2007-08 INTERNATIONAL NARCOTICS CONTROL STRATEGY REPORT

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 03 ABU DHABI 001840

SIPDIS

SIPDIS

DEPARTMENT FOR NEA/ARP, NEA/RA, INL

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: SNAR KCRM AE
SUBJECT: 2007-08 INTERNATIONAL NARCOTICS CONTROL STRATEGY REPORT
UNITED ARAB EMIRATES: DRUGS AND CHEMICAL CONTROL

REF: STATE 136782

I. Summary
Although not a narcotics-producing country, the United Arab Emirates
(UAE) is believed to be a transshipment point for traffickers moving
illegal drugs from major drug production and transit countries,
including Afghanistan and Pakistan. Frequent reports of seizures of
illegal drugs in the UAE over the past few years underscore this
conclusion. Most seizures have been hashish. There are several
factors that render the UAE a way station, including its proximity
to major drug cultivation regions in Southwest Asia and a long (700
kilometer) coastline. High volumes of shipping render UAE ports
vulnerable to exploitation by narcotics traffickers. There are
numerous reports that drugs leave Iran and Pakistan by vessel and
move to the UAE, among other destinations, in the Gulf. In
September 2005, the U.S. DEA established a country office in the UAE
to enhance cooperation with UAE law enforcement authorities. The
UAE is a party to the 1988 UN Drug Convention. In 2007, the UAE was
re-elected as the Asian region representative to the Commission on
Narcotic Drugs (CND). The UAE ratified the UN Convention against
Transnational Organized Crime on May 7, 2007.
II. Status of Country
A major regional financial center and hub for commercial shipping
and trade, the UAE is a transshipment point for illegal narcotics
from the drug-cultivating regions of Southwest Asia, to Europe, to
Africa, and less significantly, to the United States, as well as a
key location for narcotics money laundering by international drug
traffickers -- including possibly from South America -- in the Gulf
region. Western Europe is the principal market for these drugs, and
Africa is becoming an increasingly prominent secondary market.
Factors that contribute to the role of the UAE as a transshipment
point are the emergence of Dubai and Sharjah as regional centers in
the transportation of passengers and cargo, a porous land border
with Oman, an easily accessible commercial banking system, and the
fact that a number of ports in the UAE have free trade zones where
transshipped cargo is not usually subjected to the same inspection
as goods that enter the country.
III. Country Actions Against Drugs in 2007
Policy Initiatives. The UAE continued to advance its national drug
strategy based on intensifying security at the country's air and sea
ports and patrols along the coastline, reducing demand for illegal
drugs through educational campaigns, enforcing harsh penalties for
trafficking, and establishing programs to rehabilitate drug addicts.
The UAE's Federal Supreme Court ruled in 2003 that authorities
needed proof that drug use occurred in the UAE before it could
prosecute users. A positive blood test is considered evidence of
consumption, but not evidence of where the consumption took place.
On March 29, 2007, Dubai Police and the United Nations Office on
Drug and Crime (UNODC) signed a USD 1.2 million project, fully
funded by the Dubai Police, to combat drug abuse and drug
trafficking in the UAE and in the region. The project will last for
two and a half years (starting from April 2007). The project
agreement has four elements. Dubai Police will play a leading role
in reversing increased drug trafficking and drug abuse among young
people in the UAE and other states of the region. UNODC will help
upgrade the Dubai Police Training Centre into a center of excellence
for the region-wide transfer of knowledge and the training of law
enforcement staff to ensure that they have the skills needed to cope
with an increased influx of narcotic drugs. UNODC will assist Dubai
and the UAE as a whole to develop a coordinated national action plan
on drug demand reduction. UNODC will help develop and implement
national drug abuse and HIV/AIDS prevention modules for schools and
universities to address young people in a way that suits the culture
of the Gulf region.
In September of 2005, the UN established a sub-office on Drugs and
Crime in Dubai. The UAE Government funded the estimated $3 million
cost of the office and contributed an additional $50,000 to the UN
counter-narcotics program.
Law Enforcement Efforts. According to published remarks of the
Director of Drugs Department of the Ministry of Interior, speaking
at the Arab Symposium for Planning and Strategic Cooperation in Drug
Combating, the UAE arrested 3,869 persons in drug cases from 2006 to
August 2007. During that timeframe, the total amount of seized
hashish was 1,286 kg, heroin 240 kg, opium 13 kg, and approximately
three million "drug tablets." Abu Dhabi Police reported 162 arrests
in the first half of 2007. Most of the arrestees were Iranians,
Pakistanis, Africans and UAE nationals. By way of example, in
August, 2007, Dubai customs inspectors stopped 33 smuggling attempts
of hashish, opium, marijuana and other narcotic drugs.

A 1995 law stipulates capital punishment as the penalty for drug
trafficking. Sentences usually are commuted to imprisonment. In
March 2007, the Sharjah Islamic Sharia Court handed a death sentence
to an Iranian drug trafficker who smuggled 267 kg of hashish into
the UAE. In April 2007, the Ajman Court sentenced a drug trafficker
to life imprisonment. UAE authorities continue to take seriously
their responsibility to interdict drug smuggling and distribution.
UAE authorities continue to cooperate with other counties to stop
trafficking. In June 2007, the UAE Ambassador to Pakistan, Ali Al
Shamsi, announced to the Associated Press of Pakistan (APP) that the
UAE already had a drug liaison office in Islamabad and was in the

