ONDCP DIRECTOR WALTERS REVIEWS AFGHAN AND OTHER CN ISSUES WITH UK

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 04 LONDON 001279



SIPDIS



SIPDIS



WHITE HOUSE FOR OFFICE OF NATIONAL DRUG CONTROL POLICY;

ROME FOR DEA/RD BENSON; BRUSSELS FOR DEA/ARD SARANTINO



E.O. 12958: DECL: 04/05/2017

TAGS: SNAR, AF, UK

SUBJECT: ONDCP DIRECTOR WALTERS REVIEWS AFGHAN AND OTHER CN

ISSUES WITH UK



LONDON 00001279 001.2 OF 004





Classified By: Labor and Social Affairs Counselor John McNamara, reason

s 1.4 (b) and (d)



1. (C) Summary: In meetings with UK officials, Director

Walters discussed his impressions gathered during his visit

to Afghanistan, which immediately preceded his arrival in

London. The Director also outlined the latest trends in the

U.S. drug situation and provided an update on U.S. policy

initiatives. Both sides expressed frustration with Afghan

Government corruption and President Karzai's ineffective

response. Director Walters pushed the UK side to endorse

extradition of high value targets, but got no commitments.



2. (C) ONDCP Director John P. Walters visited London on March

21, 2007 to meet with UK officials on drug control issues.

Director Walters met with Foreign and Commonwealth Office

Minister of State Kim Howells, Home Office Under-Secretary

Vernon Coaker, and Sir Steven Lander and Bill Hughes, Chair

and Director General, respectively, of the Serious Organized

Crime Agency (SOCA). Ambassador Tuttle accompanied Director

Walters on the calls, as well as Office of Supply Reduction

Deputy Director James O'Gara, Embassy Labor Counselor John

McNamara and ONDCP Policy Analyst Daniel Cuzzolino

(notetaker). DEA London Attache Bruce W. Travers also

participated in the SOCA meeting.



MEETING WITH MINISTER OF STATE KIM HOWELLS



3. (C) Director Walters met with Foreign and Commonwealth

Office Minister of State Kim Howells and staff over

breakfast. The discussion began with an exchange of thoughts

on the international drug control situation. Dr. Howells

expressed disappointment with his recent visit to Venezuela,

expressing serious concern about the extent of public

corruption and its detrimental effect on drug control

efforts. Director Walters described what he viewed as a

major opportunity to increase counterdrug cooperation with

Mexico, considering the aggressive action being taken by

President Felipe Calderon. The Director expressed his

concern for the safety of public officials in Mexico as the

Calderon Administration's campaign against drug trafficking

intensifies.



4. (C) As the conversation turned towards Afghanistan,

Howells expressed his disappointment with the increasing

opium poppy cultivation in the country. He noted that the UK

government is increasingly running into disagreements with

President Karzai. Howells also lamented the extent of public

corruption and the lack of government presence in the

provinces. Director Walters echoed these concerns, noting

that President Karzai has not taken action against drug

trafficking and corruption with the same intensity as Uribe

in Colombia and Calderon in Mexico. Karzai rarely leaves

Kabul, which weakens perceptions of central government

authority.



5. (C) Dr. Howells and Director Walters agreed that the

central issue in Afghanistan is corruption. Director Walters

explained that peasant poppy farmers are not the problem - it

is the corrupt elite that sustains the opium trade. Dr.

Howells agreed and noted that perceptions of central

government corruption have a negative influence on the

counterdrug commitment of provincial officials. Director

Walters observed that often the counterdrug commitment is

highest among those doing the work on the front lines.



6. (C) Howells noted that President Karzai is now so

politically cautious that he will not even accept pilot

projects related to poppy eradication. He expressed concern

that other NATO allies do not appear to be interested in

increasing security and counterdrug efforts in the south, and

that they have even resisted requests by the UK to contribute

to a law and order fund. Dr. Howells expressed his

satisfaction with the Canadian government's efforts in

Afghanistan, but is concerned by the stance of Canada's

Liberal Party opposition, which has expressed support for

poppy legalization.



7. (C) Howells noted that despite the challenges facing

counternarcotics efforts in Afghanistan, there have been

signs that traffickers are setting up financial

infrastructure in neighboring countries such as the UAE,



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Pakistan, and India in order to avoid potential increases in

the strength of the Afghan criminal justice system. Director

Walters noted that while Dubai cooperates with U.S. financial

crime investigations, it only provides information if asked

about specific individuals - there is no "active look" into

Dubai's financial system. The U.S. has experienced success

through targeted financial sanctions such as those

administered by the Treasury Department's Office of Foreign

Assets Control (OFAC). However, these tools rely on

institutions that may be lacking in less developed countries.

