Statement
for the Record
By
Anthony
P. Placido
Chief
of Intelligence
Drug
Enforcement Administration
United
States Department of Justice
before the
House
Foreign Affairs Committee
Subcommittee
on the Western Hemisphere
Regarding
“The
U.S.
Government’s Domestic Obligations
Under
the Merida
Initiative”
February 7th,
2008 10:00 a.m.
Room 2255, Rayburn House Office
Building
Washington, D.C. 20515
Introduction
Chairman Engel, Ranking Member Burton and Members
of the Subcommittee, on behalf of the Drug Enforcement Administration’s (DEA’s)
Acting Administrator Michele Leonhart, I want to thank you for your continued
support of the men and women of DEA. I
would also like to thank you for the opportunity to testify today on DEA’s enforcement
efforts against major drug trafficking organizations.
As this Committee well knows, modern drug
trafficking organizations do not limit their criminal enterprises to one
geographic area. Successful criminal
investigations require the close cooperation and information sharing between a
wide variety of law enforcement organizations in multiple countries and
jurisdictions. DEA is proud of its role
in this effort. Working together with our
interagency and international partners, we are working diligently to stem the
flow of illicit drugs entering the United States and depriving those
criminal organizations of their ill-gotten gains.
Overview
Prior to addressing the Merida Initiative, it is
important to view the overarching drug threat within a broader context. The objective of drug trafficking is profit,
and this illicit business is enormously profitable. The United Nation’s Office on Drugs and Crime
(UNODC) estimates that the global retail market for drugs is approximately $320
billion per year. This effectively
places more resources under the collective control of drug trafficking
organizations than nearly 90% of the world’s national governments individually have
at their disposal for all needs, let alone for countering the drug threat. Approximately 200 million people, or about 5%
of the world’s population between the ages of 15 – 64 years of age, are
believed to have abused drugs within the last twelve months.
However, even numbers of this magnitude tell only part
of the story. The consequences of drug
trafficking and abuse can also be measured in lives. The Center for Disease Control estimates that
approximately 34,000 people in the U.S. died in 2005 as a direct
result of drug abuse. Millions of
Americans are addicted or dependent on drugs, and tens of millions more suffer
as they watch loved ones squander productive capacity and human potential. Drug abuse and trafficking fuels crime and
violence, abuse and neglect, and causes significant environmental damage.
Beyond these losses, drug trafficking is
responsible for the corruption of public officials and institutions, diminished
respect for the rule of law and the loss of confidence in government
institutions, undermining democratic governance and eroding political
stability. Moreover, drug trafficking organizations, left unchecked, all too
frequently become so powerful that they effectively challenge the authority of legitimate
governments and their institutions. In
an age when we are increasingly concerned about the spread of terrorism and the
proliferation of weapons of mass destruction, it is imperative that we support
and strengthen government institutions, particularly those of our immediate
neighbors.
Within this broad context, DEA believes that Mexico and Central America play critically
important roles in the U.S.
counter-drug strategy. Mexican drug
trafficking organizations dominate the U.S.
inter-agency list of Consolidated Priority Organization Targets (CPOTs),
effectively drug Kingpins, which represent the most significant threats to the U.S.
and its interests around the globe. Today, 41 of the 46 organizations on the
CPOT list are based in Latin America. Of this
total, sixteen or 35 percent are Mexican drug trafficking organizations.
The role of Mexico
in U.S. counter-drug policy
is unique based on geographic proximity and a large shared land border and because
Mexico
produces much of the methamphetamine, heroin and marijuana consumed by
Americans. Additionally, the vast
majority of cocaine destined for domestic consumption transits Central America
and enters the U.S. from Mexico. The U.S.
interagency community estimates that approximately 90 percent of the cocaine
entering the U.S. currently transits
Mexico. Evidence demonstrates that seizures of
cocaine in transit to Mexico
are most usually measured by the metric ton, while seizures of cocaine in the U.S. that originated from Mexico are regularly less than 100 pounds, indicating
that traffickers view Mexico
as a safe haven for the storage of these large drug shipments.
