I. Summary

Australia is a committed partner in international efforts to combat illicit drugs. Australia is a consumer, rather than a producer, of illicit drugs. There is no evidence of significant narcotics shipments destined for the U.S. that transit Australia. U.S. and Australian law enforcement agencies have excellent cooperation on narcotics matters. Drug policy is an issue of increasing importance in domestic affairs in Australia. In 2001, a trial "Harm Reduction" facility for injecting heroin opened in Sydney; funding for a similar project in Canberra has been frozen pending a referendum. Australia is a party to the 1988 UN Drug Convention.

Cannabis is the most widely used illicit drug in Australia. A 1998 survey for Australian Institute of Health and Welfare (AIHW) found that nearly 40 percent of Australians over the age of 14 had used the drug at least once, with 17 percent having used it in the last 12 months. According to the survey, 46 percent of all Australians report having used at least one illicit drug in their lives, with 22 percent having done so in the previous year. Australia has also seen a growth in the use of the synthetic drug MDMA (ecstasy): a survey by the National Drug and Alcohol Research Center (NDARC) found that 20 percent of men surveyed ages 20-29 and 10 percent of women in that age group had tried the drug.

Heroin use is rising in Australia. In the 1998 AIHW survey, 2.2 percent of all Australians reported using heroin, up from 1.4 percent in 1995. Among men aged 20-29, 6.2 percent reported heroin use in 1998, up from 3.6 percent three years earlier. State legislation was passed in two jurisdictions allowing for medically supervised heroin injecting rooms where clean needles are provided and users are not prosecuted for drug offenses. A trial injecting facility opened in 2001 in Sydney; funding for a similar project in Canberra has been frozen pending a referendum.

Policy Initiatives. The government’s comprehensive drug strategy remains the "Tough on Drugs" program first announced by Prime Minister John Howard in 1997. According to the Prime Minister’s office, more than U.S. $250 million has been spent on implementation of the strategy since its inception. Because both the federal and state governments have a role in drug policy, laws and punishments vary across Australia.

In 2001, the Prime Minister launched a National Illicit Drugs Campaign that committed the equivalent of U.S. $13.5 million to drug education programs for schools, U.S. $55 million to establishing a compulsory education and treatment system for drug offenders and U.S. $106 million to stop trafficking and dealing in illegal drugs.

Law Enforcement Efforts. Law enforcement agencies continued aggressive counternarcotics law enforcement activities in 2001. Responsibility for these efforts is divided between the federal and state governments, with the various law enforcement agencies generally working well together.

According to a report from Australian Customs, from July 2000 to June 2001, Customs seized 427 kilograms of cocaine, 216 kilograms of heroin, and 338 kilograms of ecstasy. The most significant seizures of 2001 were a one metric ton shipment of cocaine seized in Western Australia in July and, in August, 2.5 kilograms of heroin. Two Americans were charged in connection with the large cocaine seizure along with several Colombians. Press reports indicated that one of the Americans pleaded guilty and was awaiting sentencing in mid-January 2002. A joint National Crime Authority, Australian Federal Police (AFP) and Customs operation also seized Australia’s largest shipment of ecstasy ever: 124 kilograms in December 2001. In a report issued in March 2001, the Australian Bureau of Criminal Intelligence (ABCI) reported that between July 1, 1999 and June 30, 2000, federal and state and territory enforcement authorities seized 734.7 kilograms of heroin and 6 kilograms of other opioids, 839 kilograms of cocaine, and 381 kilograms of methamphetamine and other amphetamines.

The AFP has established a number of overseas liaison posts to assist in narcotics-related investigations. These liaison officers, particularly those in the Pacific Island nations, also assist local law enforcement agencies in training and institution building. The AFP, both in country and overseas, has a close working relationship with U.S. agencies, including the DEA and FBI.

Corruption. The Australian government is vigilant in its efforts to prevent narcotics-related corruption. There is no indication of any senior official of the government facilitating the production or distribution of illicit drugs or aiding in the laundering of proceeds from illegal drug transactions. In 2001, a number of New South Wales police officers were convicted on drug-related charges.

Agreements and Treaties. Australia is a party to the 1988 UN Drug Convention, the 1961 UN Single Convention on Narcotic Drugs and its 1972 Protocol, and the 1971 UN Convention on Psychotropic Substances. The U.S. and Australia cooperate in law enforcement matters under a bilateral mutual legal assistance treaty and an extradition treaty. The U.S. has concluded a customs mutual assistance agreement with Australia. Australia signed the UN Convention against Transnational Organized Crime in December 2000.

Cultivation/Production. The only significant illicit crop cultivated in Australia is cannabis, which remains at less than 5,000 hectares throughout the country. There is no evidence that Australian illicit marijuana production reaches the U.S. in quantities sufficient to have a significant affect. Australia has a significant licit opium crop, primarily in the state of Tasmania. Controls against diversion of that crop are excellent.

Drug Flow/Transit. Australia has been and continues to be a target for Southeast Asian heroin trafficking organizations and South American cocaine traffickers. The U.S. continues to monitor the possibility of these drugs transiting Australia to the U.S., but to date there has been no information that this is occurring.

U.S. Policy Initiatives. The primary U.S. counternarcotics activities in Australia remain looking for signs of traffic from Australia to the U.S. and providing mutual assistance and sharing intelligence in an effort to disrupt and dismantle international trafficking organizations. Cooperation between U.S. and Australian authorities in achieving these goals is excellent.

The Road Ahead. Australia shows no sign of lessening its commitment to the international fight against drug trafficking, particularly in Southeast Asia. The U.S. can expect to continue to enjoy excellent bilateral relations with Australia on the counternarcotics front and the two countries should work well together in the UNDCP and other multilateral fora.

Brunei

Brunei is not a major consumer, producer, or transit country for narcotics, but it is possible that narcotics traffickers use Brunei’s waterways to ship narcotics around the region. There has been an apparent shift to the use of boats as the primary means of smuggling narcotics into Brunei. Brunei’s borders of coastline, rivers, and dense jungle are porous, and smuggling is common. The majority of this smuggling activity involves alcohol, illegal day-laborers, and food products. Brunei is a party to the 1988 UN Drug Convention, the 1971 UN Convention on Psychotropic Substances, the 1961 UN Single Convention on Narcotic Drugs, as amended by the 1972 Protocol.

Methamphetamine remains the illegal drug of choice in Brunei, and no other drugs were seized in significant quantities in 2001. Through the end of November, 505 drug-related arrests had been made in Brunei. A total of 383 grams of methamphetamine were seized during this period. Methamphetamine use in Brunei seems to be increasingly concentrated among unemployed Malay youth, and drug use among unemployed Brunei youth is increasing.

Brunei has stiff penalties for drug offenses. Possession of 200 grams of methamphetamine, for example, invokes a mandatory death penalty. There is some sentiment for reducing this threshold so that possession of even 50 grams would require the death penalty. Criminals operating in and around Brunei are becoming increasingly sophisticated in their operations. Brunei has recently increased its counternarcotics budget and will be devoting a large share of these resources to enhancing its enforcement manpower and purchasing speedboats for maritime interdiction.