Director Walters also explained how DEA had experienced some

success in helping the Afghans drive drug traffickers away

from Nangarhar province and suggested that such operations

should be applied elsewhere in Afghanis

tan.



8. (C) The meeting concluded on the issue of aid. Director

Walters noted that, considering the amount of foreign aid

that has come into Afghanistan, one would expect the Afghan

people to be more loyal to the central government and the

coalition, and that the Taliban would be far less attractive.

Dr. Howells explained that Afghans seem to see the

distribution of aid as zero-sum: the gain of one tribe or

community is seen as a loss to the others. Nevertheless, aid

can be viewed as universally beneficial, especially when it

improves crucial infrastructure. Director Walters

underscored the point that the people need to associate aid

with the central government, and that it needs to have a

tangible presence in their everyday lives.



MEETING WITH HOME OFFICE UNDER-SECRETARY VERNON COAKER



9. (C) After a brief summary of the Director's visit to

Afghanistan, Mr. Coaker briefed the Director on the Home

Office and its role in developing the UK's domestic drug

control policy. The UK's drug strategy focuses on the three

priorities of education, treatment, and law enforcement. Mr.

Coaker reported that the UK is conducting research on how to

improve prevention education and treatment aftercare. After

eight years under the current drug strategy, Mr. Coaker

reported that drug-related crime had fallen 20 percent. Mr.

Coaker acknowledged that while the downgrade of cannabis to a

Class C drug was controversial, it remains illegal and a

target of the UK's strategy of education, treatment, and

enforcement.



10. (C) Director Walters asked Mr. Coaker for an update on

drug use trends in the UK. Mr. Coaker reported that the use

of stimulants has remained stable, but within the population

of users there has been a shift to powder cocaine. Heroin

rates remain stable, and cannabis use has fallen. While the

cannabis trend is positive, the emergence of high-potency

"skunk" marijuana is a serious concern. Methamphetamine,

while not yet a widespread problem in the UK, is a looming

threat, and has been moved up to Class A in the British drug

classification system. Alcohol abuse is a major problem in

the UK, and it is estimated that half of all violent crime in

Britain is alcohol-related. While some in the press and the

public have advocated for alcohol's inclusion in the British

drug classification system, such a move is not likely as

alcohol remains a legal substance. Though difficult, what is

required is a long-term attitudinal change.



11. (C) Director Walters responded with an update on U.S.

drug use trends, discussing the significant declines in youth

use of marijuana and synthetic drugs such as methamphetamine,

Ecstasy, and LSD, while also calling attention to troubling

trends in youth prescription drug misuse. Mr. Walters

explained that the U.S. Government views drug addiction as a

disease and therefore seeks to use public health tools to

reduce rates of use. The Administration is currently working

to increase screening for substance abuse problems in medical

settings and encouraging communities to adopt non-punitive

random student drug testing programs. While U.S. demand

reduction efforts focus on addiction as a disease, supply

reduction efforts focus on the drug trade as a business.

U.S. law enforcement is optimizing its use of intelligence to

disrupt this market by attacking the networks that supply

illegal drugs.



12. (C) Under-Secretary Coaker responded positively to the

Director's remarks, expressing interest in the intelligence



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focus of U.S. supply reduction efforts. Mr. Coaker also

expressed concern about the cynicism prevalent in the media

and popular culture regarding drug control efforts. He

pointed out that attitudes are changing, however, noting that

the Independent on Sunday newspaper recently ran an editorial

apologizing for its advocacy of marijuana decriminalization

and acknowledging the dangers that marijuana use poses to

mental health.



MEETING WITH SIR STEVEN LANDER AND BILL HUGHES, SERIOUS

ORGANIZED CRIME AGENCY (SOCA)



13. (C) The last meeting of the day was with Sir Steven

Lander and Bill Hughes, Chair and Director General,

respectively, of the Serious Organized Crime Agency (SOCA).

The Director again began by discussing some of his

impressions from his recent trip to Afghanistan. Lander and

Hughes noted that they intended to double the size of their

team working in Afghanistan.



