Identifier
Created
Classification
Origin
07LIMA3776
2007-12-06 19:22:00
UNCLASSIFIED//FOR OFFICIAL USE ONLY
Embassy Lima
Cable title:  

NAS MONTHLY REPORT, NOVEMBER 2007

Tags:  ASEC PREL SNAR KCRM PE 
pdf how-to read a cable
VZCZCXYZ0002
RR RUEHWEB

DE RUEHPE #3776/01 3401922
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
R 061922Z DEC 07
FM AMEMBASSY LIMA
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 7464
INFO RUEHBO/AMEMBASSY BOGOTA 5336
RUEHBR/AMEMBASSY BRASILIA 7684
RUEHLP/AMEMBASSY LA PAZ DEC QUITO 1621
RHMFIUU/DEPT OF STATE AIR WING PATRICK AFB FL
RHEHOND/DIRONDCP WASHDC
RHMFIUU/COGARD INTELCOORDCEN WASHINGTON DC
RULSJGA/COMDT COGARD WASHINGTON DC//G-CI/G-M/G-OLE//
RUCOWCA/COMLANTAREA COGARD PORTSMOUTH VA
RUWDQAA/COMPACAREA COGARD ALAMEDA CA
UNCLAS LIMA 003776 

SIPDIS

SENSITIVE, SIPDIS

STATE FOR INL/LP
STATE FOR WHA/PPC
ONDCP FOR LT COL RONALD GARNER

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: ASEC PREL SNAR KCRM PE
SUBJECT: NAS MONTHLY REPORT, NOVEMBER 2007

REF: LIMA 3638
LIMA 3563
LIMA 3646
LIMA 3707


---------
SUMMARY
---------
UNCLAS LIMA 003776

SIPDIS

SENSITIVE, SIPDIS

STATE FOR INL/LP
STATE FOR WHA/PPC
ONDCP FOR LT COL RONALD GARNER

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: ASEC PREL SNAR KCRM PE
SUBJECT: NAS MONTHLY REPORT, NOVEMBER 2007

REF: LIMA 3638
LIMA 3563
LIMA 3646
LIMA 3707


--------------
SUMMARY
--------------

1. (U) The key developments in November 2007:

** CORAH surpasses the coca eradication goal of 10,000 hectares for CY

2007.

** President Garcia tells visiting ONDCP Director John Walters that he
strongly supports controls on precursor chemicals, money laundering,
and asset forfeiture.

** Narcoterrorists attack PNP station with automatic weapons and
grenades; 4 PNP officers killed in separate incident.

** The PNP killed one and captured eight members of the Shining Path
group in the Upper Huallaga River Valley (UHV).

** Security threats trigger 4-day curfew at Pucallpa base.

** Cuts to aviation budget prompt search for other training methods for
UH-2 pilots; consulting with INL/A and NAS-Bogota.

** Flight Simulator Training System (FSTS) is being studied by NAS and
INL/A.

** NAS is purchasing an aeronautical beacon tracking system that will
reduce flight hours and improve crew safety.

** Agreement with NAS-PNP Police Program was amended to expand police
training at the Tarapoto PNP base.

** The PNP raided its first-ever internal carrier laboratory near the
Lima airport where mules swallowed cocaine pellets.

** Drug arrests and seizures increased by 300 percent at the Lima
Airport, compared to this time last year.

** Demand Reduction Program is establishing a Web portal for community
anti-drug coalitions.

** Sanchez Paredes siblings added to Peru's list of presumed
narco-traffickers.

END SUMMARY

-------------- --------------
PERU REACHES ANNUAL GOAL OF 10,000 HECTARES ERADICATED
-------------- --------------

2. (U) On November 15, CORAH, with significant support from DIRANDRO,
surpassed the 10,000-hectare coca eradication goal for CY 2007. One
strategy that contributed to this success was working on two different
fronts since June. November's totals are 1,644 hectares eradicated,
3459 square meters of seed bed destroyed, and a total of 57,923,089
plants uprooted. Having reached its annual goal, CORAH can now reduce
operations in December in order to stay within budget and not tap into

next year's funds to reach the goal as has been done in years past.


