Serbia: 2008-2009 International Narcotics Control Strategy

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 03 BELGRADE 001139 INL FOR J LYLE SIPDIS E.O.12958: N/A TAGS: SNAR SR SUBJECT: Serbia: 2008-2009 International Narcotics Control Strategy Report (INCSR) Part I: Drugs and Chemical Control REF: STATE 100992 ¶I. Summary The Republic of Serbia is a major transit country for narcotics and other drugs along the Balkan smuggling corridor from Turkey to Central and Western Europe. In 2008, Serbia took measures to improve its capacity to combat drug trafficking through new laws and law enforcement initiatives that tightened the regulations on narcotics, corruption, and organized crime, and included legislation authorizing asset seizure. Serbia's drug laws are adequate, but strategic coordination among law enforcement and judicial bodies is problematic. While Serbia realized record-setting successes with drug interdictions and seizures, organized crime groups still exploited Serbia's inadequate border controls to transfer heroin, cocaine, marijuana, and synthetic drugs. A small amount of smuggled narcotics remains in Serbia for domestic consumption. As Yugoslavia's successor state, the Republic of Serbia is party to the 1988 UN Drug Convention. II. Status of Country Serbia is primarily a transit country for the movement of narcotics, although law enforcement recently uncovered two synthetic narcotics labs near Belgrade. Serbia's porous borders make the country attractive for transit. Heroin and marijuana are the most prevalent narcotics, transported from Central Asia along the Balkan Route. There is also an increase in cocaine from Central Asia through the Balkan route, according to the Customs Administration Enforcement Directorate. Increasingly, Serbian organized crime groups are smuggling drugs from South America directly to Western Europe, bypassing Serbia, according to the Interior Ministry's Drug Smuggling Suppression Department. The Serbian government estimates that relatively small amounts of narcotics remain in the country for domestic consumption. III. Country Actions against Drugs in 2008 Policy Initiatives: Serbia's Parliament passed a set of laws to enhance law enforcement's efforts to combat narcotics smuggling, organized crime, and corruption in October 2008. The package of laws includes a law to regulate immigration and movement of people through the country, an asset seizure law, and a law creating a new Anticorruption Agency. The Finance Ministry is drafting a Customs Service Law to reorganize the Customs Administration, provide clearer links to law enforcement agencies and prosecutors, and enable Customs officers involved in investigations to testify in court. (Currently Customs does not have law enforcement authority and cannot testify in court or continue investigations after drug seizures.) The Justice Ministry is drafting a new Criminal Procedure Code that would enable prosecutor-led investigations, plea bargaining, and the use of special investigative techniques such as wire tapping. The government has developed an Integrated Border Management Initiative, to improve coordination among the agencies involved in border control. There is as yet no central oversight of the initiative, but individual agencies have begun implementation. Law Enforcement Efforts and Accomplishments: A number of law enforcement agencies are responsible for combating drug-related crimes, including the Interior Ministry's Drug Smuggling Suppression Department, the Finance Ministry's Customs Administration, the Interior Ministry's Border Police, and the Interior Ministry's Drug Addiction Suppression Department. While these agencies report generally good operational cooperation, there is no government-wide coordinating body that addresses law enforcement efforts. The Drug Smuggling Department continues to develop a database for crimes, arrests, and seizures related to heroin, cocaine, marijuana, synthetic drugs, and chemical precursors. Officers in the Interior Ministry participate in workshops organized by the OSCE, the Southeast Europe Cooperative Initiative's (SECI) Center for Combating Trans-border Crime, the UN Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC),the European Monitoring Centre for Drugs and Drug Addiction, and other international organizations. Serbia hosts law enforcement liaison officers from Bulgaria, Romania, Croatia, Italy, Australia, and other countries in the region. The Interior Ministry conducts joint investigations with Bosnia-Herzegovina, Slovenia, and Croatia and provides intelligence to Western European countries, which aids in seizures in those countries. The Customs Administration participates in regional exercises. Customs officers participate in OSCE train the trainer courses, and the Customs Administration recently developed a new specialized counter-narcotics course for customs officers. BELGRADE 00001139 002 OF 003 Serbia interdicted a record amount of narcotics in 2008. The Customs Administration seized approximately twice as much heroin and cocaine from January to July 2008 compared with the same period in ¶2007. Law enforcement seized 14.4 kg of heroin at the Merdare border crossing with Kosovo in November 2008. In October 2008, law enforcement seized 265 kg of marijuana at the Montenegro border, Serbia's biggest marijuana seizure in the past decade. The Drug Smuggling Suppression Department shut down two amphetamine labs located near Belgrade, in December 2007 and March 2008. From January to June 2008, the Drug Smuggling Suppression Department and Customs Administration Law Enforcement Directorate made 3,379 drug seizures, including 410 kg of marijuana, 114 kg of heroin, 9.5 kg of cocaine, 1,006 tablets of Ecstasy, 45,976 other narcotic tablets, and small amounts of other drugs. The Interior Ministry reports that all Interior Ministry agencies made 2,043 seizures from July to October 2008, including 850.7 kg of marijuana, 60.7 kg of heroin, 750 grams of cocaine, 650 grams of other drugs, and 6,939 tablets. According to the Customs Administration, the price of heroin on the street remains the same this year, suggesting that these seizures are not affecting domestic availability. Police arrested high level organizers in both synthetic lab cases. All but one of the organizers, a foreign national who remains at large, remain in detention while the trial is underway in the December 2007 case, and the organizers in the March 2008 case are in investigative detention pending trial. Under Article 246 of the Criminal Code, Production, Distribution, and Possession of Narcotics, 2,978 individuals were tried and 2,811 were convicted in 2007. Arrests