In addition to the important role Mexico plays with regard to the cultivation,
production and movement of drugs, NDIC estimates that $8 - $24 billion in bulk
currency, which represents the proceeds of illicit drug trafficking, is
smuggled out of the U.S. and
into Mexico
to fuel the next round of production and to fund criminal drug trafficking
organizations. Accordingly, it is
difficult to overstate the importance of our Central American and Mexican
neighbors to U.S.
counter-drug policy.
The Administration of Mexican President Calderon
has taken dramatic and positive steps to address the drug problem, including
the mobilization of tens of thousands of police and military forces to target
all of the major drug trafficking cartels.
The Mexican Government has conducted more than 80 extraditions to the U.S. in 2007
alone, including several high level narcotics suspects. Mexico has also have taken bold regulatory
actions to curtail the flow of essential chemicals used in the production of
methamphetamine, and are collaborating and cooperating with U.S. law
enforcement as never before.
However, the traffickers are resisting and are
engaged in a violent struggle with the Mexican government as well as each other,
as they fight over what they perceive to be a shrinking market. Open-source reporting indicates that during
the first 15 days of January 2006, immediately following the inauguration of
President Calderon, Mexico
recorded 80 drug related murders. This
number rose to 90 during the first two weeks in 2007, and 111 during the first
15 days of January, 2008. The U.S.
Embassy in Mexico
reports that in the first eleven months of 2007, approximately 250 Mexican law
enforcement officers were murdered as compared to 120 for the same period in
2006. Several of these murders have been sensational, including the beheading
of a police officer with his head placed on a pike in front of the police
station, presumably as a sign to warn other officers that they should learn to
“respect” the traffickers. In contrast, with
a significantly larger population, the U.S. recorded twelve (12) police
officers killed in the line of duty during all of 2007.
As the lead U.S.
law enforcement agency responsible for confronting the illegal drug trade, DEA
has been at the forefront of U.S.
efforts to work with foreign law enforcement authorities, including the
governments of Mexico and Central America. DEA believes a key element of our
success in addressing this challenge is our ability to combine our domestic
enforcement efforts with our international presence, effectively creating
defense in depth. Our enforcement
efforts require a system of well-coordinated international and domestic
investigations that combine intelligence, operational and regulatory resources
of the United States
with those of our international partners.
Among our international partners, the recent actions by
our Mexican counterparts to comprehensively address the drug problem has been
clear and decisive; the Government of Mexico’s commitment has been demonstrated
in both words and deeds since the earliest days of the Calderon Administration.
These activities would actually reduce opportunities for corruption and human
rights abuses by strengthening the capacity to investigate, collect and use
evidence and move an arrest through to conviction, without the heavy reliance
on confession-related convictions. While
we have identified key counterparts and specially trained vetted units that are
both reliable and competent to address the threats posed by illegal drugs, the
broader systems need reform and support.
The Merida Initiative provides this much needed support to address what
may be a singularly unique opportunity to consolidate gains and advance
counter-drug objectives.
The Merida Initiative
On October 22, 2007, President Bush requested $550 million
in emergency supplemental funding to support the Merida Initiative. An addition
$550 million was requested in the President’s FY2009 budget. The main goals of this Initiative are to
break the power and impunity of criminal organizations, assist the Governments
of Mexico and Central America in strengthening border, air, and maritime
controls from the Southwest border of the United States to Panama, improve the
capacity of justice systems in the region to conduct investigations and
prosecutions, implement the rule of law, protect human rights, sever the
influence of incarcerated criminals with outside criminal organizations,
curtail gang activity in Mexico and Central America, and diminish the demand
for drugs in the region.
