KOSOVO: RESPONSE TO NARCOTICS AND CHEMICAL

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 04 PRISTINA 001057

SIPDIS

SIPDIS

DEPT FOR INL, EUR/SCE AND DRL, NSC FOR BRAUN, USUN FOR DREW
SCHUFLETOWSKI, USOSCE FOR STEVE STEGER

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: PGOV KJUS KCRM EAID KDEM UNMIK YI
SUBJECT: KOSOVO: RESPONSE TO NARCOTICS AND CHEMICAL
CONTROL SECTIONS OF 2006-2007 INSCR



1. (U) Following is the submission from U.S. Office in
Pristina for the narcotics and chemical control sections of
this year's INSCR report.


2. (U) Summary. Kosovo is primarily a transit point for
heroin originating in Turkey and Afghanistan and destined for
Western European countries, but it does have a small and
growing domestic narcotics market. Kosovo faces serious
challenges in its battle against narcotics trafficking. Its
borders are porous, there is potential for corruption among
its poorly-paid and poorly-equipped Border Police and Customs
officers, and its unique status under UNSCR 1244 as a United
Nations-administered territory prevents it from entering into
most bilateral, multilateral and international agreements,
including the 1988 UN Drug Convention. Kosovo's final status
is expected to be determined in 2007, and the United States
and the European Union intend to continue providing rule of
law technical assistance, training and equipment donations,
which will help Kosovo to more effectively counter narcotics
trafficking.

Status of Narcotics in Kosovo


3. (U) Kosovo is a transit point for heroin originating in
Turkey and, to a lesser extent, Afghanistan and destined for
Western European markets. Narcotics traffickers capitalize
on weak border control in Kosovo. The Kosovo Border Police
is a young service, lacks basic equipment, and does not have
a mandate to patrol the green border (areas where there are
no official, manned border or administrative boundary line
gates). NATO's KFOR has roving teams that patrol the green
border, but traffickers easily take advantage of numerous
passable roads leading into Kosovo that lack border or
administrative boundary line gates. Border Police and
Customs agents are also poorly-paid, and thus susceptible to
corruption. Kosovo officials are attempting to tackle the
problem, but United Nations Mission in Kosovo (UNMIK)
officials believe some officers allow narcotics shipments to
pass through the unmanned border and administrative boundary
gates.


4. (U) Kosovo is not a significant narcotics producer, but
Kosovo police have found cases of small-scale marijuana
cultivation in back yards and uncultivated marijuana plants
growing in rural areas. There have been no reports of
chemical seizures in Kosovo, and Provisional Institutions of
Self-Government (PISG) and UNMIK officials do not believe
laboratories are a problem.


5. (U) Information on domestic narcotics consumption is not
systematically gathered, but PISG and UNMIK officials agree
that there is a growing local market and that illegal drug
use is on the rise. The Ministry of Health believes levels
of narcotics consumption among teenagers and university-aged
young adults, the primary users, are comparable to those in
most Western European countries. Drugs of all types,
including heroin, are reportedly available in Kosovo.
Marijuana cases increased in 2006, but the vast majority of
addicts referred for treatment were heroin users.

Kosovo Actions Against Drugs in 2006


6. (U) Policy Initiatives. The Government of Kosovo is just
beginning to address the narcotics problem, and there is no
national counternarcotics strategy. The Kosovo Police
Service (KPS) and Ministry of Health, however, reported that
they are advocating for creation of an inter-ministerial
committee or working group, coordinated through the Office of
the Prime Minister or Deputy Prime Minister, to draft such a
plan.


7. (U) With an eye toward eventual EU accession, Kosovo sent
a representative from the Ministry of Health to an EU
conference on "Tackling the Drug Problem in the Western
Balkans" in September 2006, and determined a number of
priorities for action based on the EU Drugs Strategy
2005-2012. The priorities include evaluation of the current

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situation, definition of a counternarcotics strategy and
action plan, and creation of implementation structures such
as inter-ministerial working groups. Due to the Kosovo
budget cycle and the fact that those priorities were
identified late in the year, officials say little action can
be expected before 2008.


8. (U) Law Enforcement Efforts. The counternarcotics
competency was transitioned from UNMIK to KPS in May 2006,
and narcotics-related arrests have reportedly increased since
the KPS took control. From January to late-November 2006,
the KPS arrested 328 people on narcotics charges and filed
259 narcotics-related cases. In the same period, they
confiscated 13.5 kilos of heroin, 148 kilos of cocaine, 400
kilos of hashish, 27 kilos of processed marijuana, and 24
kilos of marijuana plants.


9. (U) KPS counternarcotics officers face many challenges.
They lack basic equipment and resources, and undercover
operations are complicated by the fact that they can only
monitor mobile telephones on the Vala 900 network. The
Serb-controlled Mobtel mobile telephones and land lines are
beyond their reach. Kosovo's small size also hampers
undercover work because communities are tight-knit and
everyone knows who is working on counternarcotics. The KPS
also noted a decline in effectiveness after it decentralized
the counternarcotics division in 2005. It will return to a
centralized system in 2007.


10. (U) Illicit Cultivation. Kosovo is not a significant
narcotics producer, but the KPS has found some evidence of
small-scale marijuana cultivation. There were six cases of
marijuana cultivation in 2006. Three cases involved
uncultivated marijuana plants, while the other three each
involved about 20 plants found in back yards. There have
been no reports of chemical seizures in Kosovo, and PISG and
UNMIK officials do not believe labs are a problem.