The level of corruption within the GOB is relatively low. Government employees in oil-rich Brunei are generously compensated, and they are not subject to the pressures and temptations of poorer developing countries. In 2001 the NCB and other GOB law enforcement agencies actively participated in regional training opportunities. NCB officers attended a DEA money-laundering seminar in Singapore. The NCB and other Brunei law enforcement personnel regularly attend training at the International Law Enforcement Academy (ILEA) Bangkok. In 2001, some 55 GOB personnel attended training at the ILEA in Bangkok.

Brunei has recently implemented asset forfeiture and seizure legislation. Because seized assets are returned to the general treasury, they do not provide an incentive to the agency that confiscated them. However, the NCB managed to obtain one speedboat through asset forfeiture in 2001 for use in counternarcotics operations.

The Road Ahead. The United States will continue to encourage Brunei to maintain vigilance on narcotics abuse and traffic, and it will endeavor to assist Brunei with training in both enforcement and demand reduction and drug treatment.

Burma

I. Summary

With the ban on opium production in Afghanistan imposed by the Taliban in 2001, Burma returned to its position as the world’s largest producer of illicit opium. Burma is the primary source of amphetamine-type stimulants in Asia, producing an estimated 800 million tablets per year. The government of Burma has done little to stop the production of and trafficking in amphetamine-type stimulants (ATS) produced within its borders. According to the joint U.S./Burma opium yield survey, opium production in Burma totaled no more than 865 metric tons in 2001, down more than 20 percent from a year earlier, and barely one-third of the 2,560 metric tons produced in Burma in 1996. Burma’s opium is grown predominantly in Shan State, in areas controlled by former insurgent groups. Since the mid-1990s, however, the Burmese government has elicited "opium-free" pledges from each group and, as these pledges have come due, has stepped up law-enforcement activities in the territories controlled by these groups. The government of Burma has not put pressure on or taken law-enforcement action against the largest drug-producing and drug-trafficking organization, the United Wa State Army, however.

Burma has taken some useful counternarcotics measures in 2001, but they are too limited in duration and scope to have had a significant impact on the overall narcotics situation thus far. Over the past year, the Burmese government has also considerably improved its counternarcotics cooperation with neighboring states. In 2001 in cooperation with the government of China and with the government of Thailand, the Burmese government launched a major law-enforcement campaign against the Kokang Chinese. The government made several drug seizures and arrested several traffickers, including an action resulting in the destruction of a trafficking group that the Chinese called one of the largest "armed drug smuggling groups in the Golden Triangle area."

Burma is a party to the 1961 UN Single Convention, the 1971 UN Convention on Psychotropic Substances and the 1988 UN Drug Convention.

Burma returned to its position as the world’s largest producer of illicit opium in 2001. Even though farmers attempted to increase opium poppy cultivation levels during the 2000/2001 growing season, however, poor weather and eradication continued to depress cultivation levels. According to the joint U.S./Burma opium yield survey, the total land area under poppy cultivation in Burma was 105,000 hectares in 2001, a 3 percent decrease from the 108,700 hectares under cultivation in 2000. In 2001 potential opium production in Burma dropped below 1,000 metric tons for the first time since the surveys begun in the mid-1980s. Estimated opium production in Burma totaled approximately 865 metric tons in 2001, a decrease of more than 20 percent from 1,085 metric tons a year earlier, and barely one-third of the 2,560 metric tons produced in Burma in 1996. In 2001, yields in Burma (approximately 8.5 kilograms/hectare) were barely half the level recorded five years earlier, while the acreage under cultivation was down 35 percent.

Although the decline in opium cultivation is to be applauded, Burma remains the major source of amphetamine-type stimulants (ATS) in the region. An estimated 800 million ATS tablets are produced annually in Burma, primarily in the areas of Shan State controlled by the United Wa State Army. With the exception of seizing modest amounts of tablets and closing a few production labs, the government of Burma has not made a concerted effort to stop ATS production and trafficking. The amount of ATS tablets seized over the past three years represent only a small fraction of annual ATS production and has no real effect on the overall scope of the problem.

Opium, heroin, and ATS are produced predominantly in Shan State, in areas controlled by former insurgent groups. Starting in 1989, the Burmese government negotiated a series of cease-fire agreements with these groups, allowing each limited autonomy and a measure of development assistance in return for peace. Initially, these agreements permitted the former insurgents to continue their narcotics production and trafficking activities in relative freedom. Since the mid-1990s, however, the Burmese government has elicited "opium-free" pledges from each and, as these pledges have come due, has stepped up law-enforcement activities in the territories controlled by some of these groups. In 2001, the Burmese government cracked down hard in the Kokang region controlled by Peng Jiasheng’s Myanmar National Democratic Alliance Army (MNDAA), which had pledged to be opium-free by 2000. With the assistance of the Government of China, the Burmese government staged a series of arrests of major traffickers in all areas of the Kokang, including Laukkai, the capital of Kokang State.

In other areas, the GOB moved more cautiously. In areas controlled by the United Wa State Army (UWSA), the principal drug-producing and drug-trafficking organization in Burma, the government has only slowly expanded its administrative presence, but has not yet attempted any aggressive law-enforcement operations comparable to those it has staged in the Kokang region. Apparently, there are two reasons for this: First, the Wa pledge to make their territories opium-free does not come due until 2005. Second, and more important, the government of Burma claims that cracking down on the Wa, a far more formidable militarily force than the Kokang Chinese, jeopardizes Burma’s national security. Under the terms of the cease-fire agreements, the Wa and other groups involved in the drug trade are largely immune from government action. For instance, Burmese troops cannot enter Wa territory without permission from the UWSA. Although unwilling to risk confronting the Wa, a potent organization with a well-manned and well-trained military force, the GOB did take the modest steps of establishing a police presence in the Wa territories in 2001 and, in December 2001, opened its first military intelligence office in the Wa territories. The government has yet to put significant pressure on the Wa to stop illicit drug production or trafficking.

Although the ethnic groups have set dates by which to be opium free, the results have been limited. Opium production and its profitability have not been replaced by substitute crops and alternative development projects that would provide farmers economically viable alternatives to poppy cultivation. For regions to become truly drug free, the GOB must make a considerable commitment, assisted, where possible, by the international community, to undertake an extensive range of counternarcotics actions, including crop eradication, effective law enforcement, and alternative development. The GOB must foster cooperation between the government and the ethnic groups involved in drug production and trafficking, including the Wa, to eliminate poppy cultivation and opium production.

The GOB must also address the explosion of ATS that has flooded Thailand and is trafficked to other countries in the region. It must make a firm commitment and make a concerted effort to stop production of ATS by gaining support and cooperation from the ethnic groups, including the Wa, involved in ATS, as well as through closing production labs and preventing the diversion of precursor chemicals needed to produce synthetic drugs.

There is reason to believe that money laundering in Burma and the return of narcotics profits laundered elsewhere are significant factors in the overall Burmese economy, although the extent is difficult to measure accurately. Burma has an under-regulated banking system and ineffective laws to control money laundering. In 2001 the GOB drafted new anti-money-laundering legislation, but the laws will not become effective until sometime in 2002.

