Identifier
Created
Classification
Origin
08BUDAPEST1218
2008-12-22 10:09:00
UNCLASSIFIED
Embassy Budapest
Cable title:  

2008-2009 INTERNATIONAL NARCOTICS CONTROL STRATEGY

Tags:  SNAR PGOV HU 
pdf how-to read a cable
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RR RUEHAG RUEHAST RUEHDA RUEHDF RUEHFL RUEHIK RUEHKW RUEHLA RUEHLN
RUEHLZ RUEHNP RUEHPOD RUEHROV RUEHSK RUEHSR RUEHVK RUEHYG
DE RUEHUP #1218/01 3571009
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
R 221009Z DEC 08
FM AMEMBASSY BUDAPEST
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 3723
INFO RUEHZL/EUROPEAN POLITICAL COLLECTIVE
UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 05 BUDAPEST 001218

SIPDIS

DEPARTMENT FOR INL JOHN LYLE, EUR/CE JAMIE LAMORE

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: SNAR PGOV HU
SUBJECT: 2008-2009 INTERNATIONAL NARCOTICS CONTROL STRATEGY
REPORT (INCSR): DRUGS AND CHEMICAL CONTROL SECTION, VOLUME
1 FOR HUNGARY

REF: STATE 100992


I. Summary

Hungary continues to be a primary narcotics transit country
between Southeast Asia and Western Europe due to its
combination of geographic location, a modern transportation
system, and the unsettled political and social climate in the
neighboring countries of the former Yugoslavia. Since the
collapse of communism in Europe, Hungary has become a
significant consumer of narcotics as well. Drug abuse,
particularly among persons under 40 years of age, rose
dramatically during the nineties and continues to increase.
The illicit drugs of choice in Hungary are heroin, marijuana,
amphetamines, and Ecstasy (MDMA). Although the abuse of
opium-poppy straw, barbiturates, and prescription drugs
containing benzodiazepine is growing, their share in total
drug abuse is declining. In the lead-up to its accession to
the European Union in May 2004, Hungary adopted and amended
much of its narcotics-related legislation to ensure
harmonization with relevant EU narcotics law. Since 2004,
the Ministry of Social Affairs and Labor has been the lead
ministry in all matters related to narcotics issues. Hungary
continues to expand the collection and reporting efforts of
its National Narcotics Data Collection Center. The Center
was established in 2004 to report valid, comparable, and
reliable data on drug abuse trends to the European Monitoring
Center for Drugs and Drug Addiction. Hungary met Schengen
Standards for border control and joined the Schengen area on
December 21, 2007. Hungary is party to the 1988 UN Drug
Convention.

II. Status of Country

Hungary continues to be a primary transit route for illegal
narcotic smuggling from Southwest Asia and the Balkans into
Western Europe. Traditional routes in the Balkans that had
been disrupted due to the instability in the former Republic
of Yugoslavia are again being utilized to transport
narcotics. Hungarian Ministry of Justice and Law Enforcement
and Border Guard officials reported narcotics smuggling to be
especially active across the Ukrainian, Romanian, and Serbian
borders. Foreign organized crime, particularly from Albania,
Turkey, and Nigeria, controls transit and sale of narcotics
in Hungary. Concurrently, Hungarian drug suppliers and
criminal networks are getting stronger and are involving an

increasing number of immigrants and ethnic minorities in the
transport, sale, and distribution of narcotics. Officials
report the increasing seriousness of Hungary's domestic drug
problem, particularly among teens and those in their twenties.

III. Country Actions Against Drugs in 2008

POLICY INITIATIVES: The Drug Prevention Coordination
Committee, created in 1998, facilitates the implementation of
the country's national counternarcotics strategy and
coordinates among different ministries and national
authorities to combat drug abuse. A National Drug Strategy
was adopted by the government in 2000 and contains key action
plans to address the strategy's goals. The next strategy
will be prepared in 2009 and will cover the period starting
from 2010. A National Narcotics Data Collection Center,
established in 2004, in the National Epidemiological Center
of the National Public Health Network, is charged with the
compilation of an annual report of data for the European
Monitoring Center for Drugs and Drug Addiction. The National
Drug Prevention Institute (NDPI) was set up in 2000 to
provide technical and financial support for drug action teams
in cities with populations over 20,000. The NDPI encourages
the creation of a local fora composed of officials of local
government institutions, law enforcement agencies, schools,
and non-governmental organizations to create local drug
strategies customized for local needs. In 2008, the
Department for the National Coordination of Drug Affairs of
the Ministry of Social Affairs and Labor became the
Directorate for the National Coordination of Drug Affairs,
within the same ministry. The change helped to increase the
profile of the drug policy makers within the government and
improve their effectiveness.

