NIGERIA: 2008-2009 INTERNATIONAL NARCOTICS CONTROL STRATEGY

UNCLAS ABUJA 002170 SIPDIS STATE FOR INL/AAE JUSTICE FOR OIA, AFMLS, AND NDDS TREASURY FOR FINCEN DEA FOR OE, OI, OD and OC LAGOS FOR DEA AND FBI E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: SNAR KCRM NI IZ SUBJECT: NIGERIA: 2008-2009 INTERNATIONAL NARCOTICS CONTROL STRATEGY REPORT (INCSR) PART I, DRUGS AND CHEMICAL CONTROL (AF, WHA) REF: 08 STATE 100970 ¶I. Summary Nigeria is a major trafficking hub in West Africa. Afghan heroin and South American cocaine transit Nigeria on their way to markets in Europe, and the U.S. Heroin transiting Nigeria has a significant impact on the United States. More recently, there is clear evidence from seizures at the main international airports, Abuja and Lagos, that Nigerian criminal organizations are sending numerous low level drug couriers or "mules" to Europe, especially to Spain. Typically, these mules ingest about a kilo of cocaine and try to smuggle the drugs to their destination. Many have been apprehended when attempting to depart through Nigeria's international airports as a result of the use of modern scanning equipment donated to Nigeria by the U.S. State Department anti-drug assistance program. Nigerian organized criminal networks are a major factor in moving cocaine and heroin worldwide. Many of these organizations are not based in Nigeria, but there is ample evidence that large quantities of both cocaine and heroin transit Nigeria for markets in the West. In addition to drug trafficking, some of these organizations are also engaged in advance-fee fraud and other forms of fraud against U.S. citizens and businesses. These include document fabrication, illegal immigration, and financial fraud. Their ties to criminals in the United States, Europe, South America, Asia, and South Africa are well documented. Nigerian poly-crime organizations exact significant financial and societal costs, especially among West African states with limited resources for countering these organizations. Despite significant oil revenues and a growing economy, Nigeria has been unable to tackle the problem of poverty for the vast majority of Nigerians. Widespread under/unemployment also contributes significantly to the continuation and expansion of drug trafficking. Corruption makes the traffickers' task easier. These factors, combined with Nigeria's central location along the major trafficking routes and access to global narcotics markets, have provided both an incentive and mechanism for criminal groups to flourish and for Nigeria to emerge as a major drug trafficking hub. Heroin from Southeast and Southwest Asia that is smuggled via Nigeria accounts for a significant portion of the heroin reaching the United States. Nigerian criminal elements, operating in South America, trans-ship cocaine through Nigeria to Europe, Asia, and other parts of Africa. South Africa is a major destination for Nigerian-trafficked cocaine within Africa. In Nigeria, the only drug that is being cultivated in significant amounts domestically is Cannabis Sativa (marijuana). Home-grown marijuana is Nigeria's most common drug of abuse and is exported to neighboring West African countries and to Europe, but not in significant quantities to the United States. Nigeria is a party to the 1988 UN Drug Convention. II. Status of Country Nigeria's National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) is responsible for the enforcement of laws against illicit drug trafficking. It also plays the lead role in demand reduction, drug control policy formulation and implementation in the country. In 2008, the NDLEA requested and justified its budget, which totals $55,649,307. Funds for capital projects alone total $10,462,458. NDLEA has 46 field operational commands, seven (7) established Directorates and nine (9) autonomous units and offices that work together to carry out the drug control mandate of the Agency. Additionally, the recent computerization of the Agency's administrative and accounting statistics ensures greater efficiency and transparency than in the past. Cooperation among Nigeria's law enforcement agencies still leaves much to be desired. For instance, although all law enforcement elements are represented at Nigeria's international ports of entry, joint operations between them are virtually non-existent. A missing ingredient partially explaining the dearth of apprehensions of major traffickers or the absence of consistent interdiction of major shipments of contraband is interagency cooperation. No single law enforcement agency in Nigeria has adequate resources to combat the increasingly sophisticated international criminal networks that operate in and through the country itself; inter-agency cooperation is necessary for success. III. Country Actions against Drugs in 2008 Policy Initiatives: Nigeria's counter-narcotics policy is based on the National Drug Control Master Plan (NDCMP),which has been in place since 1998. This plan assigns responsibilities to various government ministries and agencies as well as NGOs and other interest groups. In addition, the Master Plan outlines basic resource requirements and timeframes for the completion of objectives. Unfortunately, many of these goals remain unfulfilled. Law Enforcement Efforts: The NDLEA works alongside Nigerian Customs, the State Security Service, the National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC),the Nigerian Police Force (NPF),and the Nigerian Immigration Service at various ports of entry and throughout the country. However, the NDLEA's most successful interdictions have taken place at Nigeria's four international airports, with the majority of hard drug seizures (e.g., cocaine and heroin) at Lagos Murtala Mohammed International Airport. (Note: Port Harcourt's airport was not utilized for international flights prior to June 2008. End note.) In