Drug abuse--including intravenous drug use--continues to be a growing problem in Burma. While the government maintains that there are only about 90,000 addicts in Burma, surveys conducted by UNDCP, among others, suggest that the addict population could be as high as 500,000. There is also a growing HIV/AIDS epidemic, linked in part to intravenous drug use. According to surveys, 57 percent of all intravenous drug users in Burma have tested positive for the HIV/AIDS virus.

Policy Initiatives. In 2001, the GOB demonstrated a new commitment, particularly in cooperation with China and Thailand, to take more aggressive law-enforcement actions against individual traffickers and some trafficking groups, notably the Kokang Chinese. The government introduced no new counternarcotics policies, however, and continued to exert little direct pressure on the UWSA and other major trafficking organizations. There was no evident attempt to seize drugs or close heroin or ATS labs in Wa-controlled territories. Drug seizures throughout Burma were roughly equal to or below the levels of previous years, and few production labs were destroyed.

Burma’s official counternarcotics plan calls for the eradication of all narcotics production and trafficking over a fifteen year period, starting in 1999. The plan is to proceed by stages, with eradication efforts coupled to alternative development programs in individual townships, predominantly in Shan State. Altogether, 54 townships have been targeted, 25 of which are targeted for the first five years of the program. In its first progress report, the government stated in September 2001 that programs had been started in 22 of the 25 townships. They include Mong Ko, Laukai, Hopang, and Kyu Hkok, all of which lie within regions controlled by the Wa and the Kokang Chinese. According to the government, 1.3 billion Kyats (equivalent to approximately $1.8 million at the unofficial exchange rate of Kyat 700 per U.S. dollar, or $20 million at the official rate of 6.5 kyat per U.S. dollar) was spent on health, education, and alternative development projects in these 22 townships during the 1999-2000 fiscal year. The scope and effectiveness of this plan to date has not been independently verified.

Small alternative development and crop substitution programs supported with international assistance continue in Burma. The most significant is the Wa Alternative Development Project (WADP) implemented by the UN Drug Control Program (UNDCP) and supported by contributions to the UN by the United States and Japan. A five-year, $12.1 million program, the WADP identifies substitute, economically viable crops to replace opium cultivation in a region of the Wa territories. There is also an ongoing program funded by Japan to establish buckwheat as a cash crop in the Kokang and Mong Ko regions of northeastern Shan State. In addition, the Thai government has recently agreed to extend its own alternative development projects across the border into the Wa-controlled Southern Military Region of Shan State.

Burma improved cross-border law-enforcement cooperation with both China and Thailand in 2001 to curtail the production and trafficking activities of former insurgent groups.

The Burmese Government refused the U.S. request to expel drug lord Chang Qifu (Khun Sa), asserting that there is no valid extradition treaty between the U.S. and Burma. Burma takes the position that the 1931 U.S.-U.K. extradition treaty is not applicable and contends the treaty was never accepted by any Burmese government. The Burmese government also continued to refuse to render Chang Qifu to the U.S. on the grounds that he had not violated his 1996 surrender agreement. That agreement reportedly stipulated that if Chang Qifu ended his insurgency and retired from the drug trade, the GOB would provide him with security in Rangoon and allow him to conduct legitimate business. Burmese authorities assert that he will continue to enjoy immunity from prosecution in Burma and exemption from rendition to another country as long as he does not violate his surrender agreement. This issue remains a source of friction between Burma and the U.S. The 1988 UN Drug Convention obligates parties, including Burma, to prosecute such traffickers. GOB officials have stated they would be willing to prosecute Chang Qifu or his subordinates, if it can be proven that they have engaged in narcotics trafficking after the surrender agreement was signed.

Accomplishments. Narcotics Seizures and Arrests: Summary statistics provided by the Burmese police indicate that the Burmese police, army, and the Customs Service together seized approximately 1,629 kilograms of raw opium, 98 kilograms of heroin, and 32.4 million ATS tablets during 2001. This compares with seizures of 1,528 kilograms of raw opium, 159 kilograms of heroin, and 26.7 million methamphetamine pills during 2000. While seizures of opium in 2001 modestly exceeded the amounts seized the previous year, seizures of heroin, well below last year’s level, declined for the fourth straight year. Seizures of methamphetamine tablets in 2001 were slightly above the amounts seized in 2000 and in 1999. Considering that an estimated 800 million methamphetamine tablets are produced in Burma each year, the approximately thirty million tablets seized in each of the past three years has no effect on the overall scope of the problem. Closures of heroin refineries and methamphetamine laboratories mirrored last year’s level. Whereas in 1999, the GOB destroyed 13 heroin refineries and three methamphetamine laboratories, in 2000 they closed only three heroin refineries and two methamphetamine laboratories, and in 2001 they closed only three refineries and three laboratories. Seizures of precursor chemicals more than doubled in 2001 over last year’s rate, however. Burmese law-enforcement officers reported seizing 174,191 liters of precursor chemicals in 2001 compared to 86,755 liters in 2000.

Major seizures in Burma in 2001 included the following: On August 4, the Monywa counternarcotics task force seized 161 kilograms of raw opium concealed beneath the floor boards of a truck in Monywa; on August 6, a joint counternarcotics team seized 3.4 million tablets of methamphetamine stored in a secret compartment of a truck in Taungyi; on August 30, an infantry column from the Burmese Army’s 33rd Division destroyed a heroin refinery in the vicinity of Kutkai and seized 569 kilograms of raw opium and 9.3 kilograms of heroin; on September 6, police officials from Lashio seized 4.4 million tablets of methamphetamine after firing on and stopping a truck at the Sit-In bridge between Lashio and Hsipaw; and on October 14, in the largest seizure of methamphetamine tablets ever made in Burma, police officials in Hpa’an seized 6.9 million methamphetamine tablets from two false compartments in one vehicle. On October 27, in two related cases, police seized 2.2 million methamphetamine tablets from two caches in Tachileik township.

Burma continued its operational cooperation with the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA), the Australian Federal Police, and other western and regional police agencies. In March, that cooperation resulted in the arrest of two Burmese citizens accused of exporting 357 kilograms of heroin to Fiji. Both have since been tried, convicted, and sentenced to death. Similarly, acting on information provided by the Thai police, Burmese police arrested Nyein Kyaw (aka Si Yon Kyin) and Kyaw Hlaing (aka Lauk San, aka Yaw Phar Li) in October in connection with a shipment of 116 kilograms of heroin and 7 million tablets of methamphetamine that the Thai police intercepted in January 2001.

The GOB has also allowed Chinese police officers to interrogate Burmese citizens, if they are apprehended for crimes in China. As a result of this cooperation, the Burmese arrested one major drug trafficker, Tan Xiao Lin, aka Tang Hsiao-lin, in April 2001 and turned him over to the Chinese in June 2001. Following the interrogation of Tan Xiao Lin, the Chinese identified four other major traffickers. One of these four (Shang Chao Mei) was arrested in Muse on September 3, and a second (Xiao Ming Yuan) narrowly escaped arrest in Laukai that same week. According to the Chinese, this group headed by Tan Xiao Lin was one of the largest "armed drug smuggling groups in the Golden Triangle area." The Chinese claim this group may have shipped as much as 15 tons of heroin per year, though the Burmese believe their annual turnover was considerably lower--perhaps no more than 1.5 tons per year.

