(UPDATE) 2005 INCSR SUBMISSION FOR ITALY (PART I)

UNCLAS ROME 000323 SIPDIS DEPT FOR INL AND EUR/WE JUSTICE FOR OIA, AFMLS, AND NDDS TREASURY FOR FINCEN DEA FOR OILS AND OFFICE OF DIVERSION CONTROL E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: SNAR IT EUN SUBJECT: (UPDATE) 2005 INCSR SUBMISSION FOR ITALY (PART I) REF: A. ROME 04029 ¶B. STATE 209561 ¶1. In accordance with Ref B instructions, Post submits an update to the INCSR report (Ref A) transmitted in December ¶2005. The updated text and figures below reflect the latest information from the GOI and should be included in the final draft of the INCSR. ¶2. Ref A cable, paragraph five. The Accomplishments should be modified as follows: Accomplishments. Comparing data from 2004, seizures of cocaine and hashish have increased, while those of heroin and marijuana have decreased. In 2005, the Italian police seized over 30,000 kilograms of narcotics, and apprehended 22,000 people. The major nationalities of those arrested were Moroccan, Tunisian, Albanian, Algerian, Nigerian, Spanish, Senegalese, and Colombian. ¶3. Paragraph six and seven, Seizure Breakdown, should read as follows (includes additional text and details): Jan-Dec. Seizure Breakdown (kilograms): Heroin - 1,342 Cocaine - 3,661.6 Hashish - 23,048.9 Marijuana - 2,418 MDMA - 319,484 (tablets) In June 2005, the Italian Carabinieri (military police) concluded a two-year undercover operation targeting a Colombian drug trafficking organization responsible for directing maritime cocaine shipments from South America to Europe. A total of 501 kilograms of cocaine were seized at Italian ports during two separate undercover operations (October 2004 - 161 kgs. and June 2005 - 340 kgs.) The investigation also led to the arrest of 16 Italian and Colombian nationals in Italy, Spain, and Costa Rica. In October 2005, the Italian anti-Mafia prosecutors office issued arrest warrants for 30 individuals who were identified in an international narcotics investigation involving police agencies in Italy, France, Spain, and Argentina. The two-year investigation revealed this organization was transporting large quantities of cocaine from Bolivia, Paraguay, and Argentina to criminal associates located in Spain and Italy. Drug seizures and arrests in all four countries totaled over 1.5 tons of cocaine, 110,000 ecstasy tablets and the arrest of about 60 persons. Also in October, the Carabinieri busted an organized crime-led international drug trafficking network based in southern Italy. Over 40 individuals were arrested and about 100 others were put under investigation. ¶4. The remainder of Ref draft report is the same. SPOGLI