Release of the 2007 International Narcotics Control Strategy Report

[Map: Helmand Province, Afghanistan: Opium Poppy Cultivation and Activities Funded by USAID]

ASSISTANT SECRETARY PATTERSON: Good afternoon. Before I begin, I'd like to introduce my colleague James O'Gara from the White House Office of National Drug Control Policy. He's the Deputy Director. Today, the Department of State releases its 24^th International Narcotics Control Strategy Report, or INCSR. While the INCSR delves into substantial detail, I would like to focus on major trends and accomplishments in these brief remarks. I also have a more detailed statement available.

Many countries in the Western Hemisphere are confronting the drug trade head on. In Mexico, the Fox and Calderon administrations have cracked down on traffickers more than any previous Mexican governments. In cooperation with the United States, they have seized drugs, eradicated illegal crops, and extradited some of Mexico's most notorious traffickers. There is still much work to be done in combating drugs in and through Mexico.

Mexico remains the primary corridor for drugs entering the United States. Over the past year, methamphetamine production increased and drug-related violence and homicides escalated.

In the Andes, Colombia continued to attack the drug trade and the terrorist organizations which profit from it. Colombia today is starkly different from the mid-1990s when the country was reeling from drug cartels and insurgent violence. Since 2002, homicides in Colombia have declined by 40 percent, kidnappings by 76 percent, and the number of terrorist attacks by 61 percent. In January of this year, Colombian police also made the largest single seizure of drug-related funds ever in the Western Hemisphere. Though coca cultivation persists, aggressive eradication resulted in the destruction of what could have become billions of dollars of cocaine on U.S streets. The number of cocaine addicts in the United States has also dropped from 3.4 million in 1995 to roughly 1.5 million today. Our joint efforts are helping reinforce the rule of law and restoring order.

In contrast to the strong stands taken by the governments of Mexico and Colombia, political will in Venezuela and Bolivia faltered last year. The President determined last September that Venezuela, for the second year in a row, demonstrably failed to adhere to its obligations under international narcotics agreements.

Venezuela's permissive and corrupt environment led to more trafficking, fewer seizures, and an increase in suspected drug flights over the past 12 months. From 2005 to 2006 there was a 167 percent increase in cocaine trafficked via air to Hispaniola.

In Bolivia, President Evo Morales advocated for increased legal cultivation and the industrialization of coca. While Bolivia met its goal of eradicating 5,000 hectares of coca, this represents the lowest amount of eradication in ten years. Bolivia's interdiction efforts did improve, but this may be due, in part, to increased cultivation and trafficking.

Another region of major concern is South and Central Asia. Afghanistan's opium poppy cultivation increased by an alarming 59 percent, making last year's crop the largest on record. Of particular worry is the Taliban's involvement in the drug trade. The Taliban have publicly linked themselves to poppy cultivation, and drug profits now support elements of the Taliban and fund attacks on U.S. and NATO forces. While counternarcotics efforts intensified last year, results to date are insufficient. More must be done.

Demand for synthetic drugs is steadily increasing in both the industrialized and developing world. Ecstasy use continues to plummet in the United States among the teenage population most at risk. Global demand, however, remains strong and ecstasy use in Europe and Canada is significant. Fortunately, methamphetamine use in the United States has declined, although our communities must still cope with the dire societal effects of this dangerous drug.

This year's INCSR contains a report identifying countries that are major importers and exporters of essential methamphetamine precursor chemicals, as mandated by the Combat Methamphetamine Epidemic Act. In accordance with the Act, the President has determined that all of the countries identified in the report have cooperated fully with the United States or are otherwise fulfilling their obligations under international drug agreements. I would like to note that this report does not comply with all the technical requirements of the Act. Much of the necessary information is unavailable at this time, but we are working to have it available by next year.

The second volume of the INCSR is devoted to money laundering and terrorist financing. While money laundering has long been intertwined with the drug trade, it has been since September 11th that we have become more aware of terrorists using underground systems to move money and transfer assets.

Our report details important efforts to address these issues.

Making communities worldwide safe from drugs and criminal activity is a daunting task. Nations and law-abiding citizens whose legal, economic, and social institutions are undermined by this trade and its associated crime and corruption deserve our support.

Thank you and I'd be happy to answer questions at this point.