During Secretary Khin Nyunt’s September visit to Thailand, Thailand also proposed a program whereby the products of alternative-development projects in Burma would enter Thailand duty-free and offered 20 million Baht (about US$440,000) for the establishment of a new alternative-development program in the Southern Military Region of Shan State, which is now occupied by the United Wa State Army. In return, the Burmese arranged a trilateral meeting among the Wa, the GOB, and Thai officials in November 2001 that helped impress upon the Wa the counternarcotics priorities of the two governments.

Burma also participated in a series of multilateral meetings on narcotics control during the summer. They included a regional ministerial meeting in Rangoon (organized in cooperation with UNDCP) on drug control in May, a senior officials meeting with narcotics officials from Laos, China, Thailand and Burma in Rangoon in early August, and a quadrilateral ministerial meeting of the same four countries in Beijing in late August.

Eradication. According to Burmese police statistics, police and army units made two planned eradication sweeps in Shan State and destroyed 26,113 hectares of opium poppy during the 2000/2001 crop year (October to April). This compares with 10,987 hectares reportedly destroyed during the 1999/2000 crop year. According to UNDCP, there was clear evidence of two GOB eradication campaigns (one in early January and a second in late February) in all eleven townships that UNDCP surveyed during the 2000/2001 crop year. The U.S. is unable to verify eradication claims.

Law Enforcement Measures. Drug-enforcement efforts in Burma are led by the Central Committee for Drug Abuse Control (CCDAC), which is comprised of personnel from various security services, including the police, customs, military intelligence, and the army. CCDAC now has 18 drug-enforcement task forces around the country, with most located in major cities and along key transit routes near Burma’s borders with China, India, and Thailand. As is the case with most Burmese government entities, CCDAC suffers badly from a lack of adequate resources to support its law-enforcement mission.

The legal framework for Burma’s law-enforcement efforts is provided by its 1993 Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances Law. As demanded by the 1988 UN Drug Convention, that law contains legal tools for addressing money laundering, the seizure of drug-related assets, and the prosecution of drug conspiracy cases. Burma has taken steps to fulfill its international commitments under those conventions, but has yet to enact and enforce legislation to address some of their provisions and has not enforced its existing money-laundering law. In 2001 the GOB drafted a mutual legal assistance law. Passage and implementation of the legislation has been delayed until 2002, but it is expected to lay the groundwork for cross-border judicial and law-enforcement cooperation in the prosecution of money laundering and other cases. Similarly, a new anti-money-laundering law was drafted in 2001 and is expected be enacted in early 2002; the mutual legal assistance law should follow shortly thereafter.

In 2000 and 2001, the Burmese government launched its first serious campaigns against trafficking by former insurgent groups. In November 2000, the GOB took advantage of a mutiny within the Mong Ko Defense Army to seize Mong Ko and put that band and its leader, Mong Sa La, out of the narcotics business. It also sharply stepped up its pressure on the Kokang Chinese, who missed their 2000 target date for establishing an "opium free" zone throughout their self-administered territories. Starting in September 2001, the Burmese joined with the government of China in a series of joint operations that resulted in the destruction of heroin factories and methamphetamine labs throughout the Kokang Chinese Special Region No. 1 and the arrest of major traffickers. The Burmese government has also made clear to the Kokang Chinese that this campaign will continue. According to Burmese police sources, Secretary 1 Khin Nyunt has flatly told the Kokang leadership that they must be out of the narcotics business by 2002 or else the Burmese government would take "all necessary measures."

In the Wa Region, where the target date to be opium free is 2005, the Burmese government has moved much more cautiously. The Wa are far more formidable militarily than the Kokang Chinese and have proven to be useful allies for the Burmese government in battles with Khun Sa’s Mong Tai Army and other Shan insurgent groups like the Thai-based Shan United Revolutionary Army (SURA) of Yawd Serk. Nevertheless, the Burmese government has slowly increased its administrative presence in the Wa territories. In 2001, for the first time, it established a Burmese police presence in the Wa territories, and in December 2001 the GOB established a military intelligence office in Pang Sang, the Wa capital. Its operations against the Kokang Chinese are seemingly intended to foreshadow the potential consequences for the Wa, if they remain in the narcotics business past 2005.

In 2001, the GOB also began a crackdown on the array of militias (some government-sponsored Ka Kwe Ye, i.e., village defense forces, and others the remnants of former insurgent bands) that the GOB had previously allowed to cultivate opium in the Kutkai-Lashio region of northern Shan State. According to military intelligence officials, with peace now prevailing in most of the countryside and the government no longer in need of the local security services these groups provided, steps are now being taken to slowly roll back their privileges, including the right to grow and traffic opium.

Corruption. There is no evidence that the Burmese Government, on an institutional level, is involved in the drug trade. However, there are persistent reports that officials, particularly army police personnel posted in outlying areas, are either directly involved in the drug business or are paid to allow the drug business to be conducted by others. The Burmese government is aware of this and has waged a quiet campaign against narcotics corruption in the ranks. According to police statistics, since early 2000, 32 Burmese police officers have been punished for narcotics related corruption. Punishments took the form of imprisonment, terminations, demotions, and forced retirements. Jail sentences have been imposed on 17 officers, including one police major and two police lieutenants. Four officers have been terminated, including two police lieutenants, and six officers were forced to retire, including four police lieutenants. Over the same period of time, seven Burmese army soldiers, including one major and three other officers, were charged with narcotics-related corruption. All were prosecuted in accordance with Burma’s counternarcotics laws and the Burmese military code.

Agreements and Treaties. Burma is a party to the 1961 UN Single Convention, the 1971 UN Convention on Psychotropic Substances, and the 1988 UN Drug Convention. Burma also participates in UNDCP regional programs to combat illicit narcotics and related criminal activities. Burma is one of six nations (Burma, Cambodia, China, Laos, Thailand, Vietnam) that signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) in 1993 with UNDCP. The "MOU states" agreed to cooperate to combat narcotics and to work jointly with UNDCP to improve sub-regional law-enforcement capabilities, including controlling precursor chemicals and reducing illicit narcotics production and trafficking in Southeast Asia. Burma is also a member of the regional action plan "ASEAN and China Cooperative Operations in Response to Dangerous Drugs (ACCORD)," which, in conjunction with UNDCP, pledges all participant countries to implement a comprehensive, regional, cooperative action plan to make the region drug-free by 2015. At the first meeting to implement the action plan, held in Bali in November, Burma agreed to chair the ACCORD Task Force on Law Enforcement.

In addition, the GOB has signed bilateral drug control agreements with India in 1993, with Bangladesh in 1994, with Vietnam in 1995, and with the Russian Federation, Laos, and The Philippines in 1997. In 2001, Burma signed additional counternarcotics MOUs with China (in January) and Thailand (in June).

The MOU with China established a framework for joint operations, which in turn led to a series of arrests of major traffickers during the spring and summer of 2001. Burmese police maintain that Burmese law forbids the extradition of any Burmese citizen. In its MOU with China, however, the GOB has agreed to return to China any Chinese citizens wanted for crimes in China.

