Identifier
Created
Classification
Origin
09BUENOSAIRES811
2009-07-13 11:39:00
UNCLASSIFIED//FOR OFFICIAL USE ONLY
Embassy Buenos Aires
Cable title:  

ARGENTINA: FIRST AND SECOND QUARTER INL REPORT

Tags:  SNAR PREL AFIN KCRM PGOV AR 
pdf how-to read a cable
VZCZCXYZ0000
RR RUEHWEB

DE RUEHBU #0811/01 1941139
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
R 131139Z JUL 09
FM AMEMBASSY BUENOS AIRES
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 4052
INFO RUCNMER/MERCOSUR COLLECTIVE
RUEHBO/AMEMBASSY BOGOTA 1910
RUEHQT/AMEMBASSY QUITO 1154
RUEHPE/AMEMBASSY LIMA 2535
RUEHLP/AMEMBASSY LA PAZ JUL CARACAS 1970
RHMFIUU/DEPT OF HOMELAND SECURITY WASHINGTON DC
RHMFIUU/DEPT OF JUSTICE WASHINGTON DC
RHMFIUU/HQ USSOUTHCOM MIAMI FL
RUEKJCS/SECDEF WASHINGTON DC
RHEFDIA/DIA WASHINGTON DC
UNCLAS BUENOS AIRES 000811 

SENSITIVE
SIPDIS

DEPARTMENT FOR WHA/BSC AND INL/LP HOOKER

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: SNAR PREL AFIN KCRM PGOV AR
SUBJECT: ARGENTINA: FIRST AND SECOND QUARTER INL REPORT

ENTIRE TEXT SENSITIVE BUT UNCLASSIFIED -- NOT FOR INTERNET
DISTRIBUTION

UNCLAS BUENOS AIRES 000811

SENSITIVE
SIPDIS

DEPARTMENT FOR WHA/BSC AND INL/LP HOOKER

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: SNAR PREL AFIN KCRM PGOV AR
SUBJECT: ARGENTINA: FIRST AND SECOND QUARTER INL REPORT

ENTIRE TEXT SENSITIVE BUT UNCLASSIFIED -- NOT FOR INTERNET
DISTRIBUTION


1. (SBU) Summary: Argentina experienced increased drug trafficking
pressure during the first six months of 2009, with the apparently
expanding use of small aircraft to traffic cocaine and marijuana
across the country's northern borders. Cargoes are quickly
offloaded at clandestine strips and distributed for shipment to
Europe (cocaine) or domestic consumption (marijuana and cocaine).
Press reports gave extensive coverage to UNODC figures showing
increasing cocaine and marijuana use in the country. Courts are
increasingly ruling to decriminalize personal possession of
narcotics in Argentina, with a Supreme Court ruling to that effect
widely anticipated.


2. (SBU) Argentina law enforcement continues to cooperate
effectively with U.S. and other third country officials, and
collaborative efforts resulting in important arrests and seizures
during the period. U.S. training and equipping is well received.
Major U.S. INCLE-funded contributions during the first half of 2009
included investigative software with training, support for the
establishment of a Center for Drug Information in Buenos Aires,
ongoing support for the Northern Border Task Force (NBTF),and law
enforcement training.


I. Trafficking Trends

Aerial Traffic Up
--------------


3. (SBU) Argentina's lack of comprehensive radar coverage both along
its borders and in the interior make it difficult to assess the
volume of illicit drug flights into the country. Cocaine-laden
flights from Bolivia and Paraguay and marijuana-carrying flights
from Paraguay are thought to use private ranch lands in the wide
open spaces of Santiago del Estero, Chaco, and northern Santa Fe
Provinces to land and quickly distribute narcotics to waiting
vehicles. It is transported south for internal consumption or, in
the case of cocaine, for shipment to major markets, principally
European, through mules and disguised as commercial ocean freight.
Based on seizures resulting from tips or the number of random law
enforcement encounters with the illicit flights, analysts and
officials believe the volume of aerial traffic to be increasing.



4. (SBU) One announced GOA response to the aerial trafficking is a
plan announced in March to share real-time radar data from the Air
Force with law enforcement agencies. This has been slow to be
implemented but is expected to commence soon. In addition,
Argentina's plans to procure additional "three-dimensional radars"
for use around the country's borders would improve on spotty
coverage. Although competitors for this bid have gone through a
pre-qualification process, fiscal shortfalls continue to push the
purchase down the road.


5. (SBU) The national Gendarmeria (border guard),a key partner in
our law enforcement cooperation, has requested Embassy assistance in
standing-up an integrated command-and-control center to track
targets and coordinate on-the-ground law enforcement assets in the
north central region of the country. They have developed their own
software, including a mapping program. Members of the Law
Enforcement Working Group at post have recommended a positive
response to this request, which totals approximately US$ 14,000 in
locally procured computer equipment.

Seizures Also Rising
--------------


6. (SBU) In May, Gendarmeria officials told Embassy counterparts
that overall seizures of marijuana and cocaine were running ahead of
2008 figures. Major seizures that included DEA participation
include the following:

-- On January 11, 2009, the Northern Border Task Force (NBTF) and
Gendarmeria Nacional Argentina (GNA) in coordination with the DEA
Buenos Aires Country Office (BACO) seized approximately 186 kgs of
cocaine, one vehicle and arrested two Argentine nationals. A
surveillance team in the town of San Martin, Salta, conducted a
vehicle stop on a red Ford pick-up, questioning its occupants who
gave conflicting answers and acted nervously. Officer conducted an
inspection of the pick-up utilizing a NBTF drug detection canine who
alerted to the bed of the pick-up. A closer inspection revealed a
hidden compartment where 188 rectangular packages of varying sizes
and weights were seized. The total weight of the cocaine seized was
186 kgs.

