CAPE VERDE: LAW ENFORCEMENT TRAINING NEEDS

C O N F I D E N T I A L PRAIA 000025 EUCOM PASS ALSO AFRICOM FOR RSTRAYER, MBAKER MADRID FOR DEA MOHANLON DAKAR FOR OSC SMADDEN, RCLEMMONS AF/RSA FOR CPOMMERER; INL/AAE FOR AALTON; DS/T/ATA FOR TGONZALEZ E.O. 12958: DECL: 2/16/2019 TAGS: SNAR MASS MARR PREL KJUS CV SUBJECT: CAPE VERDE: LAW ENFORCEMENT TRAINING NEEDS REF: STATE 5448 CLASSIFIED BY: Marianne Myles, Ambassador, AMEMBASSY PRAIA, State. REASON: 1.4 (a),(b) ¶1. (U) Responses are keyed to questions contained reftel. ¶2. (C) Cape Verde's greatest law enforcement challenge is the broad territorial waters under its jurisdiction and its very limited capacity to exert rule of law over those waters. Sitting astride major smuggling routes from South America to Europe and Africa to Europe, Cape Verde is greatly concerned about narcotics smuggling, trafficking in persons/illegal immigration, and to a lesser extent smuggling of contraband and weapons. Cape Verde has seen a sharp rise in residency visa applications from nationals of drug producer states, and is well aware of the trans-Atlantic narco flights arriving regularly in Western Africa and which likely overfly and possibly even refuel in Cape Verde. Maritime smuggling is a key concern, as shipments are thought to be dropped at sea in Cape Verdean waters for pickup and warehousing in Cape Verde until onward transportation can be arranged. In other cases, smugglers have used containerized shipments to smuggle drugs via Cape Verde, principally cocaine. Corruption is traditionally quite low in Cape Verde, but there is growing fear of the potentially corrosive effects large sums of narco-funds could have on the banking system, the investment climate, and perhaps the judiciary and other arms of government. ¶3. (C) Cape Verde has very limited resources to respond to these challenges. Police are generally trustworthy but their skills are rudimentary and investigative capabilities severely limited. The CV Coast Guard trains regularly with U.S. and allied forces, but it lacks blue-water patrolling capability and has no aerial reconnaissance, search and rescue, or interdiction capability. The GOCV has a financial intelligence unit (FIU), but the unit has been inactive and is generally considered inadequate to the task. A much larger and better trained FIU is urgently needed. ¶4. (C) Non-military training needs span the spectrum from basic investigation, to evidence handling, lab analysis, interview and interrogation, fingerprint analysis, database administration, undercover investigation, developing confidential informants, street survival tactics, gang analysis, working with at-risk youth, and operational tactics. ¶5. (C) The GOCV has a demonstrated willingness to accept and be an effective partner in the implementation of USG assistance. ¶6. (C) Other ongoing efforts include training and technical assistance from the Governments of Portugal and Spain in police techniques, investigation, and provision of resources and technology. The UNODC is similarly committed to building GOCV capacity and to providing technology and resources, notably including a plan to provide servers to store a planned digital fingerprints database. It should be noted that several partner state militaries are also providing training in interdiction at sea, which are operations that ordinarily involve both CVCG (military) and Judiciary Police (non-military) components. ¶7. (C) Post is not aware of any existing non-military regional training center operating in Cape Verde. ¶8. (C) Comment: Post is currently working with INL, Department of Treasury, AFRICOM, and other agencies to schedule an inter-agency team of experts to visit Cape Verde in 2009 to perform a needs assessment and establish baselines for assistance in law enforcement, counternarcotics, and anti-money laundering. ¶9. (U) Embassy POC: Patrick Dunn DunnPM@State.gov ph: 238-260-8910 DUNN