONTHLY REPORT, OCTOBER 2006 REF: LIMA 3995 -------------- SUMMARY -------------- ¶1. (U) The key developments in September 2006: ** As of October 31, CORAH eradicated 9,716 hectares of coca leaf. ** Interior Minister Pilar Mazzetti reaffirms the police's right to repel violence directed at CORAH by cocaleros. ** Police "pre-academy" opens in Santa Lucia with strong community support. ** Maintenance problems with MI-17 heavy-lift helicopters hinder airlift for eradication. ** Pineapple juice used to mask 808 kg of cocaine HCl. ** Two Mexican nationals seized at airport with 8 kg of Peruvian heroin in their false-bottom suitcases. ** The NAS Money Laundering program seeking to identify legislative and operational barriers to effective enforcement. ** Community anti-drug coalitions expanding areas and learning to be self-sufficient. ** NAS is developing a new evaluation instrument to gauge CAC progress and impact. END SUMMARY -------------- -------------- ERADICATION CONTINUES, UNFAZED BY COCALERO PROTESTS -------------- -------------- ¶2. (U) As of October 31, CORAH has eradicated 9,716 hectares of coca leaf and eliminated 33,456 square meters of seedbeds. CORAH continues to hop-scotch around the area of Tocache/Uchiza in the San Martin region to frustrate attempts by cocaleros to gather and stage confrontations. On several occasions, minor protests by coca farmers have aimed at disrupting eradication operations, but effective police protection has allowed CORAH to average 30 hectares a day. Interior Minister Pilar Mazzetti has taken a firmer public stance against the cocaleros and in favor of the eradication program, stating: "Police have a right to repel violence", which is providing important support for the police protecting the eradicators (Reftel). -------------- -------------- POLICE "PRE-ACADEMY" GAINS SUPPORT FROM COMMUNITY -------------- -------------- ¶3. (U) NAS is working closely with the PNP to improve the quality of the applicants to the NAS-sponsored police academies East of the Andes by funding "pre-academies" (post-secondary schools) to raise the educational level of academy applicants. Not all the graduates of the schools are expected to qualify for the police academy; those who do not would return to contribute to their communities. The first school has been started in Santa Lucia, with close to 200 students now enrolled. The program has been warmly welcomed by the local populace and local authorities. NAS and the PNP are also planning for schools in Mazamari and Ayacucho. ¶4. (U) The DIRANDRO Special Operations Group destroyed 79 cocaine-base laboratories and tons of precursor chemicals and coca leaf in the VRAE. To date, a total of 678 cocaine-base laboratories, 186 tons of precursor chemicals, and 870 tons of coca leaf were destroyed, which translates into averting the production of 9.5 tons of cocaine HCl in the VRAE. Currently, the coca leaf price in Aguaytia is 120 nuevo soles per arroba (11.5 kg),about 100 in Tocache, and 70-80 in the VRAE. -------------- --- NAS UNABLE TO DEPEND ON MI-17 HELOS FOR SUPPORT -------------- --- ¶5. (U) The eradication efforts have been supported with eight UH-2s and two PNP MI-17s. The heavy-lift MI-17s are an important part of NAS airlift for eradication, yet one of the MI-17s is routinely grounded for maintenance. NAS has not been able to depend on them. The only reliable source of transportation is the UH-2s, therefore, it was critical that NAS just received the remaining five UH-2s that had been on loan to INL/A for training crews for Afghanistan. ¶6. (U) The NAS-supported FAP C-26s with FLIR detected one new clandestine runway in the vicinity of Tarapoto and verified the condition and use or non-use of 14 other known clandestine runways. -------------- -------------- COCAINE HCL MIXED WITH PINEAPPLE JUICE SEIZED IN CALLAO -------------- -------------- ¶7. (U) On October 15 at the Port of Callao, NAS, with DEA assistance, provided information to Peruvian Customs/DIRANDRO which led to the seizure of 808 kg of liquid cocaine HCL masked in pineapple juice within jars of pineapple slices/sections. This was the second shipment by this particular drug-trafficking organization (DTO); the first shipment was transshipped through Savannah, Georgia in August 2006 (final destination unknown). Related to the seizure in Callao, the same DTO send a third shipment of pineapple to Turkey this month. DEA issued an International Alert on the shipment, which allowed Turkish officials to seize another 800 kg of cocaine HCl. In addition, the Manifest Review Unit (MRU) has sent International Alerts to the U.S. and the Bahamas on containers suspected of carrying cocaine HCl. Results of these alerts will be reported on separate REFTEL as soon as they are available. On October 26th, at the Unimar terminal in Callao, 82.20 kg of cocaine was found in ceramic handicrafts. ¶8. (U) At the Jorge Chavez International Airport, a total of 203.45 kg of cocaine was seized by NAS-sponsored Airport Police and Customs units, using non-intrusive instruments and canines trained in the U.S. Since the NAS began its airport program in January 2006, over 1,600 kg of cocaine HCl has been seized. On October 18, the US Department of Homeland Security (DHS) received assistance from NAS personnel in intercepting a person attempting to board an aircraft with a fraudulent U.S. visa and Peruvian passport. The imposter was headed for Newark, New Jersey. On October 28, 8 kg of Peruvian heroin was found in two false-bottom suitcases belonging to two Mexican nationals from Guadalajara. This seizure is the largest heroine interdiction ever at the airport. At the Peruvian Post Office 48.5 kg were seized this month, for example, 12 kg of cocaine was being sent to New Jersey. ¶9. (U) On October 14, the NAS/DEA-sponsored National Ports Intelligence Group provided information to DIRANDRO that led to the seizure of 314 kg of a mixture of half cocaine-base/half cocaine HCl, along with several automatic weapons, approximately one-hour by river from Iquitos in the Loreto region. The cocaine was destined for transshipment from the Amazonian River port of Iquitos. -------------- MONEY LAUNDERING AGENDA ADVANCES -------------- ¶10. (U) NAS staff held a series of meetings with prosecutors, police, and representatives from the GOP's Financial Intelligence Unit and other GOP institutions to initiate a dialog towards developing a work agenda for the coming 12 months. One pressing need identified was the lack of a diagnostic of money laundering issues, including legislative and operational roadblocks to successful prosecutions and an effective assets-forfeiture regime. NAS and our collaborators are working to develop this diagnostic report and a set of action plans to address the issues it identifies. -------------- -------------- ACHIEVABLE GOALS SET FOR COMMUNITY ANTI-DRUG COALITIONS -------------- -------------- ¶11. (U) This month marks the beginning of the second year for the six community anti-drug coalitions (CAC) in Lima. One focus for the coming year will be on expanding the area served--in some cases quadrupling the area. The NGOs guiding the coalitions will aim to strengthen the self-governing aspect of the coalitions and secure official recognition of the CACs by the municipalities. The CAC Governing Council (members of the community) will work on proposals requesting funds from the municipality and other institutions to support coalition activities (one CAC has already achieved this goal). ¶12. (U) NAS will be awarding a grant to do a baseline study of community attitudes toward drugs that will be used to evaluate the impact of the CACs in the future. The baseline indicators will be based on the Strategic Prevention Framework of the USG's Center for Substance Abuse Prevention (CSAP),and the study's methodology will allow comparison with OAS/CICAD's regional drug abuse surveys. In addition, NAS will launch a social-marketing campaign to reach Peruvians at the community level to educate them about the negative and wide-ranging effects to their society by narcotrafficking and coca cultivation. STRUBLE