MOZAMBIQUE 2009-2010 INTERNATIONAL NARCOTICS

UNCLAS MAPUTO 001277 SIPDIS FOR INL LYLE, AF/S, AND AF/RSA E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: PREL SNAR KCRM ASEC MZ SUBJECT: MOZAMBIQUE 2009-2010 INTERNATIONAL NARCOTICS CONTROL STRATEGY REPORT (INCSR),PART I, DRUGS AND CHEMICAL CONTROL Mozambique ¶I. Summary Mozambique is a transit country for illegal drugs such as hashish, herbal cannabis, cocaine, and heroin consumed primarily in Europe, and for mandrax (methaqualone) consumed primarily in South Africa. Illicit drug shipments passing through Mozambique may also find their way to the United States and Canada. Drug production mostly is limited to herbal cannabis cultivation and a small but growing number of mandrax laboratories. Evidence suggests considerable use of herbal cannabis and limited consumption of "club drugs" (Ecstasy/MDMA), prescription medicines, and heroin primarily by the country's urban population. Porous borders, a poorly policed seacoast, inadequately trained and equipped law enforcement agencies, and corruption in the police and judiciary hamper Mozambique's enforcement and interdiction efforts. The United States, the UN Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC),and other donors have established only a limited number of cooperation programs to improve training of drug control officials and provide better interdiction and laboratory equipment. Mozambique is a party to the 1988 UN Drug Convention. II. Status of Country Mozambique is not a significant producer of illegal drugs and not a producer of precursor chemicals. Herbal cannabis remains the most produced and most consumed drug in the country. Mozambique's role as a transit country for illicit drugs and precursors continues to grow because of its corrupt and weak law enforcement capacity at borders, major seaports, and airports. It is a favored point for transiting to South Africa (the major regional market for illicit drugs) shipment onward to Europe. Southwest Asian producers ship cannabis resin (hashish) and synthetic drugs through Mozambique to South Africa and on to Europe. Limited quantities of these shipments may also reach the United States and Canada. Heroin and other opiate derivatives shipped through Mozambique usually originate in Southeast Asia and typically transit India, Pakistan, the United Arab Emirates, and later Tanzania, before arriving by small ship or, occasionally, overland to Mozambique. In 2009, there continued to be reports of cocaine entering the country via couriers on international flights from Brazil. III. Country Actions against Drugs in 2008 Policy Initiatives. Mozambique's accomplishments in meeting its goals under the 1988 UN Drug Convention remain limited. The government provides few resources for the counter narcotics effort. The government provides some drug education programs in local schools i cooperation with bilateral and multilateral donors. Law Enforcement Efforts. Mozambique's counter narcotics brigade operates in Maputo and reports to the Chief of the Criminal Investigation Police in the Ministry of Interior. The brigade suffers from a general lack of resources and is operating at reduced levels compared with previous years. The brigade has not received training for several years. Since 2005, a small, specialized police unit designed to strengthen efforts to fight organized crime, including narcotics trafficking, has operated at airports in provincial capitals. For the first half of 2009 cannabis seizures were 505 kg, down sharply from the 2008 total of 2,603 kg. Total cannabis seizures in 2007 were reported at 4,638 kg. Mozambique officials say the decrease is due to alterations in trafficking patterns and not to an actual decrease in narcotics transiting the country. Cocaine seizures for the first half of 2009 were 1.3 kg, and total seizures in 2008 were 5.5 kg. The anti-drug police report seizing 4,454 kg of hashish in 2009, after reporting no seizures in 2007 and 2008. No heroin was reported seized in the first half of 2009. It is widely assumed that illegal drugs enter the country by sea; the government relies on sporadic port inspections and under-trained border guards to police this source. In 2008, 538 Mozambican citizens and 10 foreign nationals were indicted for drug use or trafficking stemming from 480 investigations. Of the 548 total arrests in 2008 only 71 were found guilty and of the 71, only 26 were guilty of drug trafficking. Corruption. Despite strong anti-corruption rhetoric from the government, corruption is perceived as rampant in Mozambique. High-level government officials are suspected to be involved in narcotics-trafficking. As one government official put it, "Some fish are too big to catch." Inadequately trained and equipped law enforcement agencies and corruption in the police and judiciary hampers Mozambique's interdiction efforts and facilitates the country's use as a transit point for illegal narcotics. The government does not as a matter of policy encourage or facilitate the illicit productio or distribution of narcotics, psychotropic