Yes.

QUESTION: Donna Leinwand from USA Today. You mentioned that counternarcotics efforts in Afghanistan had increased, yet the harvest also increased and you said more needs to be done. Do you have any suggestions on what that more needs to be?

ASSISTANT SECRETARY PATTERSON: Yes. We're -- what the -- we have a five-pillar strategy in Afghanistan and we can brief you more fully on that after the press conference if you're interested in more details. But we're trying to step up the pace of eradication. We use forced manual eradication. We work with the Government of Afghanistan to use forced manual eradication in Afghanistan. We're trying to step up the pace of eradication.

We're also working with the government to step up the pace of governor-led eradication, which is basically voluntary eradication that uses economic incentives and social and moral suasion to move ahead. There have also been some very positive developments in the criminal justice counternarcotics legal system in Afghanistan, which get little publicity in light of the reports about the crops. In 2005, they put out by executive decree a world class counternarcotics law.

And we are working with the government, Norwegian prosecutors, American prosecutors to set up a task force that has prosecutors and judges and counternarcotics police. And they've convicted over a hundred mid-level drug traffickers. We're hoping to get some major traffickers soon, but it's going -- it's better in the criminal justice system than in the eradication.

I think this gentleman right here.

QUESTION: (Inaudible) South Asia also and the money-laundering and also in the drug trafficking report. How serious is this problem, especially in India and those countries -- India, Pakistan, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka and Afghanistan? How serious is it in India as far as money-laundering and the drug trafficking?

ASSISTANT SECRETARY PATTERSON: India, of course, is the only legal producer of opium and we've worked closely with the Indian Government. They -- India has a good record, frankly, on counternarcotics. We work very closely with them to prevent diversion from that. The Indian Government is very committed to that. They also have a methamphetamine and precursor problem. They're -- but they have a very large, legitimate pharmaceutical industry. The Indian Government has a good record on this, but it's a huge -- it's also a huge -- it's a huge country with a very large industry, so to prevent diversion from the legitimate pharmaceutical industry is a challenge.

QUESTION: Just a quick follow-up. As far as Afghanistan is concerned, like you said, Taliban, it has been known for a number of years, as far as Talibans are concerned, they were selling and also profiting and selling arms from the drug traffics. And you say it's a serious concern even now. What are we doing or international community, especially the NATO, which is there in Afghanistan, to stop this crime which they have been committing and still they are growing poppy and other drugs in Afghanistan?

ASSISTANT SECRETARY PATTERSON: Well, NATO is doing quite a bit and particularly, our allies, the UK. The UK is present in Helmand Province, which is -- accounts for about 45 percent of the cultivation. And British troops are fighting and dying there to prevent the Taliban. We're also trying to improve Afghan capacity to investigate these crimes, to prevent money-laundering, and to bring these people to justice.

But we've had quite good success with our allies. For instance, in one of the Swedish provinces, they worked very closely with us -- Balkh, they've worked very closely with us on eradication.

I don't know who was next. I think you -- sorry.

QUESTION: I saw in this year's report that Iraq has made its way onto the list of countries of concern in regard to money-laundering. I'm wondering, given the widespread concern about corruption funds and other money that moves within Iraq and out of Iraq, as well as concerns about Saudi Arabia, why are those two countries not considered Countries of Major Concern?

ASSISTANT SECRETARY PATTERSON: That's a legal question and I'm going to ask Mr. Rindler to talk to you afterwards. Basically, the categorization is not based on terrorist financing. It's based on whether you're a money -- a Country of Major Concern for money-laundering. My suspicion is it's sort of an outdated categorization, so that's why you don't see Saudi Arabia in the first tier because they're not a country that is engaged in first-class money laundering, but there are concerns about terrorist financing. It's a technical/legal issue.

QUESTION: Right. If I might ask a quick follow-up, this document is used by many bank compliance officers who try to evaluate risk associated with various jurisdictions. Given that and given the anti-money-laundering rules for financial institutions are risk-based, is it a problem that terrorist financing does not play into the INCSR ratings?

ASSISTANT SECRETARY PATTERSON: Well, I think it's something we should look at and perhaps consult with the Congress to get fixed in the future, because like you, we're very concerned about this. We're concerned about the appearance of it. It looks like countries that -- that one would -- common sense would suggest have problems are not in the first category. But Ed can talk to you in more details afterwards.