Burma’s MOU with Thailand committed both countries to closer police cooperation in narcotics control. The MOU paved the way for an August 2001 meeting of police chiefs from both sides of the Thai-Burma border who agreed to share information and establish joint "narcotics suppression coordination stations" in the Chiang Rai/Tachileik, Mae Sot/Myawaddy and Ranong/Kawthoung border areas.

Cultivation and Production. With the ban on opium production in Afghanistan imposed by the Taliban in 2001, Burma returned to its position as the world’s largest producer of illicit opium. According to the U.S./Burma joint opium yield survey, opium production declined in Burma for the fifth straight year in 2001, due to a combination of poor weather conditions and eradication efforts. The survey found that the maximum potential yield for opium in Burma in 2001 totaled 865 metric tons, down 220 metric tons (or approximately 20 percent) from 2000. Over the past five years, opium production in Burma is down by approximately two-thirds, from an estimated 2,560 metric tons in 1996 to 865 metric tons in 2001. The area under cultivation has declined by approximately 35 percent, from 163,100 hectares in 1996 to approximately 105,000 hectares in 2001. Yields, meanwhile, have been cut in half, from an estimated 17 kilograms per hectare in 1996 to levels (about 8.5 kilograms per hectare in 2001) that are now comparable to those in neighboring states, such as Laos. A UNDCP-sponsored survey in 11 districts in Shan State in 2001 produced similar results. According to UNDCP, its estimate for the average potential yield in the 11 districts was approximately 10.45 kilograms per hectare.

Drug Flow/Transit. Most heroin in Burma is produced in small, mobile labs located near the borders with Thailand and China in Shan State in areas controlled by former insurgent groups. A growing amount of methamphetamine is reportedly produced in labs co-located with heroin refineries in the Wa region and the former Shan United Revolutionary Army territory in southern Shan State. Heroin and methamphetamine produced by Burma’s former insurgent groups are most commonly trafficked along transit routes crossing the porous Chinese and Thai borders; to a lesser extent over the Indian, Bangladeshi, and Lao borders; and through Rangoon onward by ship to other countries in the region. Acetic anhydride, an essential chemical in the production of heroin, and ephedrine, the principal chemical ingredient of methamphetamine, are trafficked from China, India, and Thailand.

China and India are the principal sources for acetic anhydride, an essential chemical in the production of heroin, and ephedrine, the primary chemical used to manufacture methamphetamine.

Demand reduction. Drug abuse in Burma continues to increase. According to the GOB, there are only about 90,000 "officially registered" drug abusers in Burma, though UNDCP estimates that as many as 500,000 people (still less than 1 percent of the population) may abuse drugs. Opium use is most common among the older generations, but use of heroin and synthetic drugs continues to rise, particularly in urban and mining areas. Demand reduction facilities are strictly limited. There are six major drug treatment centers under the Ministry of Health and 49 detoxification programs at major hospitals throughout the country. Even when supplemented by international programs, however, those facilities fall well short of the need.

There is also a growing HIV/AIDS epidemic in Burma that has been linked in part to intravenous drug use. Fifty-seven percent of all intravenous drug users in Burma have tested positive for HIV/AIDS. Among the general population the HIV/AIDS infection rate is now approaching two percent.

Policy and Programs. Direct material counternarcotics aid by the U.S. government (USG) to Burma has remained suspended since 1988, when the Burmese military brutally suppressed the pro-democracy movement. As a result, the USG has very limited contact with the Burmese government on narcotics control. DEA, through the U.S. Embassy in Rangoon, shares drug-related intelligence with the GOB and conducts joint drug-enforcement investigations with Burmese counternarcotics authorities. Other U.S. agencies have conducted opium yield surveys in the mountainous regions of the Shan State in 1993, 1995, 1997, 1998, 1999, 2000 and 2001, with essential assistance provided by Burmese counterparts. These surveys give both governments a much more accurate understanding of the scope, magnitude, and changing geographic distribution of Burma’s opium crop. The USG regularly urges the Burmese government to continue to take steps to curb narcotics production and trafficking. Specifically, we have encouraged the Burmese government to:

• Undertake counternarcotics efforts commensurate with Burma’s central role in opium, heroin, and methamphetamine production and trafficking;
• Prosecute drug-trafficking organizations and their leaders, and deprive them of assets derived from the drug trade;
• Take action against drug-related corruption, including prosecution and appropriate punishment of corrupt officials and money launderers;
• Take action against fugitive drug traffickers and turn them over to third countries;
• Undertake opium poppy eradication on a wide scale in areas under its direct control or immediate influence;
• Press ethnic groups, such as the Wa, the Kokang Chinese, and the Kachin, who have pledged to create opium-free zones in their regions, to make good on their commitments;
• Develop and enforce effective counternarcotics, conspiracy, and money-laundering legislation;
• Provide strong support to multilateral drug-control projects in Shan State.

Bilateral Cooperation. USG counternarcotics cooperation with the Burmese regime is restricted to basic law-enforcement operations. The U.S. provides no bilateral material or training assistance. DEA’s liaison with Burmese policymakers and military officials--conducted mainly through DEA’s office in Rangoon--focuses on providing intelligence on enforcement targets and coordinating investigations of international drug-trafficking groups.

The Road Ahead. Based on experience in dealing with significant narcotics-trafficking problems elsewhere in the world, the USG recognizes that large-scale and long-term international aid, including development assistance and law-enforcement aid, will be needed to curb drug production and trafficking in Burma. Recurring human rights violations and political concerns, however, have limited international support of all kinds, including support for Burma’s law-enforcement efforts. Throughout 2001, the Burmese government demonstrated a new commitment to effective counternarcotics measures. It has continued its poppy eradication program, has initiated actions against drug traffickers and some drug-trafficking organizations, has drafted new money-laundering legislation, and has begun to work more closely and cooperatively with neighboring and regional countries. The GOB is encouraged to sustain and intensify those efforts so that its counternarcotics actions are equal to the scope of the problem. The government of Burma is further encouraged to take additional steps to combat corruption, enforce its narcotics and money-laundering legislation, intensify its efforts to eradicate all forms of illicit narcotics, including methamphetamines, and address meaningfully the growing problem of drug abuse and HIV/AIDS. The USG strongly urges the GOB to continue its law-enforcement campaigns and to expand its efforts to the most prominent trafficking groups and organizations (including asset forfeiture and seizure). The USG also urges the GOB to continue cooperating closely with other countries in the region, particularly those most seriously affected by drugs trafficked from Burma. Although Burma’s counternarcotics record in 2001 is noticeably improved over that of prior years, sustained, expanded, and intensified efforts will serve as proof of the GOB’s full and unequivocal commitment to combating illicit narcotics production and trafficking, and associated criminal activities, within its borders.

