NAS Lima End of Month Report - November

UNCLAS LIMA 001729 SIPDIS SENSITIVE E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: SNAR PE XR KCRM ASEC PREL SUBJECT: NAS Lima End of Month Report - November ¶1. (U) Summary: - Aviation Report - Ports/Maritime Program Report - Ports Program Case of Note - Eradication Report - Police Programs Report - CADCA Evaluates New Community Anti-Drug Coalitions East of the Andes Aviation Report ¶2. (SBU) NAS Aviation has been reviewing and making final comments on the Dyncorp International (DI) Option Year 04 contract. To reduce contract costs, NAS Lima recommends reducing the number of contract personnel; however, DI requests an increase by seven. Given NAS Lima's strong push towards nationalization in 2010, an increase in DI personnel is not desirable as we seek to shift more responsibility to the PNP instead. ¶3. (SBU) The 23rd UH-2, which needed repair after a hard landing, and the 24th UH-2 still await air shipment from Melbourne International Airport in Florida. A USAF C-5 aircraft was scheduled for October delivery but subsequently cancelled. NAS has been informed no additional support will be provided by the US Air Force for the Department of State. NAS Bolivia offered the use of the NAS-supported Bolivian Air Force C-130, with dates available in December and January, but this has now been delayed by export license requirements. ¶4. (SBU) Eight UH-2s will require scheduled maintenance within the next 45 days, impacting aircraft availability for eradication and interdiction. This backlog has been created by various issues including the temporary grounding of the fleet by the ARMs inspection, unscheduled maintenance demands, smart cycle reading, collective and cyclic issues and daily unscheduled requirements in Pucallpa sapping the phase team primary mission. On 24 November, NAS and DI agreed to a corrective plan which includes a restructuring of PNP manpower allocation to increase the number of Peruvian National Police (PNP) mechanics dedicated to the phase maintenance effort. The Director of the PNP Aviation has committed to assigning more qualified mechanics to the phase effort during the last week in December and the first week in January to take advantage of the lull in eradication and interdiction operations over the holidays to push the phase inspections. While this will substantially help the flow, inspections will not be fully reestablished until March 2010. In the meantime, NAS will request increased use of the PNP Mi-17 to reduce the flight hour load on the UH-2s. Ports/Maritime Program Report ¶5. (U) NAS Ports/Maritime Program is working with the US Secret Service on an official visit for the Superintendant of Peruvian Customs in March. NAS will arrange meetings such as with the Treasury Department's National Targeting Center, U.S. Customs and Border Protection, FINCEN, Secret Service, the U.S. Mint, and other appointments. ¶6. (U) Peruvian Customs (SUNAT) and National Police (PNP)at seaports, airports, and Postal Offices primarily in Lima seized 342 kg of cocaine HCL during November. Thirteen internal carriers were detained at Jorge Chavez International Airport (JCIA) after being scanned by the Body XRAY Scanner. In an unusual case, five Colombian Nationals and one Peruvian citizen were arrested attempting to smuggle 4 kg of heroin to Chicago. SUNAT seized 832,903 USD of undeclared money during the month, all from Colombian nationals. ¶7. (SBU) The Public Ministry has in the last two months spent $6,747,158 on Non-Intrusive Inspection Equipment (NIIE) to combat drug trafficking. This figure includes purchases and lease of counterdrug equipment, and includes operators, spare parts, and maintenance. The equipment is being deployed at sea, land and air ports of entry. NAS is meeting with working level contacts to observe the equipment in use, and offering advice and training where necessary. Ports Programs Case of Note ¶8. (U) On November 26, the PNP Intelligence Group and Task Force personnel raided a warehouse outside of the Port of Paita (Peru's second leading port located in the northern part of Peru) seizing thousands of cans of asparagus suspected of containing liquid cocaine. The Paita PNP and prosecutor were confident that there was cocaine in the shipment, but did not have the equipment or trained personnel to prove its presence in the cans. The prosecutor contacted the Task Force in Lima and requested urgent support because the shipment of asparagus would have to be released within a matter of hours. Three SUNAT Special Operations Brigade members, a Chemist, and a canine went to Paita and found 172 cans containing 88 kg of pure cocaine HCL. Eradication Report ¶9. (U) CORAH (the GOP eradication agency) eradicated 9,578 hectares of illegal coca in Huanuco and San Martin departments since January. NAS and CORAH have drafted the 2010 Eradication Plan which is now working its way through the various GOP agencies. The goal is to obtain the Minister of Interior's approval for the plan before the holidays, so that eradication can begin in early January. The goal for eradication will be a minimum of 10,000 hectares in 2010. The goal for the past three years has been 8,000 hectares. Police Programs Report ¶10. (U) Jim McHugh arrived TDY in Lima and is filling in as senior Police advisor for NAS until mid-February. McHugh is working with the GOP to increase the number of police pre-academy graduates who take the police academy entrance exam; increase the percentage of police academy students from east of the Andes (especially indigenous); increase the number of students attending PNP academies; and convince the PNP to keep more of its DIRANDRO force east of the Andes after their minimum three year commitment expires. ¶11. (U) DIRANDRO reports the destruction of 44 rustic laboratories, 7 HCL laboratories and the seizure of 450,942.84 kilograms of precursor chemicals and 1053.3 kilos of drugs during the month. The price of coca leaf per arroba (a local unit of measurement equivalent to approximately 11.3 kilos) in the Monzon valley is approximately 55 USD. ¶12. (U) Brittany King, a criminal forensics lab expert from DOJ's International Criminal Investigative Training Assistance Program, Forensic Services Section (ICITAP) visited Lima for a week to inspect forensic laboratories and meet with various levels of experts and GOP officials. Her visit is in response to a request from the GOP to NAS for assistance in modernizing their criminal forensic lab network. King will provide NAS with a written report of her observations and recommendations. ¶13. (U) Herman Rivera, a communications specialist from INL Fort Lauderdale, visited Peru to review a PNP proposal to upgrade communications capabilities. He visited numerous sites around the country and evaluated existing PNP communications equipment. He consulted closely with Col. Luis Cardenas, Head of Telecommunications for the PNP. We are awaiting Rivera's report. CADCA Evaluates New Coalitions East of the Andes ¶14. (U) At the request of NAS, CADCA trainers traveled with NASOff to the seven new Community Anti-drug Coalitions (CAC) located in Tingo Maria, Pucallpa, Tocache, Huanuco, and Ayacucho. The purpose of the evaluation was to ascertain the progress of the new CACs after one year and analyze the performance of the technical assistance teams. CADCA trainers and NASOff met individually with each of the technical teams, the CAC board of Directors, and the community itself. It became clear very quickly where the technical teams needed to improve and how far the CACs have progressed in some areas as opposed to others. NAS plans to replicate this experience with the Lima CACs in January. MCKINLEY