Yeah.

QUESTION: On Mexico.

ASSISTANT SECRETARY PATTERSON: Yes.

QUESTION: You are underlining the efforts of the government, the Fox administration, and now the government --

ASSISTANT SECRETARY PATTERSON: The Calderon administration.

QUESTION: But at the same time, you are expressing concern about the level of violence in Mexico. I really don't get it. If there is more violence in Mexico, it's because there is more demand for drugs in the U.S. or in Mexico. Can you clarify? There is a contradiction and are you enforcing --

ASSISTANT SECRETARY PATTERSON: There's -- you know, the -- I don't know if that's true. I mean, what we think could be happening is that basically these drug organizations are fighting for turf and basically responding to the increased levels of -- increased efforts of law enforcement. That's entirely possible. But yes, of course, everybody's very concerned about the violence when you have what we've seen recently in Nuevo Laredo.

But I think the Calderon and the Fox administration before this have begun on a very ambitious program of police reform.

QUESTION: Let me follow up on violence. There's also some concerns in the Government of Mexico what the U.S. is doing to stop the violence. Because most of the arms used by narcotraffickers are exported from the United States to Mexico. So what are you guys doing about that?

ASSISTANT SECRETARY PATTERSON: That's true in every Latin country that most of the arms come from the United States. The United States is an overwhelmingly large market. It was true in Colombia. I'm sure it's true in Bolivia and Ecuador, of course. What at least we do in Colombia -- and I'm not sure what we do in Mexico, but I suspect it's the same thing -- we have a very elaborate tracking system and we try to follow back to suppliers in the United States where law enforcement can then engage in sting operations. If we find an American arm from the United States is used in a crime, we try and follow it back. We work very hard on this, but this is, as I say, an enormous economy with a very porous border and it's very hard to control.

Yes.

QUESTION: Madame Secretary, on Greece. Are you satisfied with your cooperation with the Greek Government against the drugs since in your report you are saying that Greece is a traditional "Balkan route" for drugs even headed to the United States of America?

ASSISTANT SECRETARY PATTERSON: I'm sorry, I didn't fully understand. You asked if we were satisfied with the Greece -- Greek cooperation?

QUESTION: No, I'm saying are you satisfied with your cooperation with the Greek Government against the drugs since in your report you are saying, inter alia, that Greece is a traditional "Balkan route" for drugs even headed to the United States?

ASSISTANT SECRETARY PATTERSON: Yes, we're satisfied with the cooperation with it. What we've seen in recent -- certainly in the last several years is an increase basically Afghan -- Afghan heroin moving into Europe through Iran, through Turkey, through Greece, up into Germany and into the United Kingdom. So the supply is greater and we're satisfied with our Greek efforts.

QUESTION: But could you tell us in specific -- in areas in which the two governments are cooperating?

ASSISTANT SECRETARY PATTERSON: Yes, we can get that for you and I'll have someone follow up with you right after the conference. Thank you.

I think I had one back there. Yes.

QUESTION: When I was in Afghanistan a year ago, I spoke to a number of families who had been subjected to forced eradication of poppy crops and they were deeply in debt because of it, and some of them had lost their daughters to the drug traffickers because they could not pay that debt. And so I'm wondering if you could speak about what the United States Government is doing to promote the voluntary eradication rather than this forced eradication which causes many families to flee or have other really devastating effects? And --

ASSISTANT SECRETARY PATTERSON: Last year there was a very small percentage of forced eradication. It was about 2,500 hectares. So the number of families affected by that would no doubt have been small.

It has a dissuasive effect on growing. The UNODC has said that eradication is the biggest single factor in not growing the following year. And it had a big dissuasive effect in governor-led eradication.

But to answer your question more specifically, because I think the nature of the problem is smaller than you suggested, AID has put over $4.5 billion into Afghanistan. We've put an enormous amount of resources into Helmand province, which is the heart of the problem. And we brought a map today because we get this question a lot: Are you providing alternative livelihoods or alternative development resources for the growers? And they've been provided in enormous amounts in the major growing areas, and we can provide that to you quite specifically.

QUESTION: If I could follow up. Also, if you could characterize Iran's role in fighting the opium trade in Afghanistan. Are they playing a positive role?