addition, increasing numbers of drug couriers are being apprehended at Abuja International Airport. Although the agency continues to successfully apprehend individual drug couriers transiting these airports, there were no arrests of major drug traffickers in 2008. An essential factor in the increased arrests of couriers has been the installation of Digital Body Scanners donated by the US State Department's anti-drug assistance project. These "body scanners" have been in operation at Lagos, Kano, Port Harcourt and Abuja International Airports since approximately March of 2008. Many observers believe that if Nigeria introduced a vigorous anti-drug enforcement regime at its five major seaports, they too would yield significant results. As noted above, Nigeria's main domestic drug abuse problem is the use of marijuana. In the past year, NDLEA continued to emphasize a high-profile campaign to destroy the annual Cannabis Sativa crop grown countrywide before it can reach domestic drug abusers. In addition to a significant number of acres of cannabis publicly destroyed on site, a total of one hundred and sixty seven metric tons (167) of hard drugs of which cannabis constituted the largest proportion (over 95%) has been burnt during the on-going campaign. Cocaine has now emerged as one of Nigeria's most challenging drug abuse problems mainly due to recreational use by the small elite, for which it is affordable. At least some share of the cocaine being seized in Nigeria seems to have been refined in West Africa, not trafficked as cocaine from Latin America. Drug traffickers take advantage of lax enforcement in Nigeria and some of the other West African countries such as Guinea-Bissau to "warehouse" bulk quantities of drugs, until they can be trafficked to developed country markets by a myriad of low level drug mules employed by traffickers. Moreover, trafficking drugs is made easier because it is so difficult to effectively police Nigeria's extensive borders due to their porosity and the cultural links between border communities living in different countries along both sides of land borders. Between October 2007 and September 2008, the various NDLEA commands apprehended approximately 4,240 narcotics suspects and seized the following quantities of illicit drugs: CannabisCocaineHeroinePsychotropic Subs293,852.76kg278.641kg10.275kg259.109kg In the past year, the NDLEA prosecuted 1,239 drug suspects, which resulted in 1,231 convictions and 8 acquittals. In addition, a significant number of vehicles used to commit crimes have been seized by NDLEA. Unfortunately, attempts by the NDLEA to apprehend and prosecute major traffickers and their associates often fail. Sometimes the failures are traceable to the lack of capacity of NDLEA itself to successfully assemble a case against the higher echelons of ons of sophisticated organized criminal gangs. Other times it is the Nigerian courts' inability to deal with intimidation and corruption. NDLEA is attempting to improve its capacity to investigate and prosecute complex crime through training. In an additional attempt to improve drug law enforcement, NDLEA has requested that the National Assembly amend Nigeria's basic narcotics law to provide a more strict and effective punishment for major traffickers by requiring a minimum sentence of 5-years in jail with no option for the payment of a simple fine. In an attempt to fix another significant enforcement problem, NDLEA wants a new provision for the seizure of a Nigerian citizen's foreign passport or residency papers during any pre-trial period. NDLEA is also trying to keep track of the foreign travel of certain Nigerian citizens and other individuals suspected of involvement in narcotics trafficking. About 826 people were monitored between January 2008 and June 2008 for various reasons during travels to drug source countries. NDLEA also can petition the court to withdraw a suspected foreign drug trafficker's residence permit for Nigeria, and expel him or her from Nigerian territory. Asset seizures from narcotics traffickers and money launderers, while permitted under Nigerian law, have never been systematically utilized as an enforcement tool, although some convicted traffickers have had their assets forfeited over the years. In 2008, approximately $85,470 in domestic currency equivalent has been seized and investigations are ongoing on 14 other cases. NDLEA also points to the seizure of foreign currencies totaling $1,937,478 some of which represents stolen money, counterfeit US dollars, money orders and travelers' checks. NDLEA officers are also frequently poorly trained. Consequently, NDLEA has mandated that all its officers undergo re-training at the basic level and mid-level before qualifying for promotion under the new promotion scheme. Corruption Corruption plays a major role in drug trafficking around the world, and this is true in Nigeria, as well. Illicit proceeds enable traffickers to use bribery and other means to protect their operations. Nigerian authorities point to several indictments, including one lodged against a former Chairman of the Nigerian Drug Law Enforcement Agency itself, as evidence of their attempts to enforce laws against corruption. Nigeria's ranking by Transparency International improved somewhat in the last published report. Corruption remains a serious problem in Nigeria, however. Agreements and Treaties Nigeria is a party to the 1988 UN Drug Convention, the 1961 UN Single Convention on Narcotic Drugs, as amended by the 1972 Protocol, and the 1971 UN Convention on Psychotropic Substances. Nigeria has signed the UN Convention against Transnational Organized Crime, the Protocol against Trafficking in Persons, the Protocol against Smuggling of Migrants, and the Protocol against Trafficking in Illegal Firearms. The 1931 U.S.