TANZANIA INTERNATIONAL NARCOTICS CONTROL STRATEGY REPORT

UNCLAS DAR ES SALAAM 000747 SIPDIS DEPARTMENT FOR AF/E JTREADWELL, INR FOR JLYLE E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: SNAR PGOV PREL TZ SUBJECT: TANZANIA INTERNATIONAL NARCOTICS CONTROL STRATEGY REPORT (INCSR) 2009-2010 REF: STATE 97230 ¶I. Summary -------------- Tanzania is located along drug trafficking routes linking Latin America, the Middle East, Asia, Africa, Europe, and, to a lesser extent, the United States. Drugs like cocaine, heroin, khat, and Mandrax, and opium pass through Tanzania's porous borders. In addition, the domestic production of cannabis is a significant problem, with active cultivation as well as natural growth in many regions. While domestic use of cannabis has plateaued, heroin and cocaine use continues to increase, particularly among the young, in affluent neighborhoods, and around tourist areas, like Zanzibar. While the Government of Tanzania is working to build the capacity of its law enforcement and health institutions to combat drug trafficking and abuse, they are constrained by the lack of financial as well as human capital. Within the law enforcement sector, corruption continues to erode the efficacy of existing anti-narcotics efforts. Tanzania is a party to the 1988 UN Drug Convention. II. Status of Country -------------- TanzaniaQs location, along trafficking routes with porous borders that offer numerous possible points of entry through its eight land borders and 1,424-kilometer coastline, provides opportunities for drug traffickers. Drugs are believed to enter Tanzania by air, sea, roads and rail. Major points of entry include airports in Dar es Salaam, Zanzibar and Kilimanjaro, seaports at Dar es Salaam and Zanzibar, and smaller ocean and lake ports like Tanga, Mtwara, Mwanza, and Bagamoyo. Traffickers reportedly conduct a significant amount of narcotics smuggling offshore via dhows and small boats that avoid ports. Tanzanians are sometimes used as "drug mules". During the year, Tanzanians were arrested for drug trafficking elsewhere in East Africa. Domestic use of narcotics appears to be on the rise, although cannabis use appears to have stabilized. Because cocaine and heroin are not as affordable as cannabis or khat, they are used in smaller quantities and primarily within affluent urban areas. However, the growth of the tourism industry, particularly on Zanzibar and near Arusha, as well as increasing affluence have increased demand for these more expensive narcotics. III. Country Actions against Drugs in 2009 -------------- Policy Initiatives: Efforts to amend the Anti-Drugs Control Commission Act of 1995, designed to strengthen the Drug Control Commission (DCC) and increase the penalty for drug trafficking, failed in 2007. Currently, magistrates typically impose fines on offenders as opposed to seeking prison sentences. The law stipulates that convicted drug traffickers be fined three times the market value of the drugs with which they are caught, but not less than Tsh 10 million (approximately $7700). According to the DCC, the government drafted a national drug control policy during the year. This policy is currently under review by various government stakeholders. In 2008, the DCC formed a task force, which includes representation from the DCC, Police Service, Customs, and Immigration. This body facilitates interagency collaboration on narcotics issues, operating at the national, regional, and district levels to maximize the benefits of collaboration between law enforcement organs. Task force activities are funded out of the DCC's $700,000 budget. On Zanzibar, the proposed Illicit Drugs Bill was passed by the Zanzibar House of Representatives on October 23. This bill enhances the powers of police officers to search and seize narcotics, while also allowing for "controlled delivery" of persons suspected of transporting illegal narcotics to facilitate international arrests. In addition, the bill provides for the formation of a narcotics secretariat and an anti-drug commission to coordinate counter-narcotics efforts. The new bill is currently awaiting the Zanzibar presidentQs signature. Law Enforcement Efforts: Tanzania has three counter-narcotics police teams, located in Dar es Salaam, Zanzibar, and Moshi. The Anti-Narcotics Unit (ANU) has roughly 150 officers nationwide, with 50 in the capital city. Law enforcement efforts are increasingly successful at arresting small-scale smugglers and "drug mules". This increase reflects the ANU's efforts to sensitize community members about drug issues and earn their confidence by demonstrating their commitment to combat drug trafficking. Narcotics interdictions generally result from tip-offs from informants. Further, law enforcement officials have successfully built international relationships which allow for information sharing regarding the movement of narcotics from one continent to another. Officers from the National Park Service have broad powers to search and seize. They have been helpful in seizing quantities of locally grown cannabis. Law enforcement, however, has been less successful at apprehending QkingpinsQ of narcotics activities. There are suspicions that "kingpins" may be able to infiltrate investigations and elude capture. Low salaries for law enforcement personnel in some cases encourage