Cambodia

I. Summary

Cambodia registered gains in improving law enforcement and limiting corruption in 2001, although ingrained corruption and endemic poverty hindered the government’s ability to mount a sustained effort against narcotics trafficking. The government’s principal counternarcotics body, the National Authority for Combating Drugs (NACD), cooperates closely with DEA, regional counterparts, and the UNODCCP (UN Office for Drug Control and Crime Programs). In October, the Prime Minister dismissed the head of the NACD in connection with the earlier arrest of another senior counternarcotics official on charges of trafficking in methamphetamine. He replaced him with a generally well regarded senior police official. In November, the White House announced Cambodia’s removal from the list of major illicit drug producing and drug-transit countries, a development that was welcomed by the Prime Minister and other government officials. The Cambodian government recognizes that its counternarcotics efforts are spotty and often ineffective, and there is widespread recognition that Cambodian authorities need to be more aggressive in trying to stem the flow of illegal narcotics. Because of the unfortunate state of human and institutional capacity in Cambodia, however, Cambodia needs substantial material support in virtually every key area. Cambodia is a party to the 1993 Regional Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) on Drug Control, and is also a party to the six MOU countries’ Sub-regional Action Plan for Drug Control. Cambodia is not a party to the 1961 Single Convention and its 1972 Protocol, nor the 1988 UN Drug Convention. The government, however, is on record as favoring becoming a party to the 1988 Drug Convention.

Cambodia is not a major producer of opiates or coca-based drugs. Until recently, the scope of Cambodia’s domestic drug abuse problem was deemed to be less severe than other neighboring countries in Southeast Asia. However, in the past couple of years Cambodia has experienced a disturbingly rapid and significant increase in amphetamine-type stimulant (ATS) abuse, particularly among youths who frequent the nightclub scene in Phnom Penh, commercial sex workers, and Cambodian migrant laborers. The incidence of glue sniffing and other inhalant abuse by vagrants, street children, and disadvantaged youths is also growing. In June, Deputy Prime Minister Sar Kheng termed the crisis of growing illegal substance abuse as Cambodia’s second most serious social problem, trailing only the HIV/AIDS epidemic.

Marijuana is cultivated primarily for export, with some residual domestic consumption. There are no reliable figures available from either the Cambodian government or the UNDCP on the current extent of cultivation or yield, although some estimates place total production at 700-1,000 tons annually. Marijuana production tends to be concentrated in the provinces of Koh Kong, Battambang, Kampot, Kandal, Kampong Cham, Kratie, Stung Treng, Preah Vihear, and Banteay Meanchey. Planting is done by hand using traditional farming methods, with the normal harvest period occurring between late December and early January. Much of the production is reputed to be "contract cultivation" with Cambodians operating under the control or influence of foreign criminal syndicates. Analysis of seizures in recent years indicates that Europe is the major destination for Cambodian cannabis, with other destinations including the United States, Australia and Africa. Quantities coming to the United States are not sufficient to have a significant impact on the United States.

In addition to marijuana, Cambodia’s involvement in the international narcotics trade is as a transit route for Southeast Asian heroin to overseas markets, including China, Australia, Europe, and the United States. There is little hard information available on the scale of heroin trafficked through Cambodia, but the amount of heroin seized in the United States in recent years that is traceable to or through Cambodia is small.

Cambodian authorities are becoming increasingly concerned with the significant increase in the amount of chemically based synthetic drugs coming into the country from Thailand and elsewhere in the region. Cambodian authorities believe that foreign crime syndicates, working in concert with Cambodian nationals, have set up highly mobile clandestine laboratories in Koh Kong, Banteay Meanchey, and Battambang provinces (all along the Thai-Cambodia border) that are producing ATS for local distribution and export. There are some indications that some stationary ATS production centers are being set up in Phnom Penh and elsewhere.

There is some concern that precursor chemicals imported for industrial use in Cambodia, including methanol, sulfuric acid, toluene, and ephedrine, are possibly being diverted for illicit drug production, although the magnitude of this diversion, if it exists, is difficult to ascertain.

Policy Initiatives. Cambodian law enforcement agencies have very limited resources and lack even the most basic training in law enforcement techniques and drug enforcement measures. Three decades of warfare and factional fighting have severely hampered the government’s ability to carry out a sustained effort against illegal drugs. In late 1998, the cessation of factional fighting and final demise of the Khmer Rouge, together with the formation of a new coalition government, provided a measure of stability that allowed the government to begin to devote more attention to combating crime and illegal narcotics. But better coordination is needed among various government agencies and ministries—ideally, with a beefed-up NACD playing a central role—to provide more effective measures against drug production, abuse, and trafficking.

The NACD, which was reorganized in 1999, has the potential to become an effective policy and coordination unit for the government. With the enthusiastic backing of the Cambodian government, the UNDCP launched in April 2001 a two-phase, four-year U.S. $2.3 million "NACD Support Project" designed to strengthen the NACD Secretariat. This project seeks, inter alia, to establish the NACD as an independent functional government body able to undertake drug control planning, coordination, and operations. The project seeks to establish procedures for planning, operations, and administration and to provide staff training, technical advice, basic transportation, communications, and office equipment. There is some question, however, as to whether there will be sufficient funding for the project beyond mid-2002.

Accomplishments. A Cambodian delegation traveled to Rangoon in May to participate in a Ministerial-level meeting of the six greater Mekong sub-region countries and the UNDCP. In conjunction with the UNDCP, the six countries that are signatories to the 1993 Memorandum of Understanding on Regional Drug Control—Cambodia, Burma, Laos, Thailand, Vietnam, and China—hold annual meetings at the Senior Officials level and every other year at the Ministerial level to discuss drug control developments in the region, assess the measures being taken to deal with illicit drug problems, and adopt recommendations on joint remedial actions.

The UNODCCP, with U.S. funding, established a resident liaison office in Phnom Penh in April 2001. The office provides technical assistance to the NACD and is the focal point for donor group activity related to counternarcotics activity in Cambodia. Key donors include Japan, Australia, the United Kingdom, France, Germany, and the European Commission in addition to the United States. In September, Sandro Calvani, Head of the UNODCCP Regional Center for East Asia and the Pacific, visited Phnom Penh for meetings with senior government officials, including Prime Minister Hun Sen and Deputy Prime Minister Sar Kheng. The Prime Minister pledged to cooperate with the UN on combating drugs and appealed to the international community for assistance to build up domestic institutional and human capacity.

Under the leadership of Australia and Japan, a Phnom Penh Mini-Dublin Group was formed in 1999, a development that was warmly welcomed by the Cambodian authorities. This group, in which the United States participates actively, provides a forum for multilateral discussion of narcotics issues and aims to improve coordination of donor efforts to Cambodia’s drug control and counternarcotics trafficking efforts. The Mini-Dublin Group met twice in 2001.

Law Enforcement Efforts. According to preliminary figures from the Anti-Drug Department of the National Police, 109 people were arrested for various drug-related offenses in 2001, compared with 124 arrests in 2000. Of the 109 persons arrested in 2001, 80 were Cambodians, 21 were Vietnamese, and eight were other nationals. In 2001, one particularly significant drug arrest took place in December, when police arrested four people suspected of producing methamphetamine. The police confiscated some precursor chemicals and various other drug paraphernalia. The significance of this case stems from its being one of the few instances in recent memory where police arrested suspected producers, rather than buyers and sellers.