ASSISTANT SECRETARY PATTERSON: They're paying -- they're playing a very positive role, not the least of which they have the world's highest addiction rate. It's some six times what it is in the States, maybe more. They've been very active on the border in preventing -- in interdicting shipments coming in from Afghanistan.

I think the Iranians view this as a -- as well they might, as a major social and law enforcement problem. So yes, they've been, of the neighbors, by far the most aggressive in interdicting the product coming out of Afghanistan.

QUESTION: I just wanted -- I have a technical question and then another one. In your comments you said -- or at least in the written version of the comments, it says that Afghanistan's opium production, poppy, opium poppy cultivation increased by an alarming 59 percent. In the report it says it went from 4,475 to 5,644 over the last year. And that is not 59 percent. When
is --

ASSISTANT SECRETARY PATTERSON: Cultivation. One is hectarage. The -- I'm not sure what figure you're looking at, but it's two very different figures. What I was referring to in the statement was cultivation, the area cultivated, under cultivation.

QUESTION: Yeah, that's what -- that's what it says here, too.

ASSISTANT SECRETARY PATTERSON: Tom, maybe you could help him.

QUESTION: Cultivation.

ASSISTANT SECRETARY PATTERSON: Well, then maybe a mistake. See if --

QUESTION: Well, I mean, I think it was page 226, it says cultivating 170 --

ASSISTANT SECRETARY PATTERSON: Okay, we'll --

QUESTION: Anyway, on the second question, which is more -- you say that -- on Venezuela that there was a 167 percent increase in cocaine traffic (inaudible) to -- I presume this is Haiti and the DR. How do you know this? Are there seizures that --

ASSISTANT SECRETARY PATTERSON: Because we track -- we have very good information on air tracks. And what's essentially happened is what the -- what used to come through Colombia by air has now been virtually eliminated through a very successful program called air bridge denial and pushed eastward into Venezuela.

QUESTION: Okay.

ASSISTANT SECRETARY PATTERSON: And a lot of product is also moving from Colombia by land into Venezuela where it's put on small planes and goes into Haiti and the Dominican Republic.

QUESTION: And your information is on the weight of this amount or just on the number of planes?

ASSISTANT SECRETARY PATTERSON: No, on the -- on the number of tracks we've seen. And there's a complicated formula that derives that. It's about 9 percent of U.S. supply.

QUESTION: Yeah, but I'm just not sure I understand how you get 170 --

ASSISTANT SECRETARY PATTERSON: Okay, we'll give you that.

QUESTION: -- 167 percent increase in cocaine when you haven't actually weighed it. I mean, you're talking about an increase in the number of flights, right?

ASSISTANT SECRETARY PATTERSON: We're talking about an increase in the number of flights.

QUESTION: Of which you do -- which may or may not have illicit drugs on them?

ASSISTANT SECRETARY PATTERSON: Well, that's true. But we have many years of statistical history on this --

QUESTION: I'm sure you do, but I don't know that.

ASSISTANT SECRETARY PATTERSON: No, that's fair enough. We'll provide that for you. Okay.

QUESTION: Now, Bolivia was not included in the failed demonstrably list that was put out in September. And I know that there's a six-month -- there was a commitment to review this within six months. We're about two weeks away from the six-month date. Based on your assessment of the last five and half months, do you feel that Bolivia is edging closer to that failed demonstrably standard?

ASSISTANT SECRETARY PATTERSON: Well, we're certainly concerned about what appears to be a tendency on their government to increase the area under cultivation, to go from sort of the traditional 12,000 hectares up to 20, and to basically make it legal to have small plots. We're working on that report right now. It will be a report to the President and then we will determine what next steps to take.

QUESTION: But they're not heading in the right direction, is that fair to say, based on what you've seen since --

ASSISTANT SECRETARY PATTERSON: It's sort of a mixed picture. Certainly on the cultivation side, they're not heading in the right direction. We've seen increases of cultivation, preliminary increases in cultivation, throughout the country. We have seen an increase in seizures. We think that's probably because there's more out there to seize, so it's sort of a -- it's a mixed picture.

QUESTION: And one more if I may. Why have they been so slow on eradication? Is that simply a function of their desire to increase the amount that is legally under cultivation or is there some other reason?