3. (U) NAS spent the last week of November working closely with CORAH
to plan the end of this year's effort and to begin dismantling the
eradication camp at Santa Lucia. In preparation for the 2008 program,
NAS participated in a series of preparatory planning and budget
sessions with CORAH that included a two-day seminar on coca
quantification procedures, hosted by DEVIDA. Aerial reconnaissance of
the areas targeted for eradication operations next year operation were
conducted. Working with the CORAH Executive Director and the Director
of Operations, the final draft of next year's eradication plan is
nearly finished. Coordination meetings with the Aviation and Police
programs will take place in early December, after which the eradication
plan will be presented to USAID for its review and approval, ensuring
that all concerned programs are involved.

--------------
ONDCP DIRECTOR WALTERS VISITS LIMA
--------------

4. (U) On November 5-6 during a visit to Lima, ONDCP Director John P.
Walters met with Peruvian President Alan Garcia, Interior Minister Luis
Alva Castro, and Romulo Pizarro of the Drug Policy Agency (DEVIDA). In
a November 6 meeting with President Garcia, ONDCP Director Walters
emphasized that the U.S. was doing its part to reduce drug consumption
in the U.S., noting reductions n the use of cocaine and supply
shortages on the streets. President Garcia confirmed his government's
strong will to fight narcotics-trafficking in an integrated manner,
with new emphasis on precursor chemicals, money laundering and asset
forfeiture. The meeting followed a press conference in which President
Garcia had announced the GOP would continue with drug interdiction
policies, but would add special emphasis to money laundering cases.
The President assured the Director that one of the central objectives
of his Government was counter-narcotics, including eradication, drug
interdiction, and a concerted effort to intercept chemicals.
See Ref A.

--------------
NARCOTERRORISTS ATTACK ON POLICE STATION
--------------

5. (SBU) An attack by narco-terrorists on a police station in a remote
town in the Apurimac region left one officer dead and three injured on
November 1 (Ref B). According to various media reports, between 40 and
70 heavily armed individuals attacked the Ocabamba police station
around midnight with automatic weapons and grenades. Media analysts
are blaming narco-terrorists, remnants of the Shining Path (Sendero
Luminoso--SL) terrorist group, for the attack. The Police stated the
attack was a revenge killing because of a recent PNP drug seizure in
the area. Minister of Interior Luis Alva Castro visited the scene
later in the day and vowed that Peru's war on drugs will not be
deterred.


6. (U) In a separate incident, a group of up to 40 heavily armed
individuals attacked two PNP vehicles on November 13 in northern
Huancavelica region about 200 kilometers east of Lima, killing 4 PNP
officers (Ref C). According to media reports, the attack was a
response to recent seizures of drugs and precursor chemicals in the
area by the PNP, much like what has been said about the November 1
attack in Ocobamba (Ref B),some 200 kilometers to the southeast.

--------------
POLICE KILL 1 NARCOTERRORIST, CAPTURE 8
--------------

7. (U) A PNP operation, carried out in the early morning hours of
November 27, killed one and captured eight members of the SL
organization in the Upper Huallaga River Valley (UHV). The third in
command in the UHV organization and leader of its forces on the western
side of the Huallaga River was killed in the attack. The eight
suspects captured included the organization's ideological chief,
"Comrade Julian", as well as the head of personal security for the
group's leader "Comrade Artemio" (Ref D).