drugs, other controlled substances, or the laundering of proceeds from illegal drug transactions. Agreements and Treaties. Mozambique is a party to the 1961 UN Single Convention on Narcotic Drugs, as amended by the 1972 Protocol the 1971 UN Convention on Psychotropic Substances, the 1988 UN Drug Convention, and the UN Convention against Transnational Organized Crime and its three protocols. On April 9, 2008, Mozambique ratified the UN Convention Against Corruption. Cultivation/Production. Cannabis is cultivated primarily in Maputo City, Tete, Manica, Cabo Delgado, Zambozia and Sofala. Intercropping is the most common method of production. The Mozambican government has no reliable estimates of crop size. Authorities have made efforts since 2007 to eradicate cannabis crops through controlled burns. Drug Flow/Transit. Assessments of drugs transiting Mozambique are base upon limited seizure data and the observations of Mozambique officials and UNODC officials. Mozambique increasingly serves as a transit country for hashish, cannabis resin, heroin, and mandrax originating in Southwest Asia, owing to its porous borders, long and sparsely patrolle coastline, lack of resources for interdiction efforts, and improving transportation links with neighboring countries. Drugs destined for th South African and European markets arrive in Mozambique by small ship, mostly in the coastal provinces of Cabo Delgado, Nampula, Sofala, and Inhambane, before being repackaged and sent by land to neighboring countries. Domestic Program/Demand Reduction. The primary substances of abuse are alcohol, nicotine, and herbal cannabis. The Mozambican Office for the Prevention and Fight Against Drugs (GCPCD) maintains an office in each provincial capital and coordinates a drug prevention and education program for use in schools and with high risk families; the program includes plays and lectures in schools, churches, and other places where youths gather. The GCPCD has also provided the material to a number of local NGOs for use in their drug education programs. GCPCD reported a near doubling of anti-drug activists in 2008, to 27,636. With limited abuse and treatment options and no treatment programs specifically for drug abusers, those seeking assistance are often referred to psychiatric hospitals. The number of drug abusers reported in 2008 was 669, a slight increase from the 624 drug abusers reported in 2007. IV. U.S. Policy Initiatives and Programs U.S. Policy Initiatives. The United States plans to increase dialogue with Mozambican officials regarding counter-narcotics issues, with the goal of increasing the government's attention to the issue, to include matters of corruption at the local and senior levels as well as improve border awareness, interdictions, and prosecutions of narcotics-traffickers. The U.S. Government will continue to pursue thi dialogue at higher levels of the Mozambican government over the coming year, with the goal that engagement with the Mozambicans on counter-narcotics will prevent Mozambique from becoming an even more attractive transit location for hashish, cocaine, and heroin. Bilateral Cooperation. The United States continues to sponsor Mozambican law enforcement officials and prosecutors to attend regional training programs at the International Law Enforcement Academy (ILEA) for Africa in Botswana. Law enforcement officials have also received training at ILEA in New Mexico. The United States has supported the police sciences academy near Maputo, through training and technical assistance in the areas of drug identification and investigation, as well as other areas of criminal sciences includin fingerprint identification, forensic photography, and the identificatio of fraudulent documents. Additionally, in 2007-2008, the USG provided training to 300 guards and senior officers of the Mozambican Border Guards in techniques of securing borders and managing border crossing (document checking, inspections). Inspection materials, vehicles and alternate transportation options, equipment for distant posts, and computer equipment were supplied to border guards to assist them in implem enting the techniques taught in the training courses. The Road Ahead. U.S. efforts to improve Mozambique's border security capabilities continue in 2009. To build on the success of the initial training, the USG will sponsor additional basic and advanced border security courses for Mozambican border guards. The U.S. military has continued to provide assistance to the Mozambican navy relating to the security of its sea border. DOD has provided shallow draft vessels for limited coastal security work in conjunction with USCG training on ship/vessel boarding and search and seizure techniques. DOD will train the Mozambican Navy on search and seizure techniques using those vessels. Additionally, DOD will work with the Mozambican Navy to install a sensor network that provides comprehensive, real time awareness of the sea coast, a technology that should provide the Mozambican Navy with border awarenes that previously was lacking. CHAPMAN