corrupt behavior. However, the police have put in place a system of incentives to reward police for their efforts to arrest drug offenders, which they hope will help reduce corruption. While Tanzanian narcotics officials acknowledge their efforts are hampered by a lack of resources, such as modern patrol boats, they have used community outreach and interagency coordination to help mitigate the impact of such resource shortages. Nevertheless, while capability for land interdiction at established borders is reasonable, marine interdiction remains a problem. Furthermore, Tanzanian officers and police staff are not able to effectively implement profiling techniques to seize larger amounts of narcotics. Formal cooperation between counter-narcotics police in Kenya, Uganda, Burundi, Rwanda and Tanzania is well established. This cooperation has resulted in significant increases in effectiveness in each nation's narcotics control efforts. Tanzania also cooperates formally with countries from the Southern African Development Community, including Zambia and South Africa. Officers attended various international training events held in Botswana, Japan, and Russia. During the year, the DCC coordinated training and encouraged working relationships between law enforcement in various neighboring countries. The DCC provided drug test kits to officials along the Malawian and Zambian borders with Tanzania to assist with the identification of illegal narcotics. Between January and October 2009, police arrested approximately 4,000 individuals for drug possession, of which 112 related to heroin, 107 related to cocaine, 363 related to khat, and over 3,000 related to cannabis. Roughly 15 people were arrested for possession of Mandrax. To date in 2009, police seized over 45,000 kilograms of drugs. More than 70 percent of this total was cannabis. Police seized 32,000 kilograms of cannabis, eight kilograms of heroin, and 4 kilograms of cocaine. There were no convictions for drug trafficking in Zanzibar during the year, however by June there were 123 cases pending in the High Court. Corruption: The Government of Tanzania does not, as a matter of government policy, encourage or facilitate illicit drug production or distribution, nor is it involved in laundering the proceeds of the sale of illicit drugs; however, corruption continued to be a serious concern within the Tanzanian police force. It is widely believed that corrupt police officials at ports facilitate the transshipment of narcotics through Tanzania. There is no specific provision of the anticorruption laws regarding narcotics-related corruption cases. Many believe that corruption in the courts often leads to case dismissals or light sentencing of convicted narcotics offenders. Some prosecutors have complained that they suspect many arrested suspects plead Qnot guiltyQ until the magistrate hearing the case can be bribed. Once confident of the magistrate's complicity, the suspects change their plea to guilty, thereby forgoing a lengthy trial process, and the magistrate issues a judgment of only a minor fine. Agreements and Treaties: Tanzania is a party to the 1988 UN Drug Convention, the 1961 Single Convention as amended by the 1972 Protocol, and the 1971 Convention on Psychotropic Substances. Tanzania is also a party to the UN Convention against Corruption, and the UN Convention against Transnational Organized Crime, and its three protocols. The 1931 U.S.-U.K. Extradition Treaty is applicable to Tanzania. Cultivation and Production: Traditional cultivation of cannabis takes place in remote parts of the country, mainly for domestic use. Although cannabis is produced in almost all regions, DCC and ANU officials identified the following regions as the primary production areas for cannabis: Morogoro, Iringa, Tabora, Mara, Arusha, Rukwa, Rumuva, and Tanga. During the year, production spread to Lindi and Mtwara due to increased demand from Mozambique. In conjunction with the seizure of 357 kilograms of cannabis in the Tarime district of the Mara region, police destroyed 50 acres of cannabis in 2009. In total, police destroyed seventy acres of cannabis during the year. No figures on total production exist. However, the DCC plans to conduct research to determine the extent of cannabis cultivation. Khat is also grown locally, primarily in Arusha and Tanga. However, most of the khat found in Tanzania is smuggled in from Kenya, where it is legal to produce. Drug Flow/Transit: Due to its location and porous borders, its weakly controlled seaports and airports, Tanzania has become a transit country for narcotics moving in sub-Saharan Africa. Traffickers from landlocked countries of Southern Africa, including Zambia and Malawi, and island nations, like Comoros, use Tanzania for transit. Control at the ports, especially on Zanzibar, is difficult. Internal waterways, such as Lake Victoria, also provide convenient transit routes for drug smugglers. While controls at established ports of entry on the mainland are effective, traffickers often cross the border at points without established posts. There were reports of "rampant" drug smuggling from neighboring countries through uncontrolled areas near the Kasumulu and Tunduma border posts with Malawi and Zambia respectively. Traffickers using forged documents and various methods of concealment face poor