Hungary continued to maintain strong regional expert
relations with neighboring countries, including Croatia and
Romania. They collaborated on initiatives including regular
study visits and expert conferences to facilitate information
exchange in the drug policy field. As a member of the EU,
Hungary also maintained regular contact with other member
states. Hungary will be the co-chair of the Balkan Regional
Group within the framework of the Central Dublin Group in

2009.

BUDAPEST 00001218 002 OF 005



LAW ENFORCEMENT EFFORTS: Hungary met Schengen standards for
border control by the end of December 2007, and joined the
Schengen area. he Hungarian Border Guards were merged with
the Hungarian National Police (HNP) and greater cooperation,
information sharing, and efficiency in border interdiction
resulted. Accession to the EU provided Hungarian border
guards and national police forces with greater access to
modern electronic equipment provided by the EU to certain
high-threat border posts. This equipment was initially
installed in 2003, and has continued to result in improved
border interdiction of all types of contraband. Expanded
investigative authorities and cooperation between Hungarian
border guards and the HNP, coupled with investigative
agreements with neighboring countries, have also played a
significant role in increasing Hungary's ability to interdict
shipments of narcotics. Despite their successes, Hungary
continues to be a significant trans-shipment point for
narcotics destined for, and sent from, Western Europe. The
Hungarian Ministry of Finance and the national headquarters
of the Customs and Finance Guard supported anti-narcotics and
anti-smuggling activities as well. These groups jointly
planned and staged actions related to crime and border
security that were specifically designed to prevent drug
trafficking and a wide range of illicit transit and smuggling
activities.

In connection with Hungary's accession to the EU, the
Hungarian Ministry of Interior had prepared a unified drug
interdiction strategy for the HNP and Border Guards for the
period 2005-2012 in line with the requirements of the EU drug
strategy. The stated goals of this strategy are to guarantee
the security of society, combat the illegal production and
smuggling of drugs and precursors, facilitate joint actions
with the EU member countries, as well as combat production,
trading, and consumption of synthetic drugs.

According to the Ministry of Social Affairs and Labor, the
number of criminal drug cases has continued to increase.
Much of the increase is attributed to the transition from
penalty-based court and social systems to treatment-based
court and social systems, which are alleged to have
eliminated negative individual consequences for drug use.
The cooperation between the HNP and the U.S. Drug and Law
Enforcement Administration (DEA) office in Vienna, Austria,
has decrease from previous years, with the DEA reporting the
relationship is "almost non-existent."

Seizure data provided by the National Bureau of Investigation
covering the first six months of 2008 indicate that police
seized 10 kilograms of heroin, 13.3 kilograms of cocaine, 22
kilograms of amphetamine, 65,000 ecstasy tablets, and 20
kilograms of dried cannabis plants. The most current
complete seizure data as reported by the Institute for
Forensic Sciences in 2006 is below:

Herbal cannabis, 1540 seizures, 266.5 kg
Cannabis plant, 50 seizures, 3529 pieces
Cannabis resin, 67 seizures, 3.0 kg
Heroin, 144 seizures, 131.1 kg
Cocaine, 113 seizures, 7.3 kg
Amphetamines, 368 seizures, 21.81 kg
Methamphetamine, 11 seizures, 0.013 kg
Ecstasy, 145 seizures, 138,278 tablets
LSD, 13 seizures, 2148 doses

CORRUPTION: As a matter of government policy, Hungary does
not encourage or facilitate the illicit production or
distribution of drugs or substances, or the laundering of
proceeds from illegal drug transactions. No cases of
official corruption involving narcotics trafficking have come
to the USG's attention. The Government of Hungary (GOH)
aggressively enforces its narcotics-related laws. In
addition, it takes administrative steps (e.g. the regular
re-posting of border guards) to reduce the temptation for
corruption whenever it can. On the other hand, it is
difficult to assess accurately the scope and success of
Hungarian efforts as the GOH treats corruption-related
information and prosecutions as classified national security
information.