-------------- --------------
SECURITY THREATS TRIGGER 4-DAY CURFEW AT PUCALLPA BASE
-------------- --------------

8. (U) A curfew from 21:00 to 06:00 was imposed on all U.S. personnel
at the NAS Main Operating Base (MOB) in Pucallpa for 4 days, starting
on November 20. Three recent security incidents triggered the security
measure. First, gunfire occurred at night at a small army base
approximately 5 km from the MOB on November 16. The Army maintained
the attackers were on the outside -- up to 20 armed personnel, possibly
SL. Once a UH-2 flew over the base, the attack ended. Two Peruvian
soldiers were wounded. The attack could have happened inside the base,
or could have been to capture weapons and ammunition (NAS Aviation
stores its ammunition in a bunker on the base). In a second incident
on November 20, a letter addressed to a NAS Guardian at the MOB
demanded a payment of 120,000 USD to prevent any attacks on Americans.
A detailed sketch of the MOB and the locations of fuel and personnel
billets was attached. Finally, the recent release by the GOP of 2,000
criminals from the local prison has caused a steep rise in armed
robberies and murders. Several locals working at the MOB or their
families have been robbed, killed, or injured.

-------------- --------------
BUDGET CUTS THREATEN PILOT TRAINING--A SEARCH FOR SOLUTIONS
-------------- --------------

9. (U) The pilot training needed to maintain the NAS aviation program
in Peru could be severely impacted by proposed budget cuts. In
response, the NAS Directors in Peru and Colombia along with INL/A are
considering conducting initial-entry rotary wing (IERW) training for
Peruvian pilots in Colombia. IERW training in Colombia is sponsored by
the DOD and the State Department loans its UH-1s for the training.
Since there will be little or no DOD 9201 funds available for training
at Fort Rucker, the training in Colombia appears to be a cost-effective
option since it could be done for much less than the $290,000 per
student charged at Fort Rucker. The civilian helicopter school at
Titusville, FL may cancel the special training program it created for
NAS if there are not enough students--a clear possibility. INL/A is
monitoring the situation and has advised the NAS Directors.


10. (U) One proposal being considered is a cost-sharing agreement that
could reduce the need for DOD funding. Another plus would be that
training could be conducted in UH-1s instead of the small piston
helicopters used at Titusville, which translates into fewer flight
hours required for transition training to the UH-2s. This plan could
also be the model for developing pilot training for the region.


11. (U) The unscheduled maintenance price tag on the UH-2s for 2007 is
estimated to be 2.8 million USD and 3.4 million USD for 2008. This
unfunded expense was not foreseen. The maintenance was done by the
contractor DynCorp. The majority of the cost has gone toward replacing
engines, transmissions, and conducting unscheduled inspections and tear
downs because of over-torques and over-temps by pilots. INL/A Director
Nell said that the over-torques and over-temps should be considered a
critical safety-of-flight issue, so we are looking at using a Flight
Simulator Training System (FSTS) to address the issue. Basically,
additional training of our pilots in the SFTS should save helicopter
flight hours and unscheduled maintenance costs. We estimate that 10
percent of our flight-hour training requirements (about 700 hours)
could be done in the SFTS. Using the SFTS would result in fewer
procedural mistakes by the pilots because the mistakes would be made in
the SFTS. The cost for initial setup is being studied. The most
advanced SFTS is not being considered due to availability and cost. A
procedural or vision SFTS without hydraulics may be possible. If an
SFTS is located in Lima, it could be used by other NAS operations in
the region for UH-2 training.

-------------- --------------
SATELLITE TRACKING BEACONS WILL SAVE CREWS AND MONEY
-------------- --------------

12. (U) NAS will be buying a DMR-500 aeronautical beacon tracking
system that will be able to track aircraft by satellite. The beacons
would provide flight track information and compare it to actual flight
plans for safety and recovery efforts if an aircraft goes down. In the
VRAE and the Monzon where the threat level is high, policy specifies no
single aircraft operations due to the potential for being shot down or
becoming missing. This technology will allow NAS to schedule
single-aircraft missions instead of the currently required dual
aircraft missions, which will save critical flight hours.

