FOR RELEASE: NAS MONTHLY REPORT FOR NOVEMBER 2009

UNCLAS BOGOTA 004108 SIPDIS E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: SNAR SUBJECT: FOR RELEASE: NAS MONTHLY REPORT FOR NOVEMBER 2009 REF: EMAIL:FOR RELEASE: NAS MONTHLY REPORT FOR NOVEMBER 2009 From: Navarro, Luz A Sent: Tuesday, December 29, 2009 1:14 PM To: Navarro, Luz A Subject: FOR RELEASE: NAS MONTHLY REPORT FOR NOVEMBER 2009 ¶1. (SBU) SUMMARY: In the first days of December the aerial eradication team reached its CY-2009 goal of 100,000 hectares sprayed. Eradication numbers continue to lag behind last year's due to funding constraints affecting manual eradication progress, while fatalities during manual eradication operations have increased from last year (see reftel). NAS-funded training and construction programs continue, and interdiction operations continue to result in large-scale seizures. END SUMMARY. ¶I. Aerial Eradication Program II. Manual Eradication Program III. Plan Colombia Helicopter Program (PCHP) IV. Colombia National Police Air Service Support (ARAVI) ¶V. Interdiction Program VI. Base Security/Road Interdiction/NVD Program VII. Maritime Interdiction Program VIII. Communications/Weapons Program IX. Port Security Program (PSP) ¶X. Reestablish Police Presence Program (Carabineros) XI. Air Bridge Denial (ABD) Program XII. Environmental Program XIII. Individual Demobilization Program XIV. Drug Demand Prevention (DDP) Program -------------- ¶I. AERIAL ERADICATION PROGRAM -------------- ¶2. (SBU) Aircraft based in Forward Operating Locations (FOLs) in Larandia, Popayan and Caucasia sprayed a total of 8,595 hectares (ha) in November. A total of 3,310 ha were sprayed out of Barrancabermeja, 827 out of Popayan, 484 out of Caucasia and 3,974 out of Tumaco. The aerial eradication team reached its calendar year target of 100,000 ha on December 4. During November, eradication aircraft experienced four hostile fire incidents and nine impacts, bringing the total for the calendar year to 41 hostile fire incidents and 75 impacts. No one was wounded or killed as a result of these incidents. -------------- II. MANUAL ERADICATION PROGRAM -------------- ¶3. (SBU) Phase IV of the GOC's 2009 manual eradication campaign (GME program) ends in mid-December. Total eradication of coca for the month of November was 4,337 ha, bringing the GME program's year-to-date total to 44,188 ha. Including eradication carried out by the Colombian security forces, total coca eradication through November was 51,046 ha. With less than one month left in the year, manual eradication of coca is well short of the 2009 manual eradication goal of 70,000 ha. The Antinarcotics Police (DIRAN) planned to continue eradication operations through December in an attempt to reach 60,000 ha by the end of the year. The GOC has surpassed the 2009 goals to eradicate 500 hectares of poppy and 150 ha of marijuana. There were no reported security incidents in November. ¶4. (SBU) Through November, the GOC reported a total of 40 fatalities during manual eradication operations in 2009, including 25 security personnel, 14 civilian eradicators, and one United Nations-hired topographer embedded within a manual eradication group. [Note: The number of reported fatalities is based on records held by the Colombian National Police, Colombian Army, Accion Social, reports from the field and press reports. Complete reporting of fatalities during manual eradication will not be available until the end of the year. End Note.] In all of 2008, 26 security personnel and civilian eradicators were killed in manual eradication operations. -------------- - III. PLAN COLOMBIA HELICOPTER PROGRAM (PCHP) -------------- - ¶5. (SBU) PCHP aircraft flew a total of 497 hours in November 2009, operating from bases in Tumaco, Larandia, Barrancabermeja, and Tolemaida. PCHP aircraft provided air assaults, air movements, reconnaissance, medical evacuations, and support missions for the Counter-Drug (CD) Brigade and other vetted Colombian Army (COLAR) units. [Comment: Air assaults and interdiction operations coordinated with aerial eradication operations continues to be an effective tactic for increasing security for spray aircraft. The effectiveness of this tactic, however, is directly proportional