2007-2008 BOSNIA-HERZEGOVINA INCSR REPORT (PART I)

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 03 SARAJEVO 002327

SIPDIS

SIPDIS

DEPT FOR INL (LYLE/KIMMEL); EUR/SCE (FOOKS/STINCHCOMB)

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: PGOV SNAR KCRM BK
SUBJECT: 2007-2008 BOSNIA-HERZEGOVINA INCSR REPORT (PART I)

REF: STATE 136780


1. (U) BELOW FOLLOWS THE 2007-2008 INTERNATIONAL NARCOTICS
CONTROL STRATEGY REPORT (INCSR) PART ONE FOR
BOSNIA-HERZEGOVINA:


I. Summary
Narcotics control capabilities in Bosnia and Herzegovina
remain in a formative period and have not kept pace with
developments in other areas of law enforcement. Bosnia is
still considered primarily a transit country for drug
trafficking due to its strategic location along historic
Balkan smuggling routes, weak state institutions, lack of
personnel in counternarcotics units, and poor cooperation
among the responsible authorities. Although the political
will to improve narcotics control performance exists among
the Bosnian government, faced with ongoing post-war
reconstruction issues, it has to date focused limited law
enforcement resources on war crimes, terrorism and
trafficking in persons and has not developed comprehensive
antinarcotics intelligence and enforcement capabilities.
Despite better cooperation among law enforcement agencies,
gradual improvements in the oversight of the financial
sector, and substantial legal reform, the political divisions
that have paralyzed the Bosnian government have contributed
to poorly coordinated enforcement efforts. Narcotics trade
remains an integral part of the activities of foreign and
domestic organized crime figures that operate, according to
anecdotal evidence, with the tacit acceptance (and sometimes
active collusion) of some corrupt public officials. Border
controls have improved, but flaws in the regulatory structure
and justice system, lack of coordination among police
agencies, and a lack of attention by Bosnia's political
leadership mean that measures against narcotics trafficking
and related crimes are often substandard.

In 2007, Bosnia took some initial steps to set up a
state-level body to coordinate the fight against drugs and
develop the national counternarcotics strategy mandated by
legislation passed in late 2005. In 2007, the Bosnian entity
and local law enforcement agencies continued an anti-drug
campaign to raise awareness about the dangers and effects of
drugs. Bosnia is making efforts to forge ties with regional
and international law enforcement agencies. Bosnia is party
to the 1988 UN Drug Convention.

II. Status of Country
Bosnia is not a significant narcotics producer, consumer, or
producer of precursor chemicals. Bosnia does occupy a
strategic position along the historic Balkan smuggling route
between drug production and processing centers in Southwest
Asia and markets in Western Europe. Bosnian authorities at
the state, entity, cantonal, and municipal levels have been
unable to stem the transit of illegal migrants, black market
commodities, and narcotics since the conclusion of the 1995
Dayton Peace Accords. Traffickers have capitalized in
particular on an ineffective justice system, public sector
corruption, and the lack of specialized equipment and
training. Bosnia is increasingly becoming a storehouse for
drugs, mainly marijuana and heroin. Traffickers "warehouse"
drugs in Bosnia, until they can be shipped out to
destinations further along the Balkan Route. One of the main
routes for drug trafficking starts in Albania, continues
through Montenegro, passes through Bosnia to Croatia and
Slovenia and then on to Central Europe. Information on
domestic consumption is not systematically gathered, but
authorities estimate Bosnia has 120,000 drug addicts.
Anecdotal evidence and law enforcement officials indicate
that demand is steadily increasing. No national drug
information system focal point exists, and the collection,
processing, and dissemination of drug-related data is neither
regulated nor vetted by a state-level regulatory body.