14. (C) Sir Steven Lander reviewed some of the work

undertaken by SOCA, in particular an investigation into the

use of cutting agents by organizations smuggling drugs into

the UK. The chemicals being used appear to have little

legitimate use and can be purchased in India cheaply and with

little risk. In addition to traditional means, the UK is

attacking this and other sectors of the market through a

proposed amendment to the Serious Crime Prevention Act. The

amendment would allow civil orders that require a importers

to provide detailed information on suspect transactions,

including the identity of the customer. Director Walters

explained that the United States had in recent years

investigated the cutting of cocaine shipments at the

wholesale level in Colombia, primarily through the use of

caffeine.



15. (C) Director Walters asked Landers and Hughes if fentanyl

had been encountered anywhere in the UK. In 2006 fentanyl, a

powerful synthetic drug, had appeared in several U.S. cities

as an additive in heroin, resulting in about 800 overdose

deaths. The drug is extremely profitable with prices

estimated at over $500,000 per kilogram. Director General

Hughes explained that fentanyl had not appeared in the UK,

but that in many ways the government was "in the dark" with

regard to the UK drug market. Sir Steven noted that the UK's

focus on synthetics needed to improve, as record cocaine

interdictions in the Atlantic could result in an increase in

the use of synthetic stimulants as substitutes.



16. (C) Director Walters noted that the aggressive actions

taken by the Calderon Administration against drug trafficking

in Mexico are very encouraging. Traffickers are feeling the

pressure, and the Director expressed his concern about the

safety of public officials engaged in counterdrug efforts in

Mexico. The SOCA officials shared the Director's positive

view of the Mexican government's actions and underscored the

importance of such efforts to the drug situation in Europe.

More and more Mexican traffickers are being discovered in

Spain, and they are facilitating much of the cocaine

trafficking to Europe. Director Walters explained that the

key to disrupting these organizations is effectively getting

intelligence to operators on the ground.



17. (C) The conversation turned to Afghanistan, and Director

General Hughes described SOCA's efforts to improve

intelligence on Afghan warlords and drug trafficking

organizations. SOCA is increasing its cooperation with

authorities in Dubai to attack the finances of Southwest

Asian drug trafficking organizations through the use of an

extradition agreement and a potential arrangement to share

the proceeds from asset forfeiture. Director Walters asked

Landers and Hughes about the quality of their working

relationship with their military in Afghanistan. Both

asserted that the working relationship between the military

and law enforcement is good, but both are overextended.

Afghanistan's legal system simply does not yet have the

capability to effectively adjudicate and extradite

traffickers. He pushed for extradition of high value

targets, but the UK side would make no commitments.



18. (C) As in the previous meeting with Under-Secretary

Coaker, Director Walters asked the SOCA officials for their



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opinions on the issue of aid money, and why it seems like the

Afghan people are not seeing its benefits. Lander and Hughes

agreed that it is a difficult question to answer. Lander

discussed the need to get more support from NATO allies.

Director General Hughes stated that the problems in

Afghanistan need to be solved soon, and expressed his concern

that crop eradication may not be an advisable policy in the

current environment. Director Walters disagreed, stating

that eradication is one of the key steps that can be taken

right now to counter drug trafficking and the insurgency.

While President Karzai and the political environment in

Afghanistan pose some challenges, there is reason to be

optimistic based on how traffickers have been reacting to

pressure in certain areas.



19. (C) The discussion turned to drug-related data and

intelligence. Director Walters described the system used by

the U.S. Government to determine key characteristics (origin,

production method, etc.) of seized drugs through the

measurement of radioactive isotopes. The Director also

described a pilot project, similar to one conducted in the

UK, that attempted to measure drug consumption through the

presence of metabolites in wastewater. The SOCA officials

were familiar with the project and discussed the difficulty

experienced in reconciling such estimates with other

traditional measures of supply and demand. Sir Steven Lander

also mentioned that SOCA would be initiating a retail cocaine

purchase program.



20. (C) On the issue of marijuana, Director General Hughes

explained that the major trend in the UK is the rise of

indoor high-potency marijuana grow operations, often run by

Vietnamese organized crime groups. Director Walters noted

the similarity between this phenomenon and what has been seen

in Canada. Director General Hughes agreed and stated that he

believes there is a connection. It was Canada's experience

that originally inspired the UK to investigate the phenomenon.



21. (C) On the topic of synthetic drugs, the SOCA officials

explained that the primary source of MDMA in the UK remains

the Netherlands, and that there is a significant trade in the

drug between the UK and Australia. Director Walters asked

Lander and Hughes about the UK's working relationship with

China on precursor chemical control, as China is a primary

source of the raw chemicals used to produce synthetic drugs

like MDMA and methamphetamine. Director General Hughes noted

that China is getting more serious about the issue,

especially as its economy grows and organized crime

establishes a greater presence in the country.



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