Corruption. Corruption remains widespread and pervasive in Cambodia. This makes Cambodia highly vulnerable to penetration by drug traffickers and foreign crime syndicates, and makes effective law enforcement a daunting challenge. Senior Cambodian government officials proclaim their intention to fight illegal narcotics trafficking and production, and officials at all levels regularly call for U.S. assistance in training counternarcotics police. Several factors constrain sustained advances in effective law enforcement of illegal drugs by the government, however, not the least of which is an acute shortage of trained personnel and high levels of official corruption, aggravated by abysmally low salaries for Cambodian civil servants. There is no formal police training academy, and the management structure in the law enforcement agencies would not be able to benefit from and implement outside training or the establishment of investigative and administrative procedures. The judicial system is weak, and there have been numerous cases of defendants in important narcotics and other criminal cases having charges against them dropped inexplicably after paying relatively small fines.

In early October, a special police task force arrested a senior counternarcotics official and four accomplices on charges of trafficking in methamphetamine. It was later revealed that the senior official arrested was a close associate of Lt. Gen. Em Sam An, the head of the NACD. This revelation led to an outpouring of press criticism leveled at the government and prompted an official letter of concern from the UNDCP liaison office. By late October, Prime Minister Hun Sen dismissed Em Sam An from his NACD position, although Em Sam An retained his high ranking position of Secretary of State at the Ministry of Interior and was not charged with any offense. The Prime Minister’s action was well received domestically and internationally. The new head of the NACD appointed by the Prime Minister is Lt. Gen. Teng Savong, a generally well respected senior officer who was deputy chief of the National Police prior to this appointment.

Agreements and Treaties. Cambodia has signed, but not ratified the 1961 UN Single Convention on Narcotic Drugs and the 1972 Protocol amending the Single Convention. Cambodia is not a party to the 1971 UN Convention on Psychotropic Substances or the 1988 UN Drug Convention. However, the comprehensive counternarcotics legislation passed by the National Assembly in December 1996 would enable Cambodia to become a party to the above conventions and to implement measures consistent with these conventions. Although Cambodia is not yet a party to the UN drug conventions, the government voluntarily submits the UNDCP annual report questionnaire required of parties to the conventions.

Cambodia has no extradition or mutual legal assistance treaty with the United States, but the Cambodian government has cooperated with U.S. law enforcement agencies regularly in the past by rendering or deporting persons wanted in the United States for crimes, including narcotics, upon request and presentation of an appropriate warrant. The U.S. Embassy in Phnom Penh has been assured that such cooperation will continue. The Cambodian government concluded an extradition treaty with Thailand in 1998 and is in the process of negotiating an agreement with Laos. The Cambodian government views bilateral and regional cooperation with neighboring states and with UNDCP to be essential in its efforts to combat narcotics trafficking.

On November 11, 2001, Cambodia signed the UN Convention against Transnational Organized Crime, the Protocol to Prevent, Suppress and Punish Trafficking in Persons, and the Protocol against the Smuggling of Migrants.

Cultivation/Production. Accurate estimates of the level of drug cultivation and production are difficult to come by. As in recent years, Cambodian authorities had some success in combating illicit cultivation during 2001. Some cannabis plantations and fields of varying sizes were destroyed.

Drug Flow/Transit. Cambodia shares porous borders with Thailand, Laos, and Vietnam and lies near the major trafficking routes for Southeast Asian heroin. Some heroin and marijuana are believed to enter and exit Cambodia via the deep water port of Sihanoukville (also known as Kampong Saom), locations along the coastline of Koh Kong (near the Thai border) and Kampot (near the Vietnamese border) provinces, and the river port of Phnom Penh. The country’s main international airport, Pochentong International Airport in Phnom Penh, suffers from lax customs and immigration controls, and some illegal narcotics are believed to transit there en route to foreign destinations. Under the Cambodian government’s "Open Skies" policy, direct flights from major Asian gateways, including Bangkok and Singapore, began serving the regional airport in Siem Reap (location of Angkor Wat) in 2000. Customs and immigration controls in Siem Reap are rudimentary. There was some concern in late 2001 that developments in Afghanistan could trigger an increase in opium transiting Southeast Asia, including through Cambodia.

Domestic Programs (Demand Reduction). With the assistance of the UNDCP, the World Health Organization (WHO), the Japanese International Cooperation Agency (JICA), and some NGOs, the NACD is attempting to boost awareness about drug abuse among the populace, especially Cambodian youth, through the use of pamphlets, posters, and public service announcements. Cambodia does not have separate rehabilitation centers for recovering drug addicts, but the government has sought outside assistance for programs on drug treatment, rehabilitation centers for drug addicts, and vocational training centers for severe addicts. Several national and international NGOs operate in Cambodia with mandates that directly or indirectly relate to drug control issues, including demand reduction. In August 2001, over 30 international organizations, NGOs and UN Agencies joined together to form the Drug Abuse Forum (DAF). DAF members, which include UNICEF (UN Children’s Fund) and IOM (International Office of Migration), have agreed on a work-plan that will include a series of "train the trainer" workshops with staff drawn from the DAF and other government agencies that will transfer fundamental skills and basic knowledge about drugs to the at-risk population. The DAF and UNODCCP will also produce and distribute a range of drug education and awareness materials, including training booklets for field workers, leaflets for mass distribution to school children and youth, and posters and other materials.

In November 2001, the President removed Cambodia from the list of major illicit drug producing and major drug-trafficking countries/economies. Cambodia was first placed on the Majors List in 1996 due to information indicating that heroin trafficking was a serious concern, especially in light of the high volume of drug trafficking in the region, the weakness of Cambodian law enforcement institutions, and the lack of an effective criminal justice system and counternarcotics laws. Cambodia was removed from the Majors List because a closer monitoring of the situation indicated that there is no significant amount of heroin or other drugs transiting Cambodia en route to the United States. Cambodia is a marijuana producing country, but production does not appear to be near the level at which a marijuana growing country is considered a major producer under the Foreign Assistance Act of 1961, as amended. There is also no evidence any significant amount of Cambodian marijuana reaches the United States.

Cambodia is a fragile, flawed democracy. For the first time in over three decades, there has been relative political stability following the formation of a democratically-elected coalition government and National Assembly in 1998, but Cambodia is plagued by many of the institutional weaknesses that are common to the world’s most vulnerable developing countries. The challenge for the United States includes: nurturing the growth of democratic institutions and the protection of human rights; providing humanitarian assistance and promoting sound economic growth policies to alleviate the debilitating poverty that engenders corruption; and building human and institutional capacity in law enforcement sectors to enable the government to deal more effectively with narcotics traffickers.

Bilateral Cooperation. Consistent with statutory restrictions on the provision of assistance to the central government of Cambodia, the Department of State’s Bureau of International Narcotics and Law Enforcement Affairs as a matter of policy has not provided counternarcotics/anticrime assistance to Cambodia. The U.S. provides some counternarcotics assistance indirectly to Cambodia via multilateral contributions, primarily through the UNDCP.

Despite the suspension of direct U.S. government non-humanitarian assistance to the Cambodian government, including counternarcotics assistance, which continued in 2001, the Cambodian government openly welcomed bilateral cooperation with DEA and with other U.S. law enforcement agencies. Cambodia regularly hosts visits from DEA personnel based in Bangkok, and Cambodian authorities cooperate actively with DEA.