III. Country Actions Against Drugs in 2007.
Policy Initiatives. On November 8, 2005, the Bosnia House of
Representatives passed legislation designed to address the
problem of narcotics trafficking and abuse. Although the
state-level counternarcotics coordination body and national
counternarcotics strategy mandated by the legislation were
not fully in place as of October 2007, Bosnia took some steps
toward this implementation. In February the Ministry of
Security formed a Section for Combating Drug Abuse and
Precursors. In June a working group for the creation of a
national strategy against narcotics held its first meeting,
where it created three subgroups on Prevention/Education,
Suppression, and Treatment. Bosnia is a state with limited
financial resources, but, with USG and EU assistance, it is
attempting to build state-level law enforcement institutions
to combat narcotics trafficking and organized crime and to
achieve compliance with relevant UN conventions. The full
deployment of the State Border Police (SBP) and the

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establishment of the State Investigative and Protection
Agency (SIPA) have improved counternarcotics efforts.
Telephone hotlines, local press coverage, and public
relations efforts have focused public attention on smuggling
and black-marketeering.

Law Enforcement Efforts. Counternarcotics efforts have
improved but remain inadequate given suspected trafficking
levels. Cooperation among law enforcement agencies and
prosecutors is primarily informal and ad hoc, and serious
legal and bureaucratic obstacles to the effective prosecution
of criminals remain. Through September 2007 (latest
available statistics),law enforcement agencies in
Bosnia-Herzegovina (including the State Investigation and
Protection Agency, the State Border Police, Federation
Ministry of Interior, Republika Srpska Ministry of Interior
and Brcko District Police) have filed 774 criminal reports
against 1284 persons for drug related offenses. These
agencies also report having seized 6.8 kg of heroin, 2.7 kg
of cocaine, 2.4 kg of amphetamines, 142 kg of marijuana,
6,235 cannabis plants, 5,060 cannabis seeds, 10,280 Ecstasy
tablets, 29 grams of methadone, 2,285 tablets of "speed", and
166 grams of hashish. The State Border Police (SBP),founded
in 2000, is now fully operational with 2,199 officers and is
responsible for controlling the country's three international
airports, as well as Bosnia's 55 international border
crossings covering 1,551 kilometers. The SBP is considered
one of the better border services in Southeast Europe and is
one of the few truly multi-ethnic institutions in Bosnia.
However, there are still a large number of illegal crossing
points, including rural roads and river fords, that the SBP
is unable to control. Moreover, many official checkpoints
and many crossings remain understaffed. The SIPA, once fully
operational, will be a conduit for information and evidence
between local and international law enforcement agencies, and
will have a leading role in counternarcotics efforts. As of
October 2007, SIPA had hired 1,209 of a proposed staff of
1,700.

Cultivation/Production. Bosnia is not a major narcotics
cultivator. Officials believe that domestic cultivation is
limited to small-scale marijuana crops grown in southern and
eastern Bosnia. Bosnia is not a major synthetics narcotics
producer or refiner.

Corruption. Bosnia does not have laws that specifically
target narcotics-related public sector corruption and has not
pursued charges against public officials on narcotics-related
offenses. Organized crime, working with a few corrupt
government officials according to anecdotal evidence, uses
the narcotics trade to generate personal revenue. There is
no evidence linking senior government officials to the
illicit narcotics trade. As a matter of government policy,
Bosnia does not encourage or facilitate illicit production or
distribution of narcotic or psychotropic drugs or other
controlled substances, or the laundering of proceeds from
illegal drug transactions. Bosnia is a party to the UN
Convention against Corruption.

Agreements and Treaties. Bosnia is a party to the 1988 UN
Drug Convention and is developing bilateral law enforcement
ties with neighboring states to combat narcotics trafficking.
A 1902 extradition treaty between the U.S. and the Kingdom
of Serbia applies to Bosnia as a successor state. Bosnia is
a party to the UN Convention against Transnational Crime and
its protocols against migrant smuggling and trafficking in
persons.

