USG-SPONSORED LAW ENFORCEMENT CAPACITY BUILDING IN

UNCLAS HONG KONG 002148 SENSITIVE SIPDIS STATE FOR EAP/CM E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: ASEC SNAR PINS OEXC KCRM PREL TW CH MC HK SUBJECT: USG-SPONSORED LAW ENFORCEMENT CAPACITY BUILDING IN HONG KONG AND MACAU ¶1. (SBU) SUMMARY: Law enforcement cooperation and capacity building in Hong Kong and Macau are top priorities in Post's Mission Strategic Plan. This cable highlights the active efforts by Post's eight resident law enforcement agencies during Fiscal Year (FY) 2009. Post coordinated and/or funded training programs for 1,357 counterpart police, customs, and industry partners in Hong Kong and Macau. Post resident law enforcement agencies with geographic jurisdiction over Taiwan coordinated their activities through the American Institute in Taiwan (AIT). In some instances, Post pooled resources among the law enforcement agencies to provide comprehensive training courses in export control, money laundering and financial crimes. Agencies also hosted counterparts at their respective US-based training academies, at the International Law Enforcement Academy in Bangkok, Thailand (ILEA-Bangkok), and successfully nominated participants to the Department's International Visitor Program. END SUMMARY ¶2. (SBU) Law enforcement officers from Hong Kong and Macau participated in executive leadership courses, crisis management workshops and cybercrime investigation seminars offered through Post's Legal Liaison Office (LLO). Of these, one Hong Kong Police officer attended a three-month leadership and management course at the National Academy (NA) of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI),while two others attended the FBI's two-week Law Enforcement Executive Development Seminar (LEEDS) at Fredericksburg, Virginia. Three Hong Kong Police officers and one Taiwan police officer (invited via AIT) participated in the FBI's Pacific Training Initiative (PTI) for mid-level managers held this year in Manila. Locally, LLO held one-day crisis management workshops for 80 law enforcement officers from Hong Kong and 50 law enforcement officers from Macau, and four-day cybercrime investigation seminars for 25 Hong Kong police officers. LLO also provided training to 282 Taiwan law enforcement counterparts in NA training, crisis management, and cybercrime investigations. ¶3. (SBU) The U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration Hong Kong Country Office (DEA/HKCO) conducted one-day clandestine drug lab awareness workshops for 90 Macau Judiciary Police officers and 60 Hong Kong Police and Customs personnel. Through AIT, DEA provided asset forfeiture training to a total of 90 officers from Taiwan's Coast Guard, Customs, and investigative bureaus. ¶4. (SBU) The Criminal Investigative Division of the U.S. Internal Revenue Service (IRS/CID) at Post held financial investigative seminars in Hong Kong and Macau. Three separate seminars, funded by the State Department's International Narcotics and Law Enforcement Affairs Bureau (INL),included 24 participants from Hong Kong's Independent Commission Against Corruption (ICAC),28 Hong Kong Police officers, and 24 members of Macau's law enforcement community. ¶5. (SBU) U.S. Secret Service, Hong Kong Resident Office (USSS/HKRO) provided counterfeit currency detection training to 100 front-line employees of Hong Kong and Shanghai Bank (HSBC) and Bank of America (Asia) Ltd. USSS/HKRO also offered unprecedented VIP protection training at ILEA-Bangkok for counterparts from Asian economies, including two each from Hong Kong, Macau, and mainland China. In Taiwan, USSS/HKRO shared counterfeit detection techniques with 160 coast guardsmen, police, and prosecutors via AIT. ¶6. (SBU) Agencies at Post also teamed up for local law enforcement capacity building. U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and IRS/CID, among other local and international presenters, provided presentations to an audience of 50 Hong Kong Police officers at a trade-based money laundering seminar organized and hosted by the Hong Kong Police. ICE and Customs and Border Protection (CBP) conducted a four-day bulk cash smuggling workshop for 35 law enforcement and customs officials in Macau and a three-day bulk cash smuggling workshop for 32 customs officers in Hong Kong. CBP, ICE, Department of Commerce Bureau of Industry and Security (DOC/BIS),and Department of Energy (DOE) personnel provided export control proliferation awareness training to 56 Macau Customs and Economic Services personnel. Coordinated by CBP in Hong Kong, DOE also conducted additional export control workshops for the identification and transfers of strategic commodities for Hong Kong Customs and Trade and Industry officers. ¶7. (SBU) The Regional Security Office, through input from Post's resident law enforcement agencies, nominated 59 host government law enforcement counterparts to attend ILEA-Bangkok training. Course topics included personnel and facilities security, VIP protection, narcotics, crime scene investigations, computer crimes, leadership development, interview techniques, and counterterrorism. During FY-2009, Post's law enforcement team also played a prominent role in the Department's Education and Cultural Affairs Bureau (ECA) International Visitor Program (IVP) with four law enforcement officers from Hong Kong and one from Macau taking part in the ECA-funded IVP. ¶8. (SBU) FY-2010 training courses for Hong Kong and Macau law enforcement personnel have thus far included arson investigations and tactical safety planning. In addition, the Economic and Political Section, working together with Post's ICE representatives, organized and funded anti-trafficking in persons seminars in Hong Kong and Macau. The seminars, taught in October by an ICE special agent and a U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) assistant U.S. attorney, received the participation of 50 law enforcement officers in Hong Kong and over 100 officers in Macau. MARUT