to the accuracy and availability of actionable intelligence. General information on the presence of enemy forces in an area cannot be converted into an actionable target by CD Brigade forces. Lack of actionable intelligence was the major factor affecting operations in the Barrancabermeja FOL.] PCHP aircraft supported SOUTHCOM's visit to Tolemaida and the Joint Initial Entry Rotary Wing School in Melgar. PCHP flew 31 hours supporting 9 medical evacuation missions transporting a total of 13 patients. -------------- -------------- IV. COLOMBIAN NATIONAL POLICE (CNP) AIR SERVICE (ARAVI) SUPPORT -------------- -------------- ¶6. (SBU) ARAVI's NAS-supported fleet flew 2,178 mission hours in November. The seven UH-60 Black Hawks closed out the month with 215 flight hours and an operational readiness (OR) rate of 81 percent. One UH-60 is undergoing depot maintenance for structural repair due to hostile fire, and Sikorsky completed depot repairs on another UH-60 this month. The Bell 212 fleet flew 362 mission hours with an OR rate of 68 percent. One Bell 212 has yet to be inducted into the Service Life Extension Program (SLEP)/Rewire, and another Bell 212 is currently in depot for SLEP. The CNP is conducting this SLEP without USG contractor support. The Huey II section's OR rate was 65 percent while flying 1,021 hours. Five Huey IIs are in depot maintenance for structural repairs. The transfer of five Huey IIs from the Colombian Army to the CNP was completed, and the CNP has assumed all helicopter support for both aerial eradication packages operating in Colombia. The four DC-3s flew 288 hours in November with an OR rate of 46 percent. The last of three C-26 Intelligence, Surveillance, Reconnaissance Aerial Platforms (ISRAP) arrived and is pending final acceptance. -------------- ¶V. INTERDICTION -------------- ¶7. (SBU) During November the Colombian National Police (CNP) seized 8.51 metric tons of cocaine hydrochloride (HC1) and cocaine base, 33.75 metric tons of coca leaf, 24.37 metric tons of marijuana, and 7 kgs of heroin. The CNP also destroyed 13 cocaine HCl laboratories and 102 coca base laboratories, and seized 2,113 metric tons of precursor chemicals. From January 1 to December 1, 2009, the CNP has seized 121.13 metric tons of cocaine/cocaine base, 447 metric tons of coca leaf, 164.88 metric tons of marijuana and 573 kgs of heroin. In the same time period the CNP has destroyed 179 cocaine HCl laboratories, 1,419 coca base laboratories, and seized 24,804.10 metric tons of precursor chemicals. ¶8. (SBU) On November 2, DIRAN deployed 40 Junglas from Facatativa to Caucasia, Antioquia Department to intercept a clandestine drug flight arriving from Central America. The clandestine aircraft landed near Ayapel, Cordoba, 15 miles north of Caucasia, and the Jungla airmobile element landed minutes after and seized the aircraft. The aircrew is believed to have escaped in a small boat on Lake Ayapel. As the Junglas fanned out over the area, they found an abandoned suitcase containing $2M USD. Since April 2009, the policemen of northeast Colombia's DIRAN Zone #5 (Norte de Santander, Santander, Arauca) have established continuous mobile road checkpoints, seizing 27 tons of marijuana (coming from distant Cauca) and 12 tons of cocaine. [NOTE: The narcotraffickers are attempting to move the cocaine/marijuana to clandestine airfields across the border with Venezuela.] On November 6, thirty Tulua Junglas, responding to a HUMINT tip, moved by truck from Tulua to Calota, Cauca and captured 850 kgs of marijuana hidden in a cache site. On November 7, the DIRAN Zone #5 destroyed three HCl labs and captured 432 kgs of cocaine in Norte de Santander. On November 13, thirty-one Tulua Junglas moved to Buenaventura and assisted DIRAN Ports in the capture of 315 kgs of cocaine hidden in a coffee shipment. On November 13-17, the Facatativa Junglas deployed to Yopal, Casanare and San Jose de Guaviare and conducted a night airmobile assault, capturing members of the Pedro Olivero Guerrero, alias "Cuchillo", narcotrafficking group, located 30 miles north of San Jose de Guaviare. The Junglas captured three armed members of the band along with ammunition and hand grenades. ¶9. (SBU) The Facatativa Ammunition