The Merida Initiative not only seeks to provide our
regional partners (Mexico
and Central America) with the tools necessary
to assist them in this fight but also looks to integrate and complement what
each nation is doing within its own territory. Additionally, the Merida
Initiative has been designed to complement existing U. S. Government law
enforcement strategies, such as the Southwest
Border Counternarcotics Strategy and the U.S. Strategy to Combat Gangs from Central America and Mexico. By
coordinating each nation’s domestic efforts, working jointly through improved bilateral
and regional cooperation and communication, and providing additional resources
and support to Mexico and Central America.
DEA believes full funding of the Merida Initiative will
serve as a solid foundation to establish a new, fully integrated framework of
cooperation for law enforcement partnership through the region. Our
timely support to our partners in funding and aggressive action on our side of
the border gives us the best opportunity we have had in years to make serious
inroads in dismantling these criminal organizations and reducing the violence
on both sides of the border. Funding the
Merida Initiative will strengthen DEA’s partners in Mexico, allowing enhanced cooperation
and information sharing as we target the drug trafficking organizations
threatening the people of both our nations.
These enhanced efforts will not only assist DEA operations along the
Southwest border, but increased law enforcement capacity in Mexico and Central America
will strengthen DEA operations across the board.
The President’s Supplemental
FY-2008 Budget Request calls for $500 million for Mexico
and $50 million for Central America under the
Merida Initiative. Funding under this
request is aggregated under three general categories to include:
Counter-Narcotics, Counterterrorism and Border Security; Public Security and
Law Enforcement; and finally, Institution
Building and Rule of
Law. My testimony will attempt to
address how this funding will enhance ongoing cooperative efforts or establish
new programs that would directly involve DEA.
Counter-Narcotics, Counterterrorism and Border Security ($322.89m)
DEA is pleased that a
significant portion of this budget request is dedicated to helping Mexico
and the Nations of Central America address the complex challenges associated
with the drug threat. In fact, the
request calls for a total of nearly $323 million of the $550 million request to
address this area.
While we have seen a remarkable
demonstration of political will -- particularly by the Calderon Administration
-- to address the drug problem, there are many complex issues that make it
difficult to succeed. From DEA’s
perspective, these issues can be grouped together under the headings of
integrity assurance and capability. Effective
counter-drug operations require law enforcement organizations to share
sensitive information among and between a variety of organizations that
represent different constituencies. In a
perfect world, the agencies with whom this sensitive intelligence is shared
would then have the capacity to act in ways that disrupt and /or dismantle the
criminal organizations engaged in the activity.
Regrettably, the police organizations with whom DEA works are challenged
on both fronts and must simultaneously address the issues of corruption and
capacity building. In the Mexican
context, the issue becomes more complex because President Calderon has called
upon the Mexican military to take a very active role in the counter-drug
program. This requires extensive
coordination not only between Mexico’s
military and civilian security services but also among and between various U.S.
and Mexican agencies.
In Mexico, DEA works with a congressionally
funded Special Investigative Unit made up of approximately 227 police officers
assigned to thirteen locations around the country. There is another congressionally funded SIU
in Guatemala and “vetted”
units in every other country in Central America, with the sole exception of Costa Rica. These units form the backbone of DEA’s
efforts throughout the region, because they have been carefully screened to
assure their integrity and have received special training to enhance their
individual and unit capabilities. The
Merida Initiative does not call for new SIU or vetted units, nor increased
staffing to the existing units. However,
funding from this initiative could provide additional capabilities that could
assist these units including air mobility, surveillance, drug detection, and
information systems. It should be noted
that the majority of these funds are destined for Mexico’s military which does not
currently have a close working relationship with DEA, but does work with other
components of the U.S. Government. DEA
believes that it will be imperative that Mexico
develop protocols and procedures to assure that resources made available under
this request support both Mexico’s
military and civilian security services.
The request includes $208.3m to
procure eight transport helicopters (Bell 412s, at $10m each, with a $24m
logistics, spare parts, and training package); 87 handheld ion scanners for the
Air Force/Army (SEDENA); two surveillance planes (CASA CN-235-300, at $50m per
aircraft, outfitted similar to the U.S. Coast Guard’s medium range surveillance
aircraft) for the Navy (SEMAR); equipment to outfit two citation aircraft for
the Office of the Attorney General (PGR).