AGREEMENTS AND TREATIES: Hungary is party to the 1961 UN
Single Convention, as amended by the 1972 Protocol, the 1971
UN Convention on Psychotropic Substances, and the 1988 UN
Drug Convention. A mutual legal assistance and extradition
treaty between the U.S. and Hungarian Governments has been in
force since 1997. These agreements have paved the way for
closer cooperation between the U.S. and Hungarian law
enforcement agencies. In addition, in December 2006 the

BUDAPEST 00001218 003 OF 005


Hungarian National Assembly ratified the UN Convention
against Transnational Organized Crime and its protocols
against trafficking in persons and migrant smuggling. The
United States and Hungary also have a bi-lateral extradition
treaty in effect. Hungary is a party to the UN Corruption
Convention.

CULTIVATION/PRODUCTION: GOH authorities report that
marijuana is cultivated in western Hungary with seeds being
transported in from Slovakia and the Netherlands, while the
technical equipment was available in domestic points of sale
disguised as "agricultural" stores. The number of marijuana
plant seizures continuously increased during the past years,
indicating an increasing problem with domestic marijuana
production. A significant proportion of seized plants was
grown in nutrient cubes in artificial (i.e. indoor)
environments. An increasing number of foreigners are
reportedly entering Hungary to establish and operate
clandestine marijuana farms. Law enforcement officials cite
this foreign influence as the primary source of financial and
technological support in the industry. Ecstasy and LSD may
also be manufactured locally, however, to date no production
laboratories have been discovered. All other illegal
narcotics are smuggled into Hungary rather than produced
domestically.

DRUG FLOW/TRANSIT: Hungary is primarily a narcotics transit
country, with different types of narcotics arriving to the
country via routes oftentimes controlled by criminal groups.
Heroin is trafficked into Hungary from the south along the
Balkan route by organizations that have ethnic, family, and
blood ties to the country. Cocaine is most commonly smuggled
in by a Nigerian courier operation which recruits Hungarian
women to act as couriers and to conscript others to the
organization. The HNP reported that the Nigerian operation
is looking to establish new routes into Hungary through
southern Europe where the drugs arrive by ships from South
America and North Africa.

The HNP reported that synthetics are transported into Hungary
from newly established labs in Serbia. Synthetic drugs are
becoming more popular, with the highly lethal drug nicknamed
"Gina" the preferred choice among most users. The HNP also
reported that a growing source of synthetics and cocaine is
the Netherlands, while heroin generally arrives from Turkey
and Albania via Romania. Many long-term resident Albanians,
Turks, and Nigerians are also reportedly involved in
trafficking. Budapest's Ferihegy International Airport
continues to be an important stop for cocaine transit from
South America to Europe. Synthetic drugs such as Ecstasy are
transported into Hungary, frequently via car from the
Netherlands and other Western European countries. The agent
in marijuana arriving from abroad has recently changed to a
more concentrated form.

DOMESTIC PROGRAMS/DEMAND REDUCTION: Hungarian ministry
officials report that drug abuse is significantly higher
among youth between the ages of 12-25 and truly addicted
abusers are commonly found in the 25-34 age group. The
majority of addicted drug abusers are male, with an average
age of 25 years, who use amphetamines, heroin, or Ecstasy.

Drug prevention programs are taught to teachers as part of
the normal teacher education training. In 2008, the GOH
provided drug prevention education grants to 230 schools
totaling HUF 157,098,200 (USD $785,491). From those grants,
35,557 schoolchildren studying in grades 5-8 (age 10-14) and
81,237 secondary school students (age 14-18) participated in
prevention activities, representing 8 percent and 17.2
percent of the student population, respectively.