controls and untrained and corrupt officials. Smugglers often travel via South Africa to obtain fraudulent documents which are used to hide travel to the Middle East and South America. In an effort to elude drug sniffing dogs, drugs are often concealed with local goods such as tea and coffee or swallowed by drug traffickers. According to the Anti-Narcotics Unit, heroin entering Tanzania from Afghanistan, Iran, and Pakistan via Dubai and other locations, often by boat, is being smuggled to China and Europe in small quantities. Cocaine enters Tanzania from Brazil, Colombia, Peru, Venezuela, and Curacao in transit to South Africa, Europe, Australia and North America. The port of Dar es Salaam is also a point of entry for Mandrax from India, Nepal and Kenya headed toward South Africa. Tanzanians continue to be recruited as Qdrug mulesQ for trafficking. In Zanzibar, enforcement officials said that local smugglers usually travel to Dubai where they are given drugs by contacts coming from Brazil. These smugglers then transport the drugs to China via Nairobi, returning with goods to sell on the local market. While the traffickers are primarily from Tanzania, particularly the Tanga region, foreign nationals have also been arrested for drug trafficking in Tanzania. In August, a Kenyan woman was arrested with three kilograms of heroin en route to South Africa and in Zanzibar; an Italian national is currently under investigation for possession of illegal narcotics. Domestic Programs/Demand Reduction: Cannabis is the most commonly used narcotic. Although its use has not declined, it has begun to stabilize. Local use of Mandrax is limited. Since the introduction of powdered heroin in 2000, however, use of this drug has increased. Intravenous drug use is more common in Zanzibar than on the mainland. With direct flights connecting South America and Africa, cocaine use has also increased in recent years, particularly among the youth and tourists. Through its community outreach activities, the police have been involved in efforts to educate the public about the dangers of narcotics. In 2009, DCC launched a drug awareness campaign, participating in state sponsored trade fairs, national celebrations, and youth-centered events to create greater awareness about drug trafficking. In Zanzibar, narcotics officials worked with the Department of Substance Abuse Prevention and Rehabilitation of the Zanzibar Ministry of Health, conducting seminars for local leaders, media outlets, and the public on the importance of providing the police with information. On October 25, the Zanzibar Anti Narcotics Squad of Zanzibar aired a television program on narcotics as part of its media outreach program. The DCC, under the Prime Minister's Office, oversees treatment and prevention activities, coordinating with NGOs and other medical facilities. It managed a small demand reduction program, which included training courses for nurses, counselors, and teachers in urban centers across the country. Limited government resources existed for specialized care for drug addiction and rehabilitation. Most treatment is provided at the local level by NGOs or at community health facilities. However, these organizations lack trained personnel to identify, assess, and assist drug addicts, particularly those in need of psycho-social interventions. Because resources are stretched so thin, quality of care is an issue and relapse is common among drug users. Although Tanzania has adopted the UNODC guidelines on treatment, these have not been disseminated to local NGOs. During the year, DCC's Technical Working Group developed three manuals for service provision, including a guide for the management of drugs at primary health care centers, an outreach service guide, and a strategic framework for the prevention of HIV among IV drug users. The DCC received a grant from the UNODC and WHO to support training activities in Dar es Salaam and Zanzibar. Any required in-patient care was typically provided by psychiatric hospitals. Drug addicts were often hesitant to seek in-patient treatment due to the stigma associated with psychiatric facilities. There are six psychiatric units in the country, 20 trained psychiatrists, and fewer than five psychologists. IV. U.S. Policy Initiatives and Programs -------------- Bilateral Cooperation: U.S. policy initiatives and programs for addressing narcotics problems in Tanzania are focused on training workshops and seminars for law enforcement officials. During the year, Tanzanian officers participated in a USG sponsored workshop on investigation techniques, held in Tanzania. The Department of State also sent officers from the Tanzania National Police to the International Law Enforcement Academy (ILEA) in Gaborone, Botswana for training. The Road Ahead: According to police, fighting corruption will be a priority in 2010 in order to improve the efficacy of counter-narcotics efforts. In addition, DCC will seek the approval of the national drug control policy and step up cannabis eradication efforts by promoting alternative crop production. Finally, DCC hopes to establish a methadone treatment program in Tanzania as well as a national drug precursor monitoring program. U.S.-Tanzanian cooperation will continue, with a focus on improving Tanzania's capacity to enforce its counter-narcotics laws. ANDRE