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process of establishing another one in Karachi. Al Shamsi stated
the UAE also shares information with other GCC countries to check
the flow of narcotics.
Corruption. The government of the UAE as a matter of policy does
not encourage or facilitate illicit production or distribution of
narcotic or psychotropic drugs or other controlled substances or the
laundering of proceeds from drug transactions. Senior officials are
not known to engage in or to facilitate illicit production of these
drugs or to profit from the laundering of proceeds from drug
transactions. There is no evidence that corruption -- including
narcotics related corruption -- of public officials is a systemic
problem.
Agreements and Treaties. The UAE is party to the 1988 UN Drug
Convention, the 1961 UN Single Convention as amended by the 1972
Protocol, and the 1988 UN Convention on Psychotropic Substances.
The UAE signed the UN Convention against Transnational Organized
Crime on December 9, 2002 and ratified it on May 7, 2007. The UAE
is a party to the UN Convention against Corruption. In September
2007, the UAE and Russia signed an agreement for cooperation in the
field of counterterrorism, prevention of organized crimes, money
laundering and other forms of dangerous crimes. The agreement,
among other provisions, calls for cooperation to prevent trafficking
in narcotic drugs.
Cultivation/Production. There is no evidence of any major drug
cultivation and/or production in the UAE. Published records show
that there were two cases of "planting" drugs in the Emirate of Ras
Al-Khaimah in 2004, with a total of three persons arrested.
Drug Flow/Transit. High volumes of shipping and investment
development opportunities render the UAE vulnerable to exploitation
by narcotics traffickers and narcotics money laundering. The UAE --
and Dubai, in particular -- is a major regional transportation,
financial, and shipping hub. Narcotics smuggling from South and
Southwest Asia continues to Europe and Africa and to a significantly
lesser degree to the United States via the UAE. Hashish, heroin,
and opium shipments originate in Afghanistan, Pakistan, and Iran and
are smuggled in cargo containers, via small vessels and powerboats,
and/or sent overland via Oman. According to published figures,
Iranians, Pakistanis, Afghanis and Africans made up the largest
number of non-UAE nationals arrested in drug cases in 2007.
Recognizing the need for increased monitoring at its commercial
ports, airports, and borders, the UAE is making an effort to tighten
inspections of cargo containers as well as passengers transiting the
UAE. In December 2004, the Emirate of Dubai signed the Container
Security Initiative (CSI) with the U.S. CSI inspectors arrived in
Dubai in 2005 and are now inspecting containers destined for the
U.S. Customs officials randomly search containers and follow-up
leads on suspicious cargo.
Domestic Programs/Demand Reduction. A 2003 report noted that the
majority of UAE drug users take their first doses abroad, primarily
because of peer pressure. Statistics reveal that 75 percent of drug
users in the UAE prefer hashish, 13 percent use heroin, while six
percent use morphine. The report illustrates a clear relationship
between drug abuse and level of education-75 percent of arrested
drug users in 2002 were high school graduates, but only two percent
were university graduates. While the data is a few years old,
trends reported are still reflective of current societal patterns.
The focus of the UAE's domestic program is to reduce demand through
public awareness campaigns directed at young people.

The UAE has also established rehabilitation centers and several
awareness programs. It has been issuing postage stamps to highlight
the hazards of drugs as part of its awareness campaigns. Every
year, the Ministry of Interior holds a high-profile "Drug Awareness
Week" with exhibits prominently set up in all of the local shopping
malls to coincide with International Anti- Narcotics Day on June 26
every year. The theme of the 2007 commemorations in Abu Dhabi was
"Drugs, The Way To Peril, So Choose Your Way."

The UAE has trained volunteers to educate people about the risks of
drug use. During 2007, Dubai police trained both Emirati volunteers
in UAE and 30 volunteers from Kuwait.
UAE officials believe that adherence to Muslim religious morals and
severe prison sentences imposed on individuals convicted of drug
offenses effectively deter narcotics abuse. An affluent country,
the UAE has established an extensive treatment and rehabilitation
program for its citizens. There is a rehab center in Abu Dhabi, two
in Dubai, and one each in Ajman and Sharjah for those identified as
addicts. In accordance with federal law, UAE nationals who are
addicted can present themselves to the police or a rehabilitation
center and be exempted from criminal prosecution. Those nationals
who do not turn themselves in to local authorities are referred to
the legal system for prosecution. Third-country nationals or "guest
workers" who make up approximately 80 percent of the population
generally receive prison sentences upon conviction of narcotics
offenses and are deported upon completing their sentences. Most UAE
nationals arrested on drug charges are placed in one of the UAE's
drug treatment programs. They undergo a two-year drug rehabilitation
program, which includes family counseling/therapy.
IV. U.S. Policy Initiatives and Programs
Bilateral Cooperation. The DEA Administrator visited the UAE in July

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2005 to enhance counter-narcotics cooperation with the UAE. During
her visit, she proposed, and the UAE accepted, establishing a DEA
presence in the UAE to work closely with UAE authorities. The first
DEA office was established in September 2005 in Dubai. DEA
officials work with UAE authorities to combat both drug smuggling
and drug related money laundering. Bilateral cooperation between
U.S. law enforcement officials and UAE authorities has yet to
achieve its potential, however, owing to the lack of a US-UAE Mutual
Legal Assistance Treaty (MLAT). Formal MLAT talks took place in
February 2005 but no agreement was concluded. Since that time UAE
increasingly has cited the absence of an MLAT as grounds for
refusing assistance requested on drug and money laundering matters.
UAE provides limited assistance on the basis of reciprocity, but has
demonstrated a strong preference for formal judicial and law
enforcement relationships. It also issued Law 39 of 2006,
containing a set of procedural rules governing judicial assistance
in criminal matters. UAE has recently negotiated MLATs with
Australia, China, France, Iran, Italy, Russia, South Africa, Spain,
Turkey and the United Kingdom.
Sison