DEMARCHE REQUEST: OFAC NARCOTICS KINGPIN ACT

UNCLAS STATE 097316 SIPDIS E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: KTFN PTER PINR EFIN VE LE SNAR AND KCRM PREL SUBJECT: DEMARCHE REQUEST: OFAC NARCOTICS KINGPIN ACT DESIGNATION OF THREE SENIOR VENEZUELAN OFFICIALS ¶1. (SBU) This is an action request; see paragraph 3. ¶2. (SBU) Summary. On September 12, 2008, the Department of the Treasury's Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) will designate two senior Government of Venezuela (GOV) officials and one former official under the Foreign Narcotics Kingpin Designation Act ("Kingpin Act")for materially assisting the narcotics trafficking activities of the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC). This designation triggers mandatory "blocking" or "freezing" of these individuals' assets within the United States. The FARC was named by the President as a Significant Foreign Narcotics Trafficker ("Tier I Kingpin") under the Kingpin Act on May 29, 2003. Action addressees are requested to demarche host governments and banking authorities and seek their support by taking three specific actions noted in para 4. End Summary. ¶3. (SBU) (Releasable only to host governments at action Posts. Demarche is embargoed until 9am EST on September 12. Action request: We are requesting that Embassies Caracas, Bogota, Brasilia, Buenos Aires, Lima, Mexico City, Ottawa, Santiago, London, Madrid, Paris, Rome, Brussels and posts at OPEC member countries share this information with host government on September 12, the day of OFAC's public announcement. At post's discretion, Bogota may demarche host government on September 11. Posts may draw from the key objectives in para 4 in preparing demarches (as well as paras 7-12). Points may be adapted to local circumstances. End action request. -------------- Key Objectives -------------- ¶4. (SBU) -- Inform host government that on/about September 12, 2008, OFAC will publicly designate two senior GOV officials and one former senior official, under the Kingpin Act, for materially assisting the narcotics trafficking activities of the FARC. They are: (1) Hugo Armando Carvajal Barrios, Director of the Venezuelan Directorate General of Military Intelligence (DGIM); 2) Henry de Jesus Rangel Silva, Director of the Directorate of Intelligence and Prevention Services (DISIP); and, (3) Ramon Emilio Rodriguez Chacin, former Minister of Interior and Justice. Emphasize that these three FARC supporters join 23 Colombian nationals and 10 Colombian entities that were designated under the Kingpin Act this year and that there will be more designations to follow. In other words, this is fundamentally an effort against the FARC and not against any particular government. Once the designation is announced, OFAC will have designated 78 individuals and entities as derivative Tier II designations of the FARC under the Kingpin Act. -- Express to host government that even though this is a U.S. domestic designation, we hope host government undertakes similar measures by freezing the assets of the three named individuals under their own domestic authority. -- Request that host government share with us information concerning any actions that they undertake, including the blocking of assets, to enforce domestic sanctions against the named individuals and entities. In addition, welcome any information that host government would like to share with us regarding the activities of the named individuals in their country. -- To avoid the flight of assets that might otherwise become subject to freezing, strongly urge host government not to disclose publicly or privately the proposed U.S. designation until the public announcement has been made. -- Remind host government that the FARC was named a significant foreign narcotics trafficker (or Tier I Kingpin) by the President on May 29, 2003 pursuant to the Kingpin Act. U.S. persons are prohibited from engaging in unlicensed transactions with these as well as previously named Tier I and Tier II designees under the Kingpin Act, and U.S. persons face criminal and civil penalties should they violate this prohibition. Foreign companies that continue to deal with Tier I and Tier II designees are subject to OFAC investigation and could be designated as Tier II's themselves. This action is part of an ongoing inter-agency effort to carry out the Kingpin Act, 21 U.S.C. 1904(b)(2). -- Remind host government that the Secretary of State designated the FARC as a Foreign Terrorist Organization ("FTO") in 1997 and as a Specially Designated Global Terrorist ("SDGT") in 2001. While the FARC is also listed as an FTO and SDGT, this action is taken solely under the authority of the Kingpin Act. -- Share the identifiers and background information in paragraph 6 as a non-paper. -------------- Reporting Deadline -------------- ¶5. (SBU) Posts should report on any host government response no later than September 19. -------------- Identifiers and Background -------------- ¶6. (SBU) -- Hugo Carvajal Barrios, Director of Venezuela's Directorate General of Military Intelligence (DGIM). His assistance to the FARC includes the following: protecting narcotics shipments from seizure by the Venezuelan anti-narcotics authorities, providing weapons to the FARC, which allows them to maintain their stronghold in the coca cultivation and