Perhaps the most significant element in this package is to give the
government of Mexico
a night-time flight capability that could provide a viable endgame which our
counterparts currently lack.
The request also includes $31.3m to
help the National Migration Institute (INAMI) expand and modernize its immigration
database and document verification system, digitalize immigration forms, and
equip and train personnel in rescue and safety response techniques to be used
along Mexico’s
southern border. This information has
the potential to provide a great deal of investigative lead information, would
benefit in the identification of wanted subjects, and assist in tracking the
movements of traffickers. Approximately
$25.3m is requested to establish a secure communications system for Mexican
national security agencies and procure inspection systems for key mail
facilities.
$2m is requested to expand the Office of the Attorney
General’s work on the Operation Against Smugglers (and Traffickers) Initiative
on Safety and Security (OASISS) to identify and prosecute violent human
smugglers along the U.S/Mexico border. The
enhancement of these programs in Mexico will benefit DEA
investigations.
The $31.5m requested to procure
non-intrusive inspection equipment (scanners, x-ray vans) and canine detection
training to support Customs’ interdiction efforts at points of entry should
deter smuggling through established ports of entry and generate investigative leads
that could be shared with Mexico’s
investigative agencies. The $7.9m requested
to expand interconnectivity for the Intelligence Service’s database, procure an
operating system for a secure communications network, and provide data
management and forensic analysis tools is essential if different entities
within the government of Mexico are to collaborate and cooperate more
effectively. Again, this enhanced capacity for Mexican law enforcement will
also benefit DEA investigations.
Public Security and Law Enforcement ($81.7m)
Our own experience in the United States
has taught us that effectively combating the drug problem requires cooperation
at all levels of law enforcement from the local cop on the beat to specially
trained and resourced investigative organizations that focus exclusively on transnational
narcotics trafficking. While many of the
Central American countries have a single unified National Police agency, Mexico
has distinct federal, state and municipal police agencies. Mexico is not only attempting to consolidate
multiple federal agencies into a single law enforcement agency, they are also
attempting to design a system that, over time, will allow state and local
police agencies to become part of the comprehensive solution to drugs and
violence.
Presently, Mexico’s state and municipal police
lack the jurisdiction or authority to investigate drug crime. The funding requested under this heading
would help Mexican and Central American police agencies at all levels (federal,
state and municipal) to maintain order and deal with the violence and crime
generated by drug trafficking. This
request also helps Mexico
consolidate its federal police into a single entity that is geographically
dispersed, yet interconnected through technology systems, and is more capable
of addressing the insidious problems of drugs and violence.
The Central American request
includes approximately $10m to deal with anti-gang efforts and related
community outreach, another $2.3m for immigration related issues, and $2m for
regional training by the International Law Enforcement Academy based in El Salvador. With respect to Mexico, the initiative
requests $30m to procure non-intrusive inspection equipment (scanners, x-ray
vans) for the Federal Police (SSP), and funding to establish new canine
detection teams to be used for drug inspections. Approximately $6m is requested
for security improvements (armored vehicles at $120,000 each, radios, ballistics
vests/helmets, training, and associated equipment) to protect law enforcement
personnel investigating criminal organizations. $5m is requested to help the
Financial Intelligence Unit’s (FIU) anti-money laundering efforts by upgrading
its computer infrastructure and data analysis tools, while $15.1m is requested to
extend the reach of Mexico’s demand reduction activities by providing the
Secretariat of Health with computer hardware and software to create a
nationwide network, that will serve as the backbone of Mexico’s broader
networking effort to link NGOs and other non-state actors in demand reduction
and rehabilitation.
