Mozambique - International Narcotics Control

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 03 MAPUTO 001420 SIPDIS SIPDIS AF/S FOR HTREGER USAID FOR AA/AFR AND AFR/SA E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: SNAR MZ SUBJECT: Mozambique - International Narcotics Control Strategy Report (INCSR) - Part I Ref: State 154898 ¶I. Summary ¶1. Mozambique is a transit country for illegal drugs such as hashish, herbal cannabis, cocaine, mandrax (methaqualone), and heroin consumed primarily in Europe and South Africa. Some illicit drug shipments passing through Mozambique may also find their way to the United States and Canada. Drug production mostly is limited to herbal cannabis cultivation and a few mandrax laboratories. Evidence suggests significant use of herbal cannabis and limited consumption of "club drugs" (ecstasy/MDMA),prescription medicines, and heroin by the country's urban population. While the Mozambican government recognizes drug use and drug trafficking as serious issues, the country's porous borders, very poorly policed seacoast, and inadequately trained and equipped law enforcement agencies compound these problems. The United States, the UN Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC), and other donors have established cooperation programs to improve training of drug control officials and provide better interdiction and laboratory equipment. Despite these efforts, drug trafficking interdiction performance has improved only slightly in the past year. Corruption in the police and judiciary continues to hamper counternarcotics efforts, as has the elimination of visa requirements in 2005 for South African and Mozambican citizens traveling between those two countries. Mozambique is a party to the 1988 UN Drug Convention. II. Status of Country ¶2. Mozambique is not a significant producer of illegal drugs. Herbal cannabis for local consumption is produced throughout the country, particularly in Tete, Sofala, and Cabo Delgado provinces. Limited amounts are trafficked to neighboring countries, primarily South Africa. There are indications that small quantities of a low quality ecstasy are manufactured in southern Africa, with Mozambique as a possible producer. During the year, Mozambican authorities continued to raid mandrax facilities and seize production equipment. Mozambique's role as a drug-transit country and a favored point of disembarkation continued to grow, mostly because of general negligence with respect to airport and border security control mechanisms. Southwest Asian producers ship cannabis resin (hashish) and synthetic drugs through Mozambique to Europe and South Africa. Limited quantities of these shipments may also reach the United States and Canada. Heroin and other opiate derivatives shipped through Mozambique usually originate in Southeast Asia and typically transit India, Pakistan, the United Arab Emirates, and later Tanzania, before arriving by small ship or, occasionally, overland to Mozambique. Many traffickers are of Tanzanian or Pakistani origin. Increasing amounts of cocaine from Colombia and Brazil are sent with couriers on international flights from Brazil to Mozambique, sometimes via Lisbon, before being transported overland to South Africa. In the past, drug traffickers recruited young women in Maputo to work as couriers to and from Brazil, but because of growing suspicion concerning female passengers on these flights, traffickers are now also using men. Mozambique is not a producer of precursor chemicals. ¶3. Mozambique has seen growing abuse of heroin among all levels of urban populations. The abuse of mandrax, which is usually smoked in combination with cannabis, continues to be a matter of concern for countries in southern Africa. Shipments of mandrax continue to enter South Africa from India and China, sometimes after passing through Mozambique. The 2005 agreement between South Africa and Mozambique to drop visa requirements has complicated interdiction and enforcement efforts, as information on individuals crossing borders has become even more limited. III. Country Actions Against Drugs in 2006 ¶4. Accomplishments: Mozambique's accomplishments in meeting its goals under the 1998 UN Drug Convention remain limited. Government resources devoted to the counternarcotics effort are meager, and only limited donor funds are available. The Mozambican government carries out drug education programs in local schools in cooperation with bilateral and multilateral donors as part of its demand reduction efforts. ¶5. Law Enforcement Efforts: Mozambique's anti-drug brigade operates in Maputo and reports to the Chief of the Criminal Investigation Police in the Ministry of Interior. The brigade has few resources at its disposal. In 2003 UNODC donated vehicles, night vision binoculars, and drug MAPUTO 00001420 002 OF 003 detection equipment to the brigade, but most of this equipment is in need of repair. The brigade has not received training for several years. With assistance from UNODC, 24 customs officials at the ports of Beira and Nacala received training in 2006. Since July 2005, a 57-person specialized police unit designed to strengthen efforts to fight organized crime, including narcotics trafficking, has operated at airports in provincial capitals. In September 2006, Mozambican and Brazilian authorities signed a memorandum of understanding on principles, in preparation for an eventual extradition agreement for those convicted of trafficking drugs between the two countries. Mozambican authorities seized 4,500 kilograms of marijuana in Mozambique in 2005. As interdiction efforts improve at the Maputo airport, traffickers have used alternate airports, including those of Beira, Nampula, Quelimane and Vilankulos. Publicized seizures in 2006 include: -- The May seizure of one ton of hashish hidden in juice containers in a shipment arriving at Maputo port from Jamaica. -- The May arrest of two Kenyan nationals at Maputo airport in possession of 100 capsules of cocaine. -- The June seizure of 99 capsules of cocaine carried by a Peruvian women arriving at Maputo airport from Brazil. -- The September arrest of a South African citizen arriving from Lisbon (whose