ASSISTANT SECRETARY PATTERSON: Well, I think that's an element, but I think it's a political issue, too, for the current government, some of whose leaders come out of the coca-growing movement. But anyone who's worked on Latin America remembers the problems in Bolivia in the '80s when it was virtually a narco state. And no one wants to see Bolivia return to that because it took years and years to roll it back. And I'm sure the Brazilians don't want to see any more cocaine roll into Rio and some of their other major cities and increase drug trafficking and gang warfare there, too.

QUESTION: Do you think it is heading in that direction?

ASSISTANT SECRETARY PATTERSON: Well, let me say, I think we see some worrisome signs.

Yes. I'm sorry.

QUESTION: I have one more follow up. You are listing (inaudible) list that Pakistan is a major drug trafficking and money laundering center. How can you explain this? Where are the drugs coming and going through Pakistan?

ASSISTANT SECRETARY PATTERSON: There's a legal definition of what a major trafficking -- and it's in the front part of that report -- and yeah, sure, Pakistan because they take at least somewhere between half and two-thirds of the Afghan product moves through Pakistan. So they meet the definition. A country can meet the definition and still do a great job on counternarcotics efforts.

And I have this gentlemen right here.

QUESTION: Ms. Patterson, to what degree are modern technologies being used, such as RFD, satellite and GPS monitoring where this -- the drugs are first cultivated and then moved? And to what degree are we working with shipping companies and looking for the corruption, not necessarily at the home port where these drugs come from, but where the third-party transit locations and what also is the degree of receptiveness by these governments and narcotic bureaus in the various locations to work with our government?

ASSISTANT SECRETARY PATTERSON: Well, let me take your questions in order. We use very sophisticated techniques on satellite coverage on monitoring. And at least in Latin America and now in Afghanistan, we've been using that for 15 or 20 years. And the techniques get progressively more precise. So we do have good techniques, I think, to measure cultivation.

On the second question about working with shipping companies, at least in Latin America, we've been doing that for years. And of course, it's in the interest of the shipper who doesn't want his or her goods opened in Miami port when it's, you know, 110 degrees out there to cooperate with that. And in Colombia it's a program called BASC and it works very, very well. And it also enables legitimate commerce to get in by sorting out the curious shipments, so we do that as well.

And generally speaking, to answer your question over the years that I've been doing this, I've seen more and more countries cooperate fully with us because this is truly a global problem. And a producing country can -- will always, always become a consuming country at some point. There's never been a case where that hasn't been true. In Afghanistan and Pakistan, Iran is a good example. We're seeing huge increase in domestic use. So countries have a real incentive to cooperate in this fight.

Yes.

QUESTION: You've talked a fair amount about the cultivation in Afghanistan. How much do we know about how the money is being moved out of the country?

ASSISTANT SECRETARY PATTERSON: Not as much as we should, but we're working on that. And we have -- what we have seen, though, is increasing -- there's always a lag with intelligence and particularly intelligence in law enforcement information. And we've seen increasing evidence that much of this money is going to -- or some of it at least -- significant amounts are going to support the Taliban. And I think our database and our information is getting progressively better. And we're working now with banking institutions in Dubai which we think is probably a -- I wouldn't call it a major money laundering center, but much of the money may go out through there. We're trying to get a handle on this problem.

QUESTION: Do we have a handle on whether or not a lot of this is trade-based, whether it's based on goods moving into the country in exchange for drugs?

ASSISTANT SECRETARY PATTERSON: My suspicion is it's not. In that respect, it would not be like Latin America because it's just not that kind of economy. It's mostly in many of these areas, a barter economy.

QUESTION: Thanks.

QUESTION: Yeah. What trends have you observed in North Korea during the last year, both with regard to drug trafficking and money laundering?

ASSISTANT SECRETARY PATTERSON: We actually don't have much recent information on North Korea. They continue to be involved in criminal activity, counterfeiting of money, counterfeiting of cigarettes, but we haven't seen certainly government involvement in narcotics for some years. I think what makes sense to us is given the nature of the country and the fact that there were many incidents prior to 2002 that if there is this -- the government might still -- could well be involved in this activity, but we haven't seen any evidence of that for some years.

Yes.

