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

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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.

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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