Institution Building and Rule of Law
($108.3m)
While DEA’s statutory
responsibilities focus on identifying, investigating and arresting those who
violate U.S.
drug laws, we fully appreciate that we operate within a broader context that
presumes the existence and integrity of a variety government institutions. These include honest and capable law
enforcement organizations; competent and adequately financed prosecutors; a
judiciary that dispenses justice; and a penal system capable of humanely
confining those convicted of crimes. As
difficult as it may be to identify and arrest drug violators, it is potentially
far more difficult to build or reform institutions or create respect for the
rule of law.
Despite the enormity of this
task, we acknowledge that it is essential for the long-term success of our
endeavors. We cannot extradite every
drug criminal, nor can we long tolerate a lack of control that effectively creates
a haven for criminals in our interconnected world. Experience has taught us that both drug
traffickers and terrorists thrive in ungoverned or poorly governed areas. We must all recognize that the enormous
profits and intense violence associated with drug trafficking has put the institutions
of Mexico and Central America under considerable stress. Corruption,
fueled by drug proceeds, undermines public confidence and results in a wide
array of problems ranging from arrests not made to the escape of convicted
criminals. Where bribery is unsuccessful,
our criminal adversaries are prepared to do violence. In fact, violence against law enforcement and
prosecutors has become so commonplace that there can be difficulty recruiting
qualified candidates to do this important but dangerous work.
The initiative requests $60.7m
to revamp information management and forensics systems for the Office of the Mexican
Attorney General, and provide training in courts management, prison management,
asset forfeiture, and police professionalization, as well as to provide support
for anti-gang and anti-organized crime units, victim/witness protection, and
extradition training. Approximately $5m is
requested to support the Office of the Attorney General Forensics Institute,
essentially providing enhanced forensic analysis of evidence collected by
police and prosecutors. $19.9m is
requested to help the Office of the Attorney General digitalize all aspects of
prosecutors’ functions, provide a case management system, and rebuild its
database structure. The plan requests $15m towards programs promoting
anticorruption, transparency, and human rights.
The cost of U.S.
personnel, administration and budget services to support programs and equipment
procurement processes directly tied to the foreign assistance package for Mexico
is $37M.
Conclusion
The challenges presented by the drug trafficking
organizations in the United States
and Latin America are significant. In
comparison to the seizures on the Southwest Border of the United States, which
are frequently in the 50 kilogram range, drug seizures in the transit zone are
often multi-ton in size, indicative of a strategy by traffickers to minimize
losses. The DEA recognizes that interagency cooperation and coordination is
fundamental and key to our success in combating drug trafficking organizations
operating within the U.S. The DEA strongly believes we must take an
offensive approach to prevent bulk drug shipments from moving further into the
transportation chain where fragmentation occurs, in most instances on the
Mexican side of the Southwest Border. Law
enforcement in Mexico and
Central America must have the resources that were once available in the Western Caribbean and Eastern Pacific if we are to be
successful against these drug trafficking organizations.
DEA’s investigative efforts will continue to be directed
against the major international trafficking organizations and their
facilitators at every juncture in
their
operations—from the cultivation and production of drugs in foreign countries,
to their passage through the transit zone, to their eventual distribution on
the streets of our
Nation’s
communities. We will also direct our efforts against those affiliates who
supply
precursor
and essential chemicals and provide financial services to these organizations.
The
longstanding bilateral law enforcement relationships in Latin
America have proven
to be
key to DEA’s success. Bringing to the criminal and civil justice system of the
United States,
or any other competent jurisdiction, those organizations and principal
members
of organizations involved in the growing, manufacture, or distribution of
controlled
substances appearing in or destined for illicit trafficking in the United States,
will
remain the core of our focus. Formalized agreements necessary for bilateral
working
relationships
and non-politicization of one of the worlds common endeavors—the
elimination
of the illicit drug trade—will bring the United States and the nations of
Latin
America
closer to this objective.
Mr. Chairman, I appreciate the opportunity to
appear before you today to discuss this important issue and I will be happy to
answer any questions that you may have.