Drug Flow/Transit. While most drugs entering Bosnia are being
trafficked to destinations in third countries, indigenous
organized crime groups are involved in local distribution to
the estimated 120,000 drug users in the country. Major
heroin and marijuana shipments are believed to transit Bosnia
by several well-established overland routes, often in
commercial vehicles. Local officials believe that Western
Europe is the primary destination for this traffic.
Officials believe that the market for designer drugs,
especially Ecstasy, in urban areas is rising rapidly. Law
enforcement authorities posit that elements from each ethnic
group and all major crime "families" are involved in the
narcotics trade, often collaborating across ethnic lines.
Sales of narcotics are also considered a significant source
of revenue used by organized crime groups to finance both
legitimate and illegitimate activities. There is mounting
evidence of links and conflict among, Bosnian criminal
elements and organized crime operations in Russia, Albania,
Serbia and Montenegro, Croatia, Austria, Germany, and Italy.

Domestic Programs. In Bosnia there are only two methadone
therapy centers with a combined capacity to handle about 160
patients. The limited capacity of the country's psychiatric

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clinics, also charged with treating drug addicts, is
problematic, as the number of addicts and drug-related deaths
in the country is rising steadily. It is estimated that
between 70 to 80 per cent of drug addicts who undergo basic
medical treatment are recidivists. The Bosnian government
currently pays for the basic medical treatment of drug
addicts, but there are no known government programs for
reintegrating former addicts into society. Entity and local
law enforcement agencies continued an anti-drug public
information campaign that had begun in 2006 with the
assistance of the European Police Mission. Law enforcement
agencies organized round table discussions and presentations
in elementary and high schools about the dangers of drugs.
In Sarajevo Canton police presented re-integration methods
for former drug addicts and used official dogs to demonstrate
techniques for drug detection. The Viktorija Association
conducted anti-drug campaigns, offered counseling, and
provided therapy to recovering drug addicts. The PROI
Association maintains a private facility to help drug addicts
near Kakanj and expanded its capacity to 20 beds in 2007.
During the year PROI presented anti drug messages to students
through a drama program in elementary schools throughout
Bosnia-Herzegovina. In June PROI organized a race against
drugs involving both a fund-raising event and a large
anti-drug abuse demonstration in downtown Sarajevo. With
UNICEF support PROI also helped 260 drug addicts receive
blood tests to help prevent the spread of HIV/AIDS and
Hepatitis.

IV. U.S. Policy Initiatives and Programs
Policy Initiatives. USG policy objectives in Bosnia include
reforming the criminal justice system, strengthening
state-level law enforcement and judicial institutions,
improving the rule of law, de-politicizing the police,
improving local governance, and introducing free-market
economic initiatives. The USG will continue to work cosely
with Bosnian authorities and the internatinal community to
combat narcotics trafficking an money laundering.

Bilateral Cooperation. The SG's bilateral law enforcement
assistance programcontinues to emphasize task force
training, imprved cooperation between law enforcement
agencies and prosecutors, and other measures against
organized crime, including narcotics trafficking. The
Department of Justice's International Criminal Investigative
Training Assistance Program (ICITAP) program provided
specific counternarcotics training to entity Interior
Ministries, SIPA and SBP. The USG Export Control and Border
Security (EXBS) program provides equipment and training to
law enforcement agencies including the State Border Police
(SBP) and the Indirect Taxation Administration (ITA) to stop
the import of weapons of mass destruction and dual use items.
EXBS Assistance increased SBP and ITA's ability to detect
and interdict contraband, including narcotics. The Overseas
Prosecutorial Development Assistance Training (OPDAT) program
provides training to judges and prosecutors on organized
crime-related matters. The Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA) in
Rome maintains liaisons with its counterparts in Bosnian
state and entity level law enforcement organizations. The
DEA has also sponsored specific narcotic interdiction
training in Bosnia.

The Road Ahead. Strengthening the rule of law, combating
organized crime and terrorism, and reforming the judiciary
and police in Bosnia remain top USG priorities. The USG will
continue to focus its bilateral program on related subjects
such as public sector corruption and border controls. The
USG will assist Bosnia with the full implementations of the
planned national counternarcotics strategy and continue to
support police reform. The international community is also
working to increase local capacity and to encourage
interagency cooperation by mentoring and advising the local
law enforcement community.
ENGLISH