11. (U) Corruption. There have been no arrests or
indications of high-level narcotics-related corruption in
Kosovo. There are reports of corruption among border police
and Customs officers, but the KPS and UNMIK Customs Service
say they are attempting to address it. Cases reportedly tend
to involve officers turning a blind eye to narcotics
trafficking or accepting bribes to allow narcotics to get
through border or administrative boundary gates. KPS
officials see the potential for problems due to the officers'
low salaries and lack of benefits. They believe corruption
exists in the regional counter-narcotics offices.


12. (U) Agreements and Treaties. Due to its unique status as
a UN-administered province of Serbia, Kosovo is not a party
to the 1988 UN Drug Convention or any other international
conventions or protocols. Its constitutional framework,
however, calls on it to respect the principles of UN
conventions.


13. (U) Kosovo is unable to enter into most binding bilateral
or multilateral agreements, but it does cooperate and
exchange information with countries in the region. The
Minister of Internal Affairs attended a Balkan ministerial on
combating organized crime, including narcotics, in Turkey in
2006, which resulted in an oral declaration that participants
would cooperate more closely. Also in 2006, the Deputy
Minister of Internal Affairs met with his counterpart in
Tirana to discuss stronger cooperation on combating organized
crime. Finally, KPS officials reported that a regional
coordination group to include Kosovo, the states of the
former Yugoslavia, Bulgaria, Romania and Moldova, will be
launched in June 2007.


14. (U) Drug Flow/Transit. Kosovo is reportedly a transit
point for heroin from Turkey and Afghanistan, most of which
is destined for Western European countries, including
Switzerland, Germany, the United Kingdom, Italy, Norway, and
Sweden. Kosovars regularly travel to these countries to
visit relatives living in them, and UNMIK and KPS officials

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believe much of the drug trade is managed through family/clan
networks. Most drugs allegedly enter Kosovo overland from
neighboring countries. Officials believe one major route is
from Turkey, through Bulgaria and Macedonia, and another is
from Turkey, through Bulgaria and Serbia. There are reports
of collaborative arrangements between Kosovo Serb and Kosovo
Albanian criminal groups for drug trafficking. Anecdotal
evidence suggests the drugs are broken down into smaller
quantities in Kosovo before heading to Western Europe. UNMIK
officials report a lot of small movements of narcotics, such
as two to five kilos on one person or 10 to 20 kilos in a bag
on a bus. The major transit points are Gjilan, Prizren and
Mitrovica.


15. (U) Domestic Programs. Kosovo lacks an overall policy
for dealing with existing and potential narcotics-related
problems, but the PISG is increasingly aware of the dangers
of narcotics. The Ministries of Health and Education run
some domestic prevention programs, and community police
officers visit schools throughout Kosovo to educate students
about the risks associated with drug use. Non-governmental
organizations assist with some of these efforts.


16. (U) There are no reliable estimates for the number of
drug addicts in Kosovo. Drug treatment is provided by the
Pristina University Hospital Psychiatry Department, but only
one doctor and one nurse are devoted to treating drug
addicts, and there are no structured drug treatment programs.
Methadone is not prescribed because the law does not permit
it. Some addicts reportedly receive anti-anxiety medication
or anti-depressants to relieve withdrawal symptoms, while the
most severe, agitated patients receive anti-psychotics. The
Pristina University Hospital Psychiatry Department says that,
on average, three to four people are in in-patient treatment
at any given time, and the overwhelming majority of them are
heroin addicts. The number of addicts receiving out-patient
treatment is reportedly much higher, but the hospital
declines to give a figure. Other regional medical centers'
psychiatry wards reportedly do what they can to assist drug
addicts, but they do not devote staff to their treatment.


17. (U) The Pristina University Hospital Psychiatry
Department notes that the number of patients is increasing
and it sees an urgent need for a genuine drug treatment
program, which has more and better-trained staff, offers
individual and group therapy, and is separate from the
psychiatric ward. It has developed a two-year strategic plan,
including these goals, but its enactment depends on the
Ministry of Health's approval and funding. The hospital
considers construction of a separate drug treatment facility
a priority because they believe only the most severe cases
ever reach them due to a dual stigma of patients being
labeled drug addicts and erroneously viewed as mentally ill
after seeking treatment in the psychiatric ward.

U.S. Policy Initiatives and Programs


18. (U) Bilateral Cooperation. Kosovo cooperates with the
United States on counternarcotics issues to the extent
possible, but Kosovo's unique political status hampers
bilateral cooperation. Kosovo cannot legally enter into most
bilateral, multilateral or international agreements,
including extradition treaties, until its final status is
resolved.


19. (U) In past years, the United States Government has
trained prosecutors and police on techniques to combat
organized crime, including narcotics trafficking. It has
also provided technical assistance and equipment donations
that directly or indirectly support counternarcotics work in
Kosovo. The United States Government also funds and
contributes the largest contingent of police officers (over
200) in the UN Mission in Kosovo, including monitors and
mentors of KPS officers working on counter-narcotics efforts.


20. (U) The Road Ahead. Kosovo's final status is expected to
be resolved in 2007, and the United States will continue to

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provide rule of law assistance to Kosovo throughout the
transition period. The EU is planning a rule of law mission
under the auspices of the European Security and Defense
Policy (ESDP),which will take over from UNMIK. The U.S. is
coordinating its rule of law assistance goals and priorities
for Kosovo with the EU, and will continue to provide
training, technical assistance and equipment, which directly
or indirectly supports counternarcotics work, to the KPS and
Kosovo's criminal justice sector. In 2007, the U.S.
Department of Justice will conduct extensive training for
prosecutors in the new Kosovo Special Prosecutors Office,
which will handle narcotics trafficking and other sensitive
crimes. The U.S. will also continue to contribute police
officers to the civilian police mission in Kosovo.
KAIDANOW