2008-2009 BOSNIA-HERZEGOVINA INCSR REPORT (PART I)

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 03 SARAJEVO 001674

SIPDIS

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

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: PGOV SNAR KCRM BK
SUBJECT: 2008-2009 BOSNIA-HERZEGOVINA INCSR REPORT (PART I)

REF: STATE 100992


1. (U) Below follows the 2008-2009 International Narcotics
Control Strategy Report (INCSR) Part One for
Bosnia-Herzegovina.


I. Summary

Narcotics control capabilities in Bosnia and Herzegovina
("Bosnia") remain in a formative stage 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. The political will to
improve narcotics control performance exists in some quarters
of the Bosnian government. However, 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 some improvement in cooperation among
entity and cantonal law enforcement agencies, gradual
improvements in the oversight of the financial sector, and
substantial legal reform, the increasing political divisions
currently paralyzing 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 2008, Bosnia
took almost no additional 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. However, law enforcement agencies,
often in cooperation with neighboring countries, succeeded in
making some substantial heroin-related arrests and seizures.
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 2008

Policy Initiatives. On November 8, 2005, the Bosnian House of
Representatives passed legislation designed to address the
problem of narcotics trafficking and abuse. The state-level
counternarcotics coordination body and national
counternarcotics strategy mandated by the legislation were
not fully in place as of October 2008 partly due to the
increasing general paralysis in state level institutions and
a dispute between the Ministries of Security and Civil
Affairs as to who is responsible to move the initiative
forward. 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

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Border Police (BP) and the 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. Law enforcement agencies made some
significant drug-related arrests during the reporting period,
however, overall counternarcotics efforts 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 2008 (latest available statistics),law enforcement
agencies in Bosnia-Herzegovina (including the State
Investigation and Protection Agency, the Border Police,
Federation Ministry of Interior, Republika Srpska Ministry of
Interior and Brcko District Police) have filed criminal
reports against 1294 persons for drug related offenses.
These agencies also report having seized 15.86 kg of heroin,
883 g of cocaine, 1.3 kg of amphetamines, 81.6 kg of
marijuana, 3,021 cannabis plants, 490 cannabis seeds, 784
Ecstasy tablets, and 235 grams of hashish. The above
statistics do not include approximately 50 kg of heroin
seized by police forces in neighboring countries in
operations conducted with the assistance of BiH law
enforcement agencies. The Border Police (BP),founded in
2000, is responsible for controlling the country's three
international airports, as well as Bosnia's 55 international
border crossings covering 1,551 kilometers. The BP has been
considered one of the better border services in Southeast
Europe and is one of the few truly multi-ethnic institutions
in Bosnia. However, declining relative wages vis-a-vis other
local and entity law enforcement agencies along with harsh
working conditions have led to sustained personnel shortages
in the BP. There are still a large number of illegal
crossing points, including rural roads and river fords, that
the BP is unable to control. Moreover, many official
checkpoints and many crossings remain understaffed. SIPA,
once fully operational, is supposed to be a conduit for
information and evidence between local and international law
enforcement agencies, however, several local law enforcement
agencies, including the Republika Srpska police, have at
times refused to cooperate with SIPA.

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.

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.
Bosnia is also party to the 1961 UN Single Convention as
amended by the 1972 Protocol, the 1971 UN Convention Against
Psychotropic Substances, and the UN Convention Against
Transnational Organized Crime and its protocols against
migrant smuggling and trafficking in persons. 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. Bosnia is a party to the UN Convention against
Corruption.

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

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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, 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
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. As part of an
overall public campaign to promote a "122 Crime Stoppers"
hotline that citizens can use to report crimes in progress,
the Federation police included a short video that encourages
citizens to report any drug deal they witness. The
Citizens, Association for Support and Treatment of Drug
Addicted and Recovered Persons (UG PROI in local language)
maintains a private facility to help drug addicts near
Kakanj. During the year UG PROI presented anti-drug messages
to students through a drama program in elementary schools
throughout Bosnia-Herzegovina. In June UG PROI organized a
race against drugs involving both a fund-raising event and a
large anti-drug abuse demonstration in downtown Sarajevo.

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 closely
with Bosnian authorities and the international community to
combat narcotics trafficking and money laundering.

Bilateral Cooperation. The USG's bilateral law enforcement
assistance program continues to emphasize task force
training, improved 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 BP. The USG Export Control and Border
Security (EXBS) program provides equipment and training to
law enforcement agencies including the BP and the Indirect
Taxation Administration (ITA) to stop the import of weapons
of mass destruction and dual use items. EXBS Assistance
increased BP 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 state-level law enforcement and
judicial institutions, promoting 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 continue to provide political support to state-level
institutions in the face of significant attacks on them by
national forces intent on destroying the state. We will
encourage Bosnia to proceed with the full implementation of
the planned national counternarcotics strategy. The
international community is also working to increase local
capacity and to encourage interagency cooperation by
mentoring and advising the local law enforcement community.
CEFKIN