-- On February 22, 2009, the Northern Border Task Force (NBTF) and
Gendarmeria Nacional Argentina (GNA) in coordination with the DEA
Buenos Aires Country Office (BACO) seized approximately 238 kgs of
cocaine, one vehicle and arrested one Argentine national. The NBTF
had obtained information that a subject would attempt to smuggle a
substantial amount of cocaine from Bolivia into Argentina, using the
services of an Argentine law enforcement officer. After a vehicle
matching the source description unlawfully proceeded through a
checkpoint in the area of Aguaray, Salta, on National Route 34, it
returned 10 minutes later and the driver identified himself as a
Second Lieutenant in the GNA. He gave conflicting answers, but a
search on his vehicle was negative for drugs. Later the same day,
the NBTF and GNA found four bags containing approximately 280
rectangular packages of different weights and sizes wrapped in
balloon latex material. A field test was conducted which resulted
positive for cocaine.

-- On February 26, 2009, the Policia Federal Argentina (PFA)
obtained a search warrant based upon an ongoing joint investigation
conducted by the PFA and BACO into the cocaine smuggling activities
of a Serbian drug trafficking organization. A search of a Recoleta
apartment in the city of Buenos Aires resulted in the seizure of 174
kgs of cocaine and the arrest of two Serbian nationals.

-- On May 10, 2009, approximately 206.94 kgs of cocaine were seized
and two individuals arrested, as a result of continuing
investigative initiatives on the part of the BACO, NBTF and GNA.
Based on source information, a vehicle was stopped at the border
crossing at Salvador Mazza in the province of Salta. A mobile
scanner showed nine duffle bags concealed within 610 bags of grain.
The bags contained 198 rectangular packages that tested positive for
cocaine.

NOTE: Official government seizures statistics are made available on
an annual basis.

Decriminalization
--------------


7. (SBU) During the first half of 2009, several federal courts ruled
against the detentions of individuals found with small amounts of
narcotics. It has been widely expected, based in part on press
interviews with some Supreme Court Justices, that the Supreme Court
would also rule on this issue in favor of decriminalizing possession
for personal use. The ruling has yet to be issued.


8. (SBU) A proposal from the national government to legislate
decriminalization of narcotics possession for personal consumption
has not found a legislative champion to date. No bill has been
introduced in the Congress, and several groups, including the
Government's own Office of Drug Policy and Demand Reduction,
SEDRONAR, have objected to the idea.

Consumption Up
--------------


9. (SBU) Argentine press gave extensive coverage to the 2009 UNODC
Annual Drug Report, particularly to information that marijuana use
among high school students in Argentina had jumped from a 3.5%
prevalence rate in 2001 to 8.1% in 2007. Health and education
officials blamed the lack of full extracurricular programs for kids
and absence of effective drug education programs for the rise. The
UNODC report also noted that Argentina had the highest cocaine
prevalence rate in South America, which at 2.67% of the population
aged 15-64 is now approaching the U.S. 2.8% rate. Argentina is the
second largest cocaine market in South America, at 660,000 persons,
behind only the much more populous Brazil (890,000 persons).

II. Program Discussion


10. (U) Utilizing significant past year monies, INL programs
incurred US$144,802 during the first half of 2009. Programs were as
follows:


-- One-year rent for Northern Border Task Force, Salta, US$24,000,
with FY 2007 INCLE money. This is the first of two years
INL-approved rent payments for the NBTF. We are encouraging the
Gendarmeria and Salta Police to plan for funding their own
facilities after this period. The NBTF continues to be our most
effective drug interdiction partner, positioned as it is to develop
and react to information on cocaine trafficking from Bolivia.

-- Centers for Drug Information (CDI) Training Conference in Salta,
April 27-May 1, US$ 31,583, with FY 2006 and FY 2007 INCLE funds.
Following Bolivia's expulsion of the DEA, Embassy proposed to
Minister of Justice Anibal Fernandez that the Argentine Federal
Police (PFA) host the Southern Cone CDI that had been previously
supported by the Government of Bolivia. Fernandez and the PFA
accepted this responsibility. The April training was designed to
introduce key Argentine officials to CDI capabilities and management
and to bring together regional Southern Cone officials to encourage
information exchange and cooperation. Participants were pleased
with the training by U.S.-based officials. To date the PFA is
making appropriate use of the CDI and facilitating the exchange of
information within the region, operating out of its headquarters in
Buenos Aires.

-- Pen Link Software Purchase and Training, US$ 65,046, principally
FY 2007 but some FY 2006 funds. This INL-approved purchase provided
four copies of the customized Pen-Link software to the 1)
Gendarmeria/Northern Border Task Force (GNA/NBTF),2)
Gendarmeria/Eastern Border Task Force (GNA/EBTF),3) the Federal
Police (PFA),and 4) the Mendoza Provincial Police. A training
course in Buenos Aires was offered in late June to 15 officials from
these four services. The phone call and data analysis software will
substantially expand Argentine law enforcement capabilities, and we
anticipate effective collaboration and data sharing based on this
analysis.

-- Support for two Argentine participants in Colombia Jungle Command
Course, US$5,801, with FY 2006 funds.

-- Firearms and tactical training for Gendarmeria Nacional in
Bariloche in May, 2009, for 25 trainees. US$9,604, with FY 2006
funds, provided by DEA.

-- Firearms and tactical training for Buenos Aires Provincial Police
and its Drug Enforcement Unit, in February, 2009, for 20 students.
US$ 8,768, with FY 2007 funds.

KELLY