NARCOTICS MAJORS LIST REPORT CARD - HAITI

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 PORT AU PRINCE 000828 SIPDIS STATE FOR WHA/EX AND WHA/CAR INL FOR KEVIN BROWN AND ANGELIC YOUNG S/CRS INR/IAA STATE PASS AID FOR LAC/CAR SOUTHCOM ALSO FOR POLAD WHA/EX PLEASE PASS USOAS E.O. 12958: DECL: 06/06/2018 TAGS: SNAR HA SUBJECT: NARCOTICS MAJORS LIST REPORT CARD - HAITI REF: SECSTATE 29120 PORT AU PR 00000828 001.2 OF 002 Classified By: Ambassador Janet A. Sanderson for reasons 1.4 (b) and (d). ¶1. (C) SUMMARY: To date the Government of HAITI continues to cooperate regularly with the U.S. Government on drug trafficking and money laundering issues. Recent civil disturbances, and the forced resignation of the Prime Minister and his cabinet, have hampered progress to some extent as the caretaker government is hesitant to make major decisions. The Haitian National Police Counternarcotics Unit continues to be hampered in its anti-drug activities by lack of personnel and resources and distractions from their purpose by other events including an increase in kidnappings. However, major progress has taken place in addressing money laundering concerns. END SUMMARY. ¶2. (U) The following actions were taken to date in FY2008 by the Government of HAITI (GOH) regarding the fight against transshipment of drugs and money laundering: ¶3. (U) The USG asked the GOH to improve its investigative capabilities and prosecutions of money laundering cases, in particular those linked to corruption and drug trafficking, and to criminalize terrorist financing. -- (C) In September 2007, the GOH and the USG reached agreement on the terms of reference and work plan for an anti-money laundering assistance program, funded by NAS/INL for $350,000. The Office of Technical Assistance (OTA) of the U.S. Department of the Treasury provides the technical expertise and has established a close working relationship with the Financial Investigative Unit (French acronym UCREF), the Haitian National Police (HNP) Financial Crimes Investigative Unit (BAFE),and the judges and Chief Prosecutor's Office of Port au Prince to provide mentoring and training under this program. Under OTA tutelage, the GOH reorganized the UCREF and BAFE to separate the investigative and analyst responsibilities. A new director of the UCREF, Ostricht Hercules, was named to replace the previous director who had refused to cooperate with the U.S. Treasury on money laundering cases. As a result, cases that had previously been abandoned or not made available were submitted to the OTA for their review and recommendations in terms of possible prosecution. The penal chain (prosecutors and judges) are actively involved in handling money laundering cases for the first time and special representatives have been assigned to work specifically on such cases. President Preval has expressed his strong support for this program and has made office space and additional financial resources available to the group. -- (U) OTA advisors visit HAITI monthly for at least one week to provide on-site training and case analysis. Such training will continue for at least one year. In June 2008, 37 GOH officials will attend a one-week Financial Investigators training session and 20 will attend a Financial Analysts training session taught by OTA experts. -- (U) With OTA technical assistance, the GOH drafted legislation, the Haitian Anti-Terrorist Financing Law, to criminalize such financing. The draft legislation has been forwarded to Parliament for its consideration. ¶4. (U) The USG asked the GOH to conduct more operations to target major drug trafficking networks linked to the United States. -- (C) The DEA has conducted various operations jointly with the HNP Counternarcotics Unit (BLTS) that resulted in arrests and cocaine seizures. Two major joint interdiction operations in April and May 2008 resulted in the seizure of 33 kilos of cocaine and four arrests. In addition, a successful operation at the international airport resulted in one arrest and seizure of two kilos of cocaine. -- (C) The BLTS and the Joint Intelligence Center (CICC), PORT AU PR 00000828 002.2 OF 002 with DEA assistance, identified and investigated several cases of clandestine airstrips, leading to arrests and seizure of vehicles, weapons, equipment used in the smuggling operations, and two kilos of cocaine. -- (C) During the first two quarters of FY08, the BLTS assisted DEA in the capture and transfer to U.S. custody of five defendants wanted on trafficking charges in the U.S. - all of the defendants were successfully removed to the U.S. for prosecution in federal district court. ¶5. (U) The U.S. encouraged the GOH to improve the capacity of its counternarcotics officers through training and vetting. -- (C) The DEA Office of International Training provided advanced investigations training to the vetted Special Investigative Unit (SIU) in Santo Domingo in May 2008. -- (C) Both the BLTS and BAFE (72 officers total) are scheduled to undergo polygraphs and other scrutiny in June to fully vet both units that deal with sensitive trafficking and corruption cases. ¶6. (U) The USG encouraged the GOH to increase support for both land and maritime border control to interdict illegal drugs, arms and trafficking in persons. -- (C) The HNP recently assigned 13 additional officers to the Haitian Coast Guard (part of the HNP),bringing their strength to 104 officers total. It is a welcome first step but the number of Coast Guard officers remains inadequate to patrol over 1,200 miles of coastline. NAS recently donated two rigid hull inflatable boats and INL funded the refurbishment of three Eduardano boats while the DOD funded refurbishment of a fourth. ¶7. (C) Comment: The GOH counternarcotics and anti-corruption efforts remain a mixed bag. In spite of President Preval's public statements that fighting drug trafficking is a major priority, the HNP BLTS remains staffed at just 50 officers to cover the entire country. In contrast, due to strong active Presidential support, the BAFE is operational and set to potentially make a major contribution to anti-money laundering and anti-corruption initiatives. The upcoming reorganization of the government and its effect on the security and justice sectors will be vital in determining the way forward for USG objectives in the remaining months of 2008. SANDERSON