QUESTION: You did mention the five pillars and more briefly afterwards. But the five pillar plan has been in place I guess now for, what, three or four years and the cultivation and the production continues to increase. To what do you attribute that and why do you think the five pillars will eventually work?

ASSISTANT SECRETARY PATTERSON: I attribute a lot of the problem in Afghanistan to basically the -- it's a problem with narcotics anywhere is that the government doesn't have control of territory. And this is why the cultivation both in Helmand and Kandahar has soared this year because the -- because there is basically a lack of law enforcement and control. But I think once the -- these issues are always intertwined. I think once the security situation settles down and we are doing forced manual eradication now in Helmand and it's going pretty well. We've had better eradication than we anticipated at this part. It will allow other parts of this strategy to take hold, such as the poppy elimination programs which is basically an agricultural extension service in the (inaudible) development.

Yes.

QUESTION: This report is based off of -- the possibility of assistance, further assistance for all those countries. Can we expect Colombia and Mexico to be certified in receiving more assistance in countries like Venezuela and Bolivia (inaudible) in Afghanistan also --

ASSISTANT SECRETARY PATTERSON: Well we wouldn't -- that's a decision of the --recommendation of the Secretary and a decision of the President. And I wouldn't want to steal their thunder, as it were, on that. And we have a number of months to work this issue. But generally speaking, this report does describe the cooperation with the United States which is the basis for budgets and certainly forms the basis for our certification decisions.

Yes.

QUESTION: Voice of America, Uzbek Service. Has the worsening of U.S.-Uzbek relations affected the scope of partnership with Uzbekistan in combat and drug trafficking and what is being done to inform the public of U.S. assistance if there is any at the moment --

ASSISTANT SECRETARY PATTERSON: In Uzbekistan.

QUESTION: -- given - right --given the fact that the Uzbek Government is running anti-U.S. campaign in the local press.

ASSISTANT SECRETARY PATTERSON: I honestly don't know the answer to that question.

QUESTION: And the first part of the question -- the scope of relationship in this partnership, in this business with Uzbekistan?

ASSISTANT SECRETARY PATTERSON: I think we have some very small programs in Uzbekistan. Does -- anyway, well, let me find you the answer. Generally speaking, we work pretty well with Central Asian countries because of the proximity to Afghanistan, they have a big interest in that. But I can't answer your question specifically about Uzbekistan, but we'll get you an answer right after that.

There was one back there. Yes.

QUESTION: On Cuba. The report says Cuban official arranges a bilateral agreement with U.S. and the U.S. says not possibly. Could you please elaborate a little bit about that?

ASSISTANT SECRETARY PATTERSON: Well, this is -- I think first of all, that we were pleased by the fact the Cubans extradited to Colombia recently -- I don't know if extradited is the proper legal term -- sent to Colombia, a major trafficker and then came to the United States. But we've been having counternarcotics discussions as the report says with the Cubans off and on for years. And I think our judgment is there is not a major trafficking issue through Cuba. What happens is the drugs will wash ashore from other places in the Caribbean.

MR. CASEY: I should say -- I think, let's make this the last one.

ASSISTANT SECRETARY PATTERSON: Okay. All right.

QUESTION: (Inaudible) follow up the question on Venezuela. It seems to me that without the facts, are you saying is more a political statement than a real fact of what's going on in Venezuela with narcotics. Can you --

ASSISTANT SECRETARY PATTERSON: Let me answer that because it's not just a political statement.

QUESTION: Is not just --

ASSISTANT SECRETARY PATTERSON: The Venezuelans -- look, look the Venezuelans for years did a great job on counternarcotics -- one of the best in the entire hemisphere. They had -- if you grew coca in Venezuela, you went to jail. They vigorously enforced their laws and frankly that's all stopped for reasons that aren't entirely clear to me. They've had problems of -- they've had problems of corruption in the police. They've had problems with interdiction. And again the fact that these flights can move into Venezuela is a very worrisome sign. We still have some programs with Venezuela. We still have some multilateral programs that we fund through UNODC. We want to work with the Venezuelans -- let me stress that -- on counternarcotics because you cannot just -- it has to be a regional approach in Latin America. But we just haven't gotten very far in recent years and their problem is increasing. That's the worrisome thing about this. Success in Colombia has basically led to a migration to some of this into Venezuela.

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