2007 INCSR REPORT FOR FRANCE

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 PARIS 007135 SIPDIS FOR INL JOHN LYLE, EUR/WE JOHN LARREA AND CHRIS PALMER SENSITIVE E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: SNAR FR SUBJECT: 2007 INCSR REPORT FOR FRANCE REF: STATE 154928 ¶1. (U) THIS CABLE IS SENSITIVE BUT UNCLASSIFIED -- NOT FOR INTERNET DISTRIBUTION. ¶2. (SBU) BELOW FOLLOWS THE 2007 INTERNATIONAL NARCOTICS CONTROL STRATEGY REPORT (INCSR) FOR THE FRENCH CARIBBEAN: ¶I. SUMMARY French Guiana, Martinique, Guadeloupe, the French side of St. Martin, and St. Barthelemy are all overseas departments of France and therefore subject to French law, including all international conventions signed by France. With the resources of France behind them, the French Caribbean Departments and French Guiana are meeting the goals and objectives of the 1988 UN Drug Convention. The French Judiciary Police, Gendarmerie, and Customs Service play a major role in narcotics law enforcement in France's overseas departments, just as they do in the rest of France. Cocaine moves through the French Caribbean and from French Guiana to Europe, and to a lesser extent, to the United States. II. STATUS The United States considers the broad geographical area of the eastern and southern Caribbean, of which the French Caribbean is a part, an area of concern. A small amount of cannabis is cultivated in French Guiana. However, officials are seeing an increase in cocaine coming directly to France from the French Caribbean, and have therefore created the Martinique Task Force in response. French Customs also takes an active part in the undertakings of the Caribbean Customs Law Enforcement Council (C.C.L.E.C.),which was established in the early 1970's to improve the level of cooperation and exchange of information between its members in the Caribbean. C.C.L.E.C. has broadened its scope to include training programs, technical assistance and other projects. III. COUNTRY ACTIONS AGAINST DRUGS In 2006, there were some 7,600 French troops in the Caribbean area and Guiana who played a major role in countering drug trafficking alongside the U.S. Joint Interagency Task Force South. Cocaine is the most frequently apprehended drug in the Caribbean, with 1,791,995 kilograms of cocaine seized in Martinique, 404,755 kilograms in Guadeloupe and 132,714 kilograms seized in Guiana in 2005 (latest available statistics). These seizures comprised 45.9% of all cocaine seizures in France and its territories. In 2006, important drug seizures in the French Caribbean included the April 29, 2006 discovery by French Customs agents of 808 kilograms of cocaine on board a Gibralter flagged sailboat named "le Canito" in the open seas near Guadeloupe. Three Italian nationals were arrested. On May 2, 2006, French sailors aboard a patrol boat stopped a sailing vessel named "Ocean Breeze" approximately 700 kilometers from Martinique, and recovered some 50 kilograms of cocaine (it was suspected that the boat originally carried approximately a ton of cocaine, but much of the cargo was thrown overboard by the traffickers before the ship could be stopped). On July 2, 2006, two drug seizures of cocaine - 14.044 kilograms and 14.124 kilograms respectively - were discovered in the suitcases of two passengers arriving at Orly airport from a flight originating from Pointe-a-Pitre in Guadeloupe. AGREEMENTS AND TREATIES: In addition to the agreements and treaties discussed in the report on France, USG and Government of France (GOF) counter narcotics cooperation in the Caribbean is enhanced by a 1997 multilateral Caribbean customs mutual assistance agreement that provides for information sharing to enforce customs laws and prevent smuggling, including those relating to drug trafficking. The assignment of a French Navy liaison officer to the U.S. Joint Interagency Task Force-South (JIATF-S) at Key West, Florida has also enhanced law enforcement cooperation in the Caribbean. In October 2005, the French Parliament approved the "Aruba Accord" (formally the "Accord Concerning the Cooperation in Suppressing Illicit Maritime and Aeronautical Trafficking in Drugs and Psychotropic Substances in the Caribbean Region") and in February 2006, France deposited its instrument of ratification in Costa Rica, completing action on the French side. In October 2006, France, along with 11 other nations, signed the "Paramaribo Declaration" at a conference in Suriname, which is an agreement to establish an intelligence sharing network, to coordinate and execute drug sting operations among countries, and to address money laundering. The French Customs and Excise Service operates, together with the French National Police and French National Mounted Police, an interagency drug control training center (named "Centre interministeriel de formation anti-drogue" or CIFAD) in Fort-de-France, Martinique. CIFAD offers training in French, Spanish and English to law enforcement officials in the Caribbean and Central and South America, covering such subjects as money laundering, precursor chemicals, mutual legal assistance, international legal cooperation, coast guard training, customs valuation and drug control in airports. CIFAD coordinates its training activities with the UNDCP, the Organization of American States/CICAD, and individual donor nations. U.S. Customs officers periodically teach at CIFAD. French Customs is co-funding with the Organization of American States (OAS),on a regular basis, training seminars aimed at Customs and Coast Guard officers from O.A.S. member countries. France supports European Union initiatives to increase counter narcotics assistance to the Caribbean. The EU and its member states, the United States, and other individual and multinational donors are coordinating their assistance programs closely in the region through regular bilateral and multilateral discussions. The GOF participates actively in the Caribbean Financial Action Task Force (CFATF) as a cooperating and support nation (COSUN). Stapleton