U.S. officials raise narcotics-related issues regularly with Cambodian counterparts at all levels, up to and including the Prime Minister. Senior Cambodian officials freely admit the country’s many shortcomings in the area of law enforcement due to corruption and insufficient resources, and regularly appeal for U.S. government assistance, especially in technical training.

The Road Ahead. Funding is needed to encourage greater bilateral and multilateral counternarcotics cooperation involving Cambodia. At every meeting and at every level, Cambodian law enforcement authorities appeal for technical assistance and training. Mid-level Cambodian law enforcement officers have been allowed to attend training courses at the International Law Enforcement Academy in Bangkok (ILEA) since mid-2000. This training has partially addressed Cambodia’s dire training needs. The ILEA training has produced a small but growing cadre of Cambodian officials who are becoming familiar with modern police techniques including drug identification, investigations, coordination of operations and intelligence gathering.

Funding assistance is needed to allow working level Cambodian officials to participate in regional counternarcotics conferences, such as the annual meetings of the six greater Mekong sub-region countries that are signatories to the 1993 Memorandum of Understanding on Drug Control with the UNDCP.

In mid-1999, the DEA Country Attaché from Bangkok and the U.S. Ambassador presented the NACD with an INL-funded drug-testing laboratory, but there has been no follow-up U.S. assistance to the laboratory since that time. A DEA chemist visited the laboratory in September-October 2000 and prepared a comprehensive report documenting safety concerns and equipment needs and suggesting sources of funding and training for laboratory personnel. Since that time, however, there has been relatively little substantive follow up by the U.S. side, despite the best efforts of the DEA Bangkok Country Office, which included funding the travel of two Cambodian technicians to Bangkok for training by Thai authorities in use of the drug laboratory. The NACD laboratory continues to operate at minimal capacity, and there is insufficient money available from the Cambodian government to continue laboratory operations. The UNDCP has held discussions with various potential donors regarding funding of safety equipment that needs to be installed at the laboratory to bring it up to acceptable standards for operational use. Assistance is needed to make this U.S.-funded drug laboratory operational, but such bilateral assistance is precluded by current legislative restrictions.

In sum, Cambodia is making progress toward more effective institutional law enforcement against illegal narcotics trafficking, and its leadership is intent on doing more. However, Cambodia’s institutional capacity to implement an effective, systematic approach to counternarcotics operations is low.

China

I. Summary

The People’s Republic of China (PRC) remains a major transit country for illegal narcotics produced in the Golden Triangle. China continued to take strong measures to stem the production, abuse, and trafficking of narcotics in 2001, but indications like growing seizures and more domestic drug abusers point to a drug problem in China that is getting worse. Chinese authorities clearly understand the threat posed by drug trafficking in the region, and they have begun to take steps to integrate China into regional and global counternarcotics efforts. Trafficking cases rose in 2001, but the amount of illicit narcotics seized by the authorities rose as well. Preliminary figures for 2001 suggest that heroin seizures by Chinese law enforcement personnel will significantly exceed last year’s total by year’s end, while seizures of amphetamine-type stimulants (ATS), tracking growing illicit domestic production and trafficking, are up as well.

Throughout 2001, Chinese authorities continued to provide U.S. counternarcotics officials with samples of many types of drugs seized en route to the United States. In 2000 the United States and China signed a mutual legal assistance agreement, which entered into force March 8, 2001. China is a party to the 1988 UN Drug Convention.

China is situated adjacent to both the "Golden Triangle" and the "Golden Crescent." Most seizures of Southeast Asian heroin now occur within Chinese borders. Preliminary figures suggest that heroin seizures in 2001 were the highest in years, easily topping the record 7,358 kilograms seized in 1998. ATS seized in 2001 will likely exceed the quantity seized in 2000. Drug abuse in general continues to rise in China. The Chinese government has reported that there were 900,000 registered drug addicts in 2001, an increase of over 200,000 in two years. Officials privately admit that the actual number of users is likely far higher.

China is a major producer of precursor chemicals, including acetic anhydride, potassium permanganate, piperonylmethylketone (PMK), and ephedra. China monitors all 22 of the precursor chemicals listed in Table I and Table II of the 1988 UN Drug Convention. China continues to be a strong partner with the United States and other concerned countries in implementing a system of pre-export notification of dual-use precursor chemicals. (For details, see the Chemical Controls section of this report.)

Policy Initiatives. In June 2000, the government issued a "White Paper" on drugs, which laid out a comprehensive strategy for fighting narcotics use and trafficking. This strategy, which covered all of the major goals and objectives of the 1988 UN Drug Convention, puts emphasis on education, rehabilitation, eradication, precursor chemical control, and interdiction. In 2001, Chinese counternarcotics authorities proceeded with these efforts.

Cultivation/Production. Through its effective eradication program, China essentially has eliminated commercial narcotic drug cultivation within the PRC. The government continues to target small-scale cultivation in remote areas of the country’s northwest. Ephedra, a plant from which the precursor for methamphetamine is made, grows wild in northern parts of China. The government tightly controls exports of this key precursor.

Faced with a growing threat from methamphetamine and synthetic drugs such as ecstasy, the government made closing down illicit drug laboratories a top priority in 2001. These efforts halted many illicit operations, but new ones continue to spring up, especially in China’s more remote locations.

Drug Flow/Transit. China shares a 2,000-kilometer border with Burma. The majority of heroin produced in Burma now travels through China en route to the international market. Reflecting China’s importance as a transshipment route, most seizures of Burmese heroin now take place in China. Smaller quantities of heroin enter China from Laos, Vietnam, and Southwest Asia, including an increasing flow from the neighboring "Golden Crescent" countries.

Law Enforcement Efforts. Preliminary figures suggest that seizures of heroin by Chinese law enforcement personnel in 2001 were up in virtually all areas compared to the previous year. China accounted for more heroin seizures in 2001 than all other East Asian countries combined. Seizures of methamphetamine also remained high.

In 2001, responding to U.S. requests, Chinese authorities increased their level of cooperation with the United States in sharing drug-related strategic intelligence. Ministry of Public Security (MPS) officials routinely facilitated trips for U.S. law enforcement authorities operating out of the U.S. Embassy in Beijing. On several occasions, MPS officials provided vital intelligence information on suspected drug traffickers that resulted in the identification of several major suppliers.

Corruption. Chinese officials admit that corruption is one of the most serious problems the country faces. Anticorruption campaigns have led to the arrest of hundreds of government officials, but rarely to a vigorous move against some in the Party and government who must be protecting drug producers and traffickers. China’s recent entry into the WTO should have the effect of reducing tariff barriers to imports, and it will hopefully reduce smuggling and its attendant corruption. Narcotics traffickers are frequently able to take advantage of "routine, corrupt arrangements" (pay-to-pass the checkpoint) primarily designed to avoid high customs duties. Cases of narcotics-related corruption in China are seldom reported in the press, but clearly play an important role in China’s growing drug trafficking and illicit production problem. At the same time, there are clearly a preponderance of officials who move aggressively against narcotics crime despite blandishment of corrupt payments.

Domestic Programs (Demand Reduction). Education and rehabilitation play major roles in China’s counternarcotics strategy. According