and prosecutions for 2008 are approximately the same as in recent years, according to the Justice Ministry. Defendants are usually drug users, street dealers, or couriers. Few major narcotics dealers ever appear in court. Most prosecutions (nearly 80% in 2007) are for possession, which carries more lenient sentences, than for production or distribution (18% of cases in 2007). Most sentences are light or suspended, or are for monetary fines or community service instead of jail time. A more strategic approach to cooperation among agencies would improve investigations, according to the OSCE. Law enforcement agencies believe that pending legislation enabling prosecutor-led investigations, to replace investigative judges, will improve trial outcomes. Corruption: Corruption within Serbia's law enforcement agencies responsible for counter narcotics remains a problem, in large part due to low pay. In a major corruption investigation in 2006, 3% of Customs enforcement officials were arrested and removed from their posts. Customs has replaced those individuals with new officers. Parliament passed a law on October 23, 2008 establishing a new Anticorruption Agency, an independent state body that will implement the National Anticorruption Strategy. No evidence exists that the Serbian government encourages illicit production or distribution of narcotics, or actively launders proceeds from illegal drug transactions. There is no evidence that any senior government official engages in, encourages, or facilitates the illicit production or distribution of drugs. The Republic of Serbia is a party to the 2003 UN Convention against Corruption. Agreements and Treaties: Serbia became the legal successor state to the State Union of Serbia and Montenegro on June 3, 2006. All international treaties and agreements continue in force, including the 1988 UN Drug Convention, the 1961 UN Single Convention as amended by the 1972 Protocol, the 1971 UN Convention on Psychotropic Substances, and the UN Convention against Transnational Organized Crime, and its protocols against trafficking in persons and migrant smuggling. Serbia has cooperative agreements with Slovenia, Croatia, and Bosnia-Herzegovina on issues relating to cross-border narcotics transfers. Serbia signed a trilateral agreement with Romania and Bulgaria for counter-narcotics cooperation in 2008. The 1902 extradition treaty between the United States and the Kingdom of Serbia remains in force between the United States and Serbia. Serbian law prohibits extradition of Serbian citizens, except to the International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia. Drug Flow/Transit: Serbia sits directly on the Balkan narcotics trafficking route. The UNODC estimates that that over 80 tons of heroin travels along this route each year. Heroin grown and processed in Afghanistan is smuggled through Turkey, Bulgaria, and Kosovo into Serbia, and onward into Western Europe. The Customs Administration estimates that 5-10% of heroin stays in the country, but Serbia primarily serves as a transit point. Large amounts of BELGRADE 00001139 003 OF 003 marijuana and increasing amounts of cocaine from Central Asia also transit Serbia along the Balkan route. The Customs Administration reports an increasing number of individuals traveling by air from Central Asia to Serbia via Eastern Europe carrying ingested packages of cocaine. There is a decrease in cocaine from South America. The Drug Smuggling Suppression Department believes that Serbian organized crime groups are bypassing Serbia and smuggling cocaine directly from South America to Western Europe. There is an increase in trafficking of synthetic drugs and precursors. Domestic Programs (Demand Reduction): The government conducts an addiction prevention program in primary schools, "Drug Zero, Life One," which includes lectures for students, parents, and teachers and referrals for families who seek help, but the program is not mandatory and individual schools choose whether to participate. The Serbian government and the Belgrade city government conducted a Drug-Free Month campaign in June 2008 with the support of UNODC, UNICEF, WHO, the Serbian Red Cross, and Serbian anti-drug NGOs. The National Network for the Fight against Drugs, a network of anti-drug NGOs, maintains a website with information about drug addiction and prevention. A task force composed of the Ministries of Health, Education and Sport, Interior, and Justice is developing a National Strategy for the Fight against Drugs. There is a lack of accurate data on drug users. The Public Health Bureau estimates there are approximately 60,000 drug users in Serbia. The Institute for Addictive Diseases runs outpatient and inpatient drug rehabilitation programs. There are no programs for reintegration of drug addicts. IV. U.S. Policy Initiatives and Programs Bilateral and Multilateral Cooperation: The Serbian Government works closely with the United States and EU countries to reform and improve its law enforcement and judicial capacity. The United States has provided extensive technical assistance and equipment donations to the police, customs services, border police, and judiciary. Several USG agencies have programs that directly or indirectly support counter-narcotics activities in Serbia, including the Department of Justice (ICITAP),Department of Homeland Security, Department of Defense, Department of the Treasury, and Department of State. The Departments of State and Justice (OPDAT) have also been instrumental in supporting the Special Courts for Organized Crime and War Crimes. The programs are aimed at professionalizing the police and customs services, improving the ability of Serbia to prosecute corruption and organized crime, including money laundering and illicit trafficking, and increasing the ability of the judiciary to effectively address serious crime. The Road Ahead: The United States will continue to support the efforts of Serbian law enforcement to combat narcotics smuggling in the region. During the next year the United States would like to see additional progress in Serbian judicial and law enforcement reform, including tougher sentences for major narcotics dealers and more coordination among enforcement agencies and prosecutors to combat organized crime. Serbia needs to improve its demand reduction programs. The United States should continue to assist Serbia in improving the skill set and professionalism of its law enforcement agencies and encourage those reforms that will improve system-wide effectiveness. The Customs Administration specified a need for small drug test kits for use in airports and additional train the trainer courses. MUNTER