--------------
POLICE ACADEMY PROGRAM EXPANDS TO TARAPOTO
--------------

13. (U) The existing PNP academy in Tarapoto has been added as the
fourth academy in the NAS-PNP Police Academy program. An addendum was
signed and annexed to the current bilateral agreement between NAS and
the PNP. Parts of the base will be refurbished to accommodate more
students. At the Santa Lucia, a 21-day training course on Tactics and
Operations was conducted by a U.S. military team and DIRANDRO for 80
DIRANDRO personnel from the Special Operations Division (DIVOEDAD) and
the Special Operations Group (GOES). Finally, 607 students from the
three Police Pre-Academies (Mazamari, Ayacucho, and Santa Lucia) will
be taking the PNP entrance examination in early December. Students
recruited from rural areas and indigenous groups east of the Andes
participated in a rigorous academic program to prepare for the
examination.


14. (U) Interdiction operations continued in the VRAE, resulting in the
destruction of 603 cocaine-base laboratories and 14 cocaine HCl
laboratories, and the seizure of 6 metric tons of precursor chemicals.

-------------- --------------
DRUG AND MONEY SEIZURES INCREASE AT PORTS AND BORDERS
-------------- --------------

15. (SBU) On November 8, the PNP Port Intelligence Unit detected its
first-ever an internal carrier laboratory near the Lima airport where
mules swallowed cocaine pellets and where the traffickers provided
accommodations for the mules before they ingested the pellets. DEA was
advised, and a raid was conducted where 4 traffickers were arrested.
10,000 USD, 1,000 Nuevo Soles (approximately 300 USD),and 120 pellets
were also seized.


16. (SBU) In November, Peruvian Customs and the airport police at the
Jorge Chavez International Airport (JCIA) and the Peruvian Post Office
in Lima seized 339 kg of cocaine HCl. Also, 59 internal carriers
(mules) were arrested, with 43 being identified by the x-ray body
scanner. There has been a 300 percent increase in the arrests of mules
at JCIA compared to this time last year. This increase can be directly
attributed to a clear willingness on the part of Peruvian Customs to
conduct interdiction operations using the non-intrusive instruments and
x-ray scanner equipment provided by NAS.


17. (SBU) SUNAT continued its new program to seize illicit money this
month by seizing a total of 73,521 USD: 30,000 USD at the Peruvian Post
Office in Lima destined for Toronto, Canada, and 43,521 USD at Tacna on
the Peru-Chile border.

-------------- --------------
WEB PORTAL COMING FOR COMMUNITY ANTI-DRUG COALITIONS
-------------- --------------

18. (U) NAS is contracting with company to design a Web portal for
community anti-drug coalitions (CAC). CAC members will upload activity
reports, event announcements, photos, etc. to the Web portal for three
purposes: to allow for monitoring and evaluation of the CACs, to
provide a forum for sharing best practices and lessons learned, and to
publicize the efforts of communities to reduce drug abuse. A part-time
Webmaster and technician will maintain the portal once it is designed
and running. Youth groups in the CACs are expected to update the CACs'
web pages.


19. (U) The CAC in central Lima established a youth center
("tele-centro") with videos, books, and Internet access. Based on CAC
sustainability plans, the location and computers were donated by the
municipality; other community organizations also contributed various
resources to the center. NAS contributed less than 50 percent of the
startup costs and the community has committed to providing long-term
support. Another CAC has organized a campaign to enforce the local
ordinance prohibiting both the sale of alcohol to minors and the
consumption of alcohol in the streets or public areas. Alcohol
consumption by minors is a well-researched risk factor leading to
illegal drug abuse.

-------------- --------------
PERUVIAN MEDIA LINKS SANCHEZ PAREDES FAMILY TO NARCOTRAFFICKING
-------------- --------------

20. (SBU) On November 24, after months of media stories linking the
Sanchez Paredes family to narco-trafficking, the Peruvian government's
anti-drug intelligence organizations added the names of four Sanchez
Paredes siblings -- Manuel, Santos Orlando, Fortunato Wilmer, and
Amanda Francisca Sanchez Paredes -- to the list of Peruvian drug
kingpins. The four are siblings of the narco-trafficker Perciles
Sanchez Paredes, who was killed by gunfire in 1991 in Trujillo. This
means the authorities have some facts to investigate the activities of
the family. No charges have been brought.
NEALON