production areas along the Colombia/Venezuela border, and providing the FARC official Venezuelan government identification so FARC members can travel easily to and from Venezuela. He has also held numerous meetings with FARC leaders such as Noe Suarez Rojas (a.k.a. Grannobles),Luciano Marin Arango (a.k.a Ivan Marquez),and Rodrigo Londono Echeverry (a.k.a. Timochenko, Timoleon Jimenez),all of whom were indicted in March 2006 on charges relating to their narcotics trafficking activities by the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia. In February 2004 OFAC designated Noe Suarez Rojas (a.k.a. Grannobles),Luciano Marin Arango (a.k.a Ivan Marquez),and Rodrigo Londono Echeverry (a.k.a. Timochenko, Timoleon Jimenez) pursuant to the Kingpin Act for acting for or on behalf of the FARC. The FARC's 10th front is heavily involved in narcotics trafficking from its base in the Colombian Department of Arauca, which borders the Venezuelan state of Apure. The Arauca Department is known for its coca cultivation and cocaine production. The FARC has engaged in combat with rival groups in order to control the significant narcotics trafficking activities in Arauca. The border and airspace between Arauca (Colombia) and Apure (Venezuela) is a major smuggling route for cocaine and arms as it is difficult for Colombian authorities to patrol. -- Henry de Jesus Rangel Silva, the Director of Venezuela's Directorate of Intelligence and Prevention Services (DISIP). The DISIP is the GOV agency in charge of intelligence and counterintelligence activities, and has been managed by Rangel Silva since 2005. Rangel Silva has held meetings with FARC secretariat member Ivan Marquez on multiple occasions. Rangel Silva has also pushed for greater cooperation between the GOV and armed allies, including the FARC, on the Colombia/Venezuela border. This region is a key stronghold for the FARC's narcotics trafficking activities. -- Ramon Emilio Rodriguez Chacin, former Minister of Interior and Justice. Rodriguez Chacin, who stepped down as minister September 8, is also the GOV's weapons contact to the FARC, which uses its proceeds from drug sales to purchase weapons from the Venezuelan government. He has held meetings with FARC secretariat member Ivan Marquez and FARC international representative Rodrigo Granda Escobar. OFAC designated Rodrigo Granda Escobar pursuant to the Kingpin Act on September 28, 2006 for acting for or on behalf of the FARC. Rodriguez Chacin also assisted the FARC by trying to facilitate a $250 million dollar loan from the Venezuelan government to the FARC in late 2007. We cannot confirm that the loan was, in fact, made. -------------- For Embassy Info -------------- ¶7. (U) All Tier I and Tier II designees now on the Kingpin list have been determined by the Department of the Treasury, in consultation with the Departments of Justice, State, Defense, Homeland Security, the Central Intelligence Agency, the Federal Bureau of Investigation, and the Drug Enforcement Administration, to materially assist in or provide financial or technological support for, or goods or services in support of the narcotics trafficking activities of persons designated in or pursuant to the Kingpin Act. ¶8. (U) All Tier I and II designees' property and interests in property subject to U.S. jurisdiction are blocked. U.S. persons doing business with a Tier I or Tier II designees face criminal penalties of up to $5,000,000 per violation for corporate officers and $10,000,000 per violation for corporations, as well as imprisonment of up to 30 years for corporate officers and imprisonment of up to 10 years for individuals. Civil penalties of up to $1,075,000 per violation may be imposed administratively. Under the Kingpin Act, a U.S. person is any U.S. citizen or national, permanent resident alien, entity organized under the laws of the U.S. (including foreign branches),or any person in the United States. ¶9. (U) U.S. persons must cease all dealings with Tier I and Tier II designees immediately. If there are particular circumstances involving the "U.S. person," such as outstanding contracts, or Tier I or Tier II designee property or funds in that person's possession, the funds and property are "blocked" and may not be transferred or otherwise dealt in, and the U.S. person should contact OFAC Compliance Division immediately at phone: 202-622-2490. ¶10. (U) American subsidiaries incorporated outside the of the United States are not defined as U.S. persons under the Kingpin Act. However, all U.S. citizens or permanent residents working in those subsidiaries are bound by the Kingpin Act. Furthermore, any U.S. subsidiaries with ties to Tier I or Tier II designees are subject to designation criteria and the relationship between the subsidiary and its parent U.S. company will be examined by OFAC. ¶11. (U) The new Tier II list will be available for download at OFAC's web address www.treasury.gov/ofac on the day of the announcement. The official Treasury press release will be posted at: www.treasury.gov/press. All press inquiries should be directed to the Treasury Department's Office of Public Affairs at 202-622-2960. ¶12. (U) Should posts have questions regarding any matter raised in this cable, please contact OFAC Associate Director of Investigations and Enforcement, J. Robert McBrien, at 202-622-2420. RICE