Public schools in Hungary include several drug prevention and
health promotion programs in their normal education program.
The life skills program is the largest of the
counter-narcotics programs and was developed in the early
nineties with INL assistance through USIA. Through 2005, the
fifteen year program had trained nearly 12,000 teachers and
educators. Community-based prevention efforts are primarily
focused on the teen/twenties age group and provide
information about the dangers of substance abuse, while
emphasizing active and productive lifestyles as a way of
limiting exposure to drugs.

There are approximately 230 health care institutions that
care for drug patients in Hungary. The total number of drug
users receiving both inpatient and outpatient treatment
during 2007 was 13,457, and was broken-down as follows:

Addiction treatment centers:

BUDAPEST 00001218 004 OF 005


number / percent all patients = 2,807 / 20.9
number / percent new patients = 728 / 18.0

Specialized outpatient treatment centers:
number / percent all patients = 5,641 / 41.9
number / percent new patients = 2,115 / 52.4

Child and youth psychiatric care centers:
number / percent all patients = 9 / 0.1
number / percent new patients = 8 / 0.2

Psychiatric care centers:
number / percent all patients = 288 / 2.1
number / percent new patients = 146 / 3.6

Psychiatric and addiction treatment inpatient care:
number / percent all patients = 1,161 / 8.6
number / percent new patients = 278 / 6.9

Other (toxicology):
number / percent all patients = 3,551 / 26.4
number / percent new patients = 761 / 18.9

TOTAL
number / percent all patients = 13,457 / 100.0
number / percent new patients = 4,036 / 100.0


Fourteen organizations operated needle exchange programs in
2007 and distributed a total of 213,774 sterile needles in
exchange for 105,313 used needles. The joint programs
reached 2,019 clients in 2007, and increase of 14 percent
over the previous year. Together the organizations
distributed the sterile needles via mobile units, street
outreach, and needle vending machines. The total number of
needles distributed in 2007 was 30 percent higher than the
2006 total.

The Ministry of Health continues to establish and fund drug
outpatient clinics in regions where such institutes are
generally not available. The 2003 amendment to the Hungarian
counter-narcotics legislation was designed to shift the focus
of criminal investigations from consumers to dealers. Before
this amendment was enacted, Hungarian civil rights advocates
claimed that the Hungarian narcotics law, among the toughest
on users in Europe, subjected even casual users to stiff
criminal penalties, while addicts were often exempted from
prosecution. The 2003 amendment, called the "diversion
program," allowed police, prosecutors, and judges to place
drug users in a 6-month government-funded treatment program
or mandate participation in a counseling program instead of
prison. Drug addicts are encouraged to attend treatment
centers while casual users are directed to prevention and
education programs. The amendment also provided judges with
alternatives and flexibility when sentencing drug users.
According to Ministry of Health data, 2,930 drug users
participated in diversion programs in 2007.

Due to the continued increase in the rate of drug use as well
as drug-related crime in Hungary, the GOH has become
dissatisfied with the results of the treatment-focused
deterrence system and is currently considering a return to
the punishment-based system. As a result, the constitutional
court has begun to scale-back treatment programs in its
sentencing guidelines and focus again on prison sentences.
However, the State Secretary for Drug Affairs has reconfirmed
the GOH commitment to maintaining treatment programs as an
alternative to simple prison time for drug abusers.

IV. U.S. Policy Initiatives and Programs

BILATERAL COOPERATION: The primary USG focus in support of
GOH couter-narcotics efforts is through training and
cooperative education at the International Law Enforcement
Academy (ILEA). In addition, the DEA maintains a regional
office in Vienna, Austria that is accredited to Hungary to
work with local and national Hungarian authorities. However,
because of recent restructuring within the HNP drug units,
direct contact between the DEA and HNP diminished in 2007.
An FBI task force located within the HNP headquarters
responds to DEA requests for information about seizures and
trends in trafficking.

ROAD AHEAD: The USG continues to support and encourage
Hungarian legislative efforts to stiffen criminal penalties
for drug offenses and will continue to support GOH law
enforcement efforts through training programs and seminars at
ILEA as well as through specialized in-country programs.


BUDAPEST 00001218 005 OF 005



Foley