-UK Extradition Treaty, which was made applicable to Nigeria in 1935, is the legal basis for U.S. extradition requests. The United States and Nigeria also have a Mutual Legal Assistance Treaty (MLAT),which entered into force on January 14, 2003. The Government of Nigeria continues to work on a mechanism to process U.S. extradition requests expeditiously while observing due process under Nigerian law. Currently, a dedicated prosecutorial team handles all U.S. extradition cases before a specifically designated High Court judge. Nigerian law still affords the defendant many options to delay/confuse proceedings, especially interlocutory objection proceedings, which allow defendants to raise objections that are litigated to conclusion first before the main case can proceed. The only U.S. drug extradition request pending is the case of Kayode Lawrence a.k.a. "Papa". This request has been pending since June 2004. Another hearing on the extradition request is expected before the end of 2008. Cultivation/Production Cannabis is the only illicit drug produced in any large quantity in Nigeria; it is cultivated in all of Nigeria's 36 states. Most major cultivation takes place in central and northern Nigeria and in Delta and Ondo states in the south. Marijuana, or "Indian Hemp" as it is known locally, is sold in Nigeria and exported throughout West Africa and into Europe. To date, there is no evidence of significant marijuana exports from Nigeria to the United States. The NDLEA has continued to pursue an aggressive and successful eradication campaign. Drug Flow/Transit Nigeria is a major staging point for Southeast and Southwest Asian heroin smuggled to Europe and the United States and for South American cocaine trafficked to Europe. However, there are indications that the preferred methods of trans-shipment have changed. The NDLEA unit at Lagos' Murtala Mohammed International Airport conducts select searches of passengers and carry-on baggage, focusing on travelers who fit a profile as a possible drug courier. The efforts of NDLEA have been bolstered by the donation of Digital Body Scanners by the USG. The scanners have ensured that drug couriers face a significant likelihood of detection at the international airports. Nigeria's seaports and land borders remain extremely porous and efforts should be made to increase interdiction efforts at these locations. Domestic Programs/Demand Reduction. Local production and use of cannabis has been a problem in Nigeria for some time; however, according to the NDLEA and NGOs, the abuse of harder drugs (e.g., cocaine, heroin) seems to be on the rise. Heroin and cocaine are readily available in many of Nigeria's larger cities. (Note: Since there is no formal tracking system or statistical evidence available, the actual extent of domestic drug abuse in Nigeria is unclear.) The NDLEA's Directorate of Demand Reduction carried out public awareness campaigns in various commands nationwide. Workshops and seminars have been conducted to address the effects of drug abuse and trafficking in Nigerian society. The NDLEA counseled and rehabilitated 1,586 drug abuse clients during ¶2008. NDLEA has also made 35 referrals to private counseling centers, which have approximately 106 existing clients undergoing counseling and treatment. The NDLEA has conducted a public survey to collect and analyze drug abuse data. The basic conclusion of the analysis indicates that younger unmarried males topped the list of drug abusers. In addition, the survey confirmed that cannabis remains the most frequently abused drug in the country. The Nigerian Government through the 2008 Appropriation Act is financing a planned $42,735 Drug Abuse Public Awareness program in 2009 which will cover the whole country. IV. U.S. Policy Initiatives and Programs Policy Initiatives. U.S.-Nigerian counter-narcotics cooperation focuses on interdiction efforts at major international entry points and on enhancing the professionalism of the NDLEA and other law enforcement agencies. The State Department's International Narcotics and Law Enforcement Affairs (INL) Assistance Program in Nigeria along with the Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA) works closely with the NDLEA and other narcotics-related agencies to help train, Nigerian law enforcement so that they can better coordinate plan and implement internal and regional interdiction operations. At all levels, USG representatives enjoy excellent access to their counterparts and there is an evident desire on both sides to strengthen these relationships. The Road Ahead. Nigeria's own federal funding for Nigerian law enforcement agencies remains insufficient and erratic in its disbursement. This inadequate budget execution and lack of consistency affects the planning of actions on the part of these agencies, and creates an impression that there is little commitment on the part of government authorities to effectively enforce the laws. Unless the Nigerian Government remedies this situation, very little progress will be made quickly, and none sustained over the long term. It will require strong and sustained political will and continued international assistance for any Nigerian government to confront these difficult issues and bring about meaningful change. The U.S. government's counter-narcotics assistance to Nigeria from February 2001 to date totals over $3 million. The U.S. government will continue to engage Nigeria on the issues of counter-narcotics, money laundering and other international crimes. The underlying institutional and societal factors that contribute to narcotics-trafficking, money-laundering and other criminal activities in Nigeria are deep-seated and require a comprehensive and collaborative effort at all levels of law enforcement and government. Progress can only be made through Nigeria's own sustained effort and political will, and the continued support of the international community. SANDERS