Bunker, funded by NAS and built by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, was completed on November 15. The storage facility will service the Facatativa Junglas, the DIRAN National Ammunition Section and the Carabineros School. NAS Bogota's Engineering Section is supervising the construction of a small arms range for the Junglas at the Facatativa Police Base. The expected completion date is March 2010. ¶10. (SBU) The DIRAN Junglas nine-man Mobile Training Team (MTT) completed their 60 day antinarcotics training program for Mexico's Jalisco State Police in Guadalajara on November 2. The Jungla Commando International Course, comprised of 54 international and 29 CNP students, will continue until December 11. Both the eight-week Jungla Explosives and Demolitions Course for 48 students and the eight-week Advanced Land Navigation Course for 56 students began on October 26. The 23- week Jungla Combat Medic course continues and should graduate 35 students on December 28. Six U.S. Army Special Forces trainers initiated a four-week course at the Pijaos Training Center on November 2 training the Jungla Special Recon unit on rural and urban operations. -------------- -------------- VI. BASE SECURITY/ROAD INTERDICTION/NVD PROGRAM -------------- -------------- ¶11. (SBU) 28 students graduated from the Base Security course at the newly-designated DIRAN Northwest Zone base in Necocli on November 4. The next scheduled courses are in the planning phase and will run simultaneously in Tumaco and Necocli beginning in January. ¶12. (SBU) Phase II of the Miraflores Indefinite Design Indefinite Quantity (IDIQ) project continued on schedule with a completion date of the first week in December. The IDIQ Bastion Wall project at Necocli was completed. It includes 250 meters of perimeter walls and two nine meter ballistic towers. An additional 315 meters of bastion walls to connect all the existing towers and bunkers will be added in December. ¶13. (SBU) The accounting and inspection of the remaining Night Vision Devices for Carabineros Mobile Squadron (EMCAR) units was completed in November, and all of the new NVDs were sent to the designated EMCAR units located throughout the country. The annual accounting and inspection program continued throughout the country at DIRAN bases and units in El Dorado, Guaymaral, Facatativa, Espinal, Pijaos, Cespo, Mariquita, Larandia, Santa Marta, Tulua and DITRA. -------------- VII. MARITIME INTERDICTION -------------- ¶14. (SBU) On November 3, an American cutter and a Colombian frigate (ARC Valle de Cauca) intercepted a vessel off the Pacific coast containing 2.5 tons of cocaine. The Colombian authorities seized the drugs and arrested the crewmembers. A GRUIN navy intelligence tactical team captured a top BACRIM (emerging criminal band) "Paisa" leader, alias "Micho", in Monter????a, C????rdoba on November ¶11. ¶15. (SBU) NAS worked with the Colombian Coast Guard to coordinate a conference that included senior Colombian naval leadership, Coast Guard officers, Colombian judges, and prosecutors to discuss new Colombian maritime law against self propelled semi submersibles (SPSS) and other legal issues as they pertain to Colombian national waters. -------------- VIII. COMMUNICATIONS/WEAPONS -------------- ¶16. (SBU) NAS provided 270 SPOT personal satellite emergency communications devices to the Colombian Coast Guard and CNP, providing commanders the ability to determine exactly the location of friendly forces. Work continued on a fiber optics project in Tulua that will connect the antinarcotics base with the CNP network, and NAS funded the travel of CNP technicians to every international airport in Colombia to train DIRAN personnel on a new database that will help track import/export information. NAS also met with DIRAN and DIPON and a private communication security firm, Cellcrypt, to discuss methods to encrypt CNP cell phones. CNP communications officers are testing and evaluating potential solutions. -------------- IX. PORT SECURITY PROGRAM (PSP) -------------- ¶17. (SBU) DIRAN's Ports and Airports Area (ARPAE) units seized 2.2 metric tons of cocaine, 1.1 kgs of heroin and arrested 34 people at Colombia's air and seaports during November. At the Bogota airport, 483.4 