flight originated in Suriname) with at least 70 capsules of cocaine in his stomach. -- The October destruction of 33 kilograms of cocaine, most of which had been seized at Maputo airport from drug traffickers arriving from Brazil via Lisbon. ¶6. Maputo police arrested 23 people (13 women and 10 men) in connection with cocaine trafficking in the first nine months of 2006. Some of the arrested received sentences of between 6 and 16 years. On several occasions during the year, Mozambican authorities highlighted a general lack of resources for destroying seized drugs, particularly hashish, cannabis, and cocaine. ¶7. Official Corruption: Corruption is pervasive in Mozambique. However Mozambique has continued efforts to prosecute police and customs officials charged with drug trafficking offenses. The trial of four officers charged with selling the proceeds of a large Pakistani shipment of hashish began in February. As official policy, Mozambique seeks to enforce its laws against narcotics trafficking, but as noted above, confronts difficulties in doing so effectively. Mozambique does not, as a matter of government policy, encourage or facilitate illicit production or distribution of narcotic or psychotropic drugs or other controlled substances, or the laundering of proceeds from illegal drug transactions. No senior official in the government is known to engage in, encourage, or facilitate the illicit production or the laundering of proceeds from illegal drug transactions. ¶8. Agreements and Treaties: Mozambique is a 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. On September 20, 2006, Mozambique deposited at the UN its instrument of ratification on the UN Convention against Transnational Organized Crime. Mozambique has signed, but not yet ratified the UN Convention Against Corruption. ¶9. Cultivation/Production: Cannabis is cultivated primarily in Tete, Sofala, and Cabo Delgado provinces. Intercropping is the most common method of production. The Mozambican government has no reliable estimates of crop size. Authorities have made efforts in 2006 to eradicate cannabis crops through controlled burns. ¶10. Drug Flow/Transit: Assessments of drugs transiting Mozambique are based upon limited seizure data and observations of local and UNODC officials. Mozambique increasingly serves as a transit country for hashish, cannabis resin, heroin, and mandrax originating in Southwest Asia, owing to its long, unpatrolled coastline, lack of resources for interdiction and sea, air, and land borders, and growing transportation links with neighboring countries. Drugs destined for the South African and European markets arrive in Mozambique by small ship, mostly in the coastal areas in northern Cabo Delgado province, but also in Nampula, Sofala, and Inhambane provinces. MAPUTO 00001420 003 OF 003 ¶11. The Maputo corridor border crossing at Ressano Garcia/Lebombo is an important transit point to South Africa. Hashish and heroin are also shipped on to Europe, and some hashish may reach Canada and the United States, but not in significant quantities. Arrests in Brazil, Mozambique, and South Africa indicate drug couriers trafficked cocaine from Colombia and Brazil to Mozambique, often through Lisbon, for onward shipment to South Africa. In addition, Nigerian and Tanzanian cocaine traffickers have targeted Mozambique as a gateway to the South African and European markets. ¶12. Domestic Programs (Demand Reduction): The primary substances of abuse are alcohol, nicotine, and herbal cannabis. The Mozambican Office for the Prevention and Fight Against Drugs (GCPCD) reported in 2006 that there was also significant use of heroin, cocaine, and psychotropic "club drugs," such as ecstasy and mandrax, across Mozambique's urban population. GCPCD coordinates a drug prevention and education program for use in schools and with high risk families; the program includes plays and lectures in schools, churches, and other places where youths gather. It has also provided the material to a number of local NGOs for use in their drug education programs. GCPCD has received some support from bilateral donors for community policing and demand reduction. Drug abuse and treatment options remain limited; according to the GCPCD, the main hospitals in Maputo and Beira, respectively, provide drug treatment assistance in partnership with a local NGO. IV. U.S. Policy Initiatives and Programs ¶13. Bilateral Cooperation: The United States continues to sponsor Mozambican law enforcement officials and prosecutors to attend regional training programs through the International Law Enforcement Academy (ILEA) for Africa in Botswana. Law enforcement officials have also received training at ILEA in New Mexico. The United States has supported the police sciences academy (ACIPOL) near Maputo, by providing training and technical assistance in the areas of drug identification and investigation, as well as other areas of criminal sciences. Technical assistance programs at the police academy focus on methods to foster better relations between the community and the police. Among other topics, courses provided by technical specialists include courses on drug interdiction. In 2006 the United States delivered 50 special purpose bicycles and trained bicycle patrol police for a pilot community policing program. USAID provides training support to the Attorney General's Central Office for the Combat of Corruption (GCCC),formerly the anticorruption unit. ¶14. The Road Ahead: U.S. assistance in support of the GCCC will continue in 2007, with plans to place a short-term regional legal advisor at the unit for a period of six months through the Department of Justice Overseas Prosecutorial Development Assistance and Training program. Additionally, plans are underway to improve Mozambique's border security capabilities. A Department of Homeland Security border assessment team visited Mozambique in October. This assessment visit will be followed by the provision of mainly communication equipment, along with technical training, to boost Mozambican border control capabilities. Also, US funding is expected in the near future to purchase shallow draft vessels for limited coastal security work. Raspolic