DEA DELEGATION MAKES THE ROUNDS, AND A CASE FOR

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 ASHGABAT 000904

SIPDIS

SENSITIVE
SIPDIS

STATE FOR SCA/CEN, EUR/CARC, EUR/RUS, ISLAMABAD FOR DEA,
ANKARA FOR DEA

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: PBTS PREL SNAR TX
SUBJECT: DEA DELEGATION MAKES THE ROUNDS, AND A CASE FOR
FUTURE COOPERATION

REF: ASHGABAT 871


1. (SBU) Classified By: Charge d'Affaires Richard Hoagland
for reasons 1.4 (B) and (D).


2. (SBU) U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) Special
Agents Paul Hackett and Edward Coffey visited Turkmenistan
August 13-18 to start rebuilding contacts with Turkmenistan's
major law-enforcement and counter-narcotics agencies
following several years without any visits by DEA agents.
While the meetings were pleasant and officials were clearly
interested in strengthening cooperation with DEA, the
response was always the same: please send a diplomatic note
via the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Although this response
is not surprising, given both DEA's long absence and the
"diplomacy-by-dipnote" culture here, we believe that more
frequent visits by DEA, and a concerted effort to show the
benefits of cooperation may eventually make it easier to work
directly with counterparts. END SUMMARY.

INITIAL FRUSTRATION WITH UNTRUTHS...


3. (SBU) U.S. Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA) Special Agents
Paul Hackett and Edward Coffey are the first DEA agents to
visit Turkmenistan in several years. From August 13-18,
2007, they attended the Imamnazar Border Crossing opening
ceremonies and met with officials at Turkmenistan's Ministry
of Internal Affairs (MVD) Counter-Narcotics Unit, Criminal
Research Center and Forensic Laboratory (funded by the U.S.
government's ICITAP program),State Counter-Narcotics
Commission, State Customs Service, State
Border Service, Ministry of National Security (MSB),and
the United Nations Development Programme/European Union
TACIS-sponsored Border Management in Central Asia office
(BOMCA).


4. (SBU) Despite the warm reception, officials were
reluctant to share statistics or agree to specific proposals.
For example, the MVD Counter-Narcotics Unit did not want to
share the statistics from the recent drug burn attended by
Deputy Assistant Secretary Evan Feigenbaum, although the
press had openly reported the statistics. However,
Turkmenistan officials were willing to share general
information about their work, emphasizing their willingness
to coordinate with international counter-narcotics
counterparts via Interpol.

CAUTIOUSLY OPTIMISTIC DUE TO SOME OPENINGS


5. (SBU) Hackett and Coffey stressed throughout their visit
that they valued contacts with their Turkmenistan
counterparts and that combating major drug trafficking
organizations required a joint international effort. They
found the State Customs Service and the MNB to be the most
engaged in meetings, answering questions directly and asking
questions in return. However, when they requested the name
of a working-level contact or contacts with whom they could
liaise on counter-narcotics leads requiring especially quick
action, they hit the same response everywhere: all requests
must be submitted by diplomatic note. Noting the special
agents' growing frustration, however, the Chairman of the
State Counternarcotics Commission, Myrat Yslamov, suggested
that it might be possible to obtain such a contact, but that
such a request needed to go through appropriate channels.
Yslamov urged Hackett and Coffey to send a diplomatic note
explaining their interest in developing a one-on-one
relationship with a working-level contact. (NOTE: This is a
new area of engagement, and so a request for an initial
dipnote is not surprising. We will follow up. END NOTE.)


6. (SBU) COMMENT: President Berdimuhamedov told A/S Sullivan
Turkmenistan recognizes narcotics as a serious national
problem and that Turkmenistan will no longer hide such

ASHGABAT 00000904 002 OF 002


information. Seeping his views down to a cautious
bureaucracy unused to working with the West will take time on
counter-narcotics, as it will on every other issue.


7. (SBU) COMMENT CONTINUED: Notwithstanding the increased
willingness to pursue bilateral cooperation that we have
experienced since the former president's death, first-time
visitors seeking to engage Turkmenistan counterparts
regarding cooperation can still expect that the meetings will
serve an introductory purpose. However, they should be
viewed positively, as an opportunity to lay the groundwork
for partnerships in the future. Counternarcotics and border
enforcement traditionally have been some of the most
successful areas of cooperation between the United States and
Turkmenistan, and we see Yslamov's suggestion as a positive
signal that Turkmenistan counter-narcotics authorities want
to do more with DEA, as long as they get the political
coverage to do so. We believe that more frequent visits by
DEA, and a concerted effort to show the benefits of
cooperation may eventually make it easier to work directly
with counterparts. END COMMENT.


8. (U) Special Agents Hackett and Coffey have cleared this
cable.
HOAGLAND