kgs of cocaine were seized and 25 people arrested. At the Pereira airport, 3.7 kgs of cocaine were seized. At Cali's Palmira airport, 19.7 kgs of cocaine were seized and three people arrested. At Medellin's Rionegro airport, 5.2 kgs of cocaine and 3 kgs of heroin were seized, and two people arrested. At Barranquilla's airport, 0.8 kgs of heroin were seized and one person arrested. In Cartagena's port, 838.8 kgs of cocaine were seized and two people arrested. In Buenaventura's port, 879 kgs of cocaine were seized and one person arrested. In Santa Marta's port, 7.6 kgs of cocaine were seized and in Urab????'s port area, 39.8 kgs of cocaine were seized. Canine antidrug units participated in seven of the cases. ¶18. (SBU) ICE polygraph examiner conducted polygraph exams on 68 members of DIRAN's interdiction, intelligence, ports and airports units. 54 passed the exam, 10 failed, and 4 exams had inconclusive results. The DIRAN Polygraph Unit also supported DIRAN Internal Affairs Group with investigations on air and seaport personnel. -------------- -------------- ¶X. REESTABLISH POLICE PRESENCE PROGRAM (CARABINEROS) -------------- -------------- ¶19. (SBU) The Carabineros continue their primary missions of rural security and manual eradication. During November they captured 159 people, 14 FARC/ELN, 20 criminal bands members, 22 narcotraffickers, 103 common criminals, 90 weapons and over 3,000 rounds of ammunition. The squadrons also seized 4,455 gallons of liquid precursors, 5,078 kgs of solid precursors, 1,128 kgs of cocaine, 6,713 kgs of marijuana, 14 vehicles and destroyed 24 labs and two base camps. -------------- XI. AIR BRIDGE DENIAL (ABD) -------------- ¶20. (SBU) Out of 2,808 tracks over Colombia, three aircraft were declared Unknown, Assumed Suspect (UAS). The Colombian Air Force intercepted one and the other two were not located. The intercepted aircraft, a Cessna 210, was intercepted departing Honduras (see para 8). -------------- XII. ENVIRONMENTAL -------------- ¶21. (SBU) In November, the antinarcotics police received 25 complaints, closed 21 cases, and compensated approximately $693 USD to one complainant bringing the total backlog to 2,210 cases. ¶22. (SBU) On November 24-25, Chris Kraul, a Los Angeles Times journalist, traveled to Tumaco, Narino to view and discuss aerial eradication operations. His article was published on December 16 and focused on one spray pilot, highlighting interesting spray stories and experiences. -------------- XIII. INDIVIDUAL DEMOBILIZATION PROGRAM -------------- ¶23. (SBU) The Ministry of Defense's (MOD) Humanitarian Attention Program for the Demobilized (PAHD) has received 20,398 combatants since 2002, including 148 insurgents in November and 2,481 to date in 2009. This is the lowest monthly total since December 2007 and increases the likelihood that the PAHD's total in 2009 will be several hundred fewer cases than last year. While 1,993 FARC members have demobilized so far this year compared to 2,847 through November 30, 2008, ELN demobilization numbers have reached a record 470 this year. -------------- XIV. DRUG DEMAND PREVENTION (DDP) -------------- ¶24. (SBU) On November 25, Ambassador Brownfield awarded prizes to thirty-two winners, one from each department, of CNP DARE's, NAS-financed "Draw for a Drug-Free Country" contest that this year involved more than 50,000 children from across the country. The three NGOs that will be building anti-drug community coalitions in Colombia submitted their proposals for grants which will be awarded upon the receipt of FY-2009 funds. The winners of NAS-supported national youth DDP contest "The Wind at Your Back" and youth leaders from across the country participated in a UNODC/MPS-organized DDP training session November 16-18. ¶25. (SBU) UNODC representatives received NAS's contribution to support a national study of drug use in schools among youth aged 12 to 17. The study will complement the NAS/INL-supported National Household Drug Consumption Study released in June of this year and will provide a tool for drug demand prevention policy and program planning for youth. The study, slated to begin next year, will also identify trends when compared with the last such study released in 2004. BROWNFIELD