U.S. Department of State

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Counter Narcotics/Drug Trafficking:
Russian Federal Drug Enforcement Service Director Viktor Ivanov and
White House Office of National Drug Control Policy Director Gil Kerlikowske

Inter-Agency Participants:

Dates Groups Convened:

Deliverables/Progress

• Drug Addiction Treatment and Prevention: In February 2010, U.S. and Russian officials visited the V.P. Serbsky State Research Center of Social and Forensic Psychiatry in Moscow to discuss drug addiction prevention and treatment methods. In May 2010, a Russian interagency delegation of experts and senior officials visited Miami, New York and Washington, D.C., to study the U.S. Drug Court system, including visiting treatment centers and other social service providers involved in drug court programs. They also met with the Office of National Drug Control Policy, U.S. Department of Justice and U.S. Department of State officials. In June 2010, a group of Russian health experts traveled to the U.S. to discuss different approaches for drug addiction treatment and the links between drug addiction and HIV prevention. The Russian delegation, which included several representatives from federal substance abuse services, met with their counterparts from the U.S. Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, USAID and also visited drug treatment sites in three U.S. cities.

• Law Enforcement Cooperation: ONDCP, the FSKN, and other Russian law enforcement services have launched numerous joint investigations into organized drug trafficking organizations on the Northern Route in Afghanistan. In addition, work is underway on other criminal groups involved in cocaine trafficking from Latin America to Europe and the Russian Federation. In February 2010, DEA and Russian law enforcement officials participated in a Diversion Investigator Training Seminar in Moscow to discuss precursor control initiatives and joint investigations. In April 2010, taking advantage of the momentum of the Working Group, DEA Administrator Leonhart and FSKN Deputy Director Aulov agreed to form a sub-working group with participation from the governments of Afghanistan and Tajikistan under the auspices of the International Drug Enforcement Conference to combat organized drug trafficking along the Northern Route in Afghanistan. The group met in May 2010 in Dushanbe, Tajikistan and shared intelligence on drug traffickers in the region.

• Financial Intelligence Sharing: A meeting took place in December 2009 between Rosfinmonitoring and the U.S. Department of the Treasury’s FinCen. Cooperation between Rosfinmonitoring and FinCen focuses on continued financial intelligence information sharing, as well as targeted efforts to counter illicit financing, in pursuit of shared counternarcotics trafficking and counterterrorism objectives in Afghanistan and Central Asia. U.S. and Russian drug enforcement counterparts are collecting information for the purposes of conducting a joint mapping exercise. In February 2010, Russia provided information on the Hawala informal financial network that has been used for laundering proceeds from heroin trafficking and providing funds to the Taliban and Afghan warlords. The U.S. Department of the Treasury has shared information with Russian counterparts on Central Asian targets being reviewed for potential designation under the Foreign Narcotics Kingpin Designation Act. Rosfinmonitoring has also shared with the U.S. Treasury additional information on suspicious financial transactions related to Afghan drug trafficking.

Agenda for Future:

• Continue to expand U.S.-Russian cooperation on Afghanistan counternarcotics issues, with an increased emphasis on interdiction of delivery channels, stemming the flow of precursor chemicals, enhanced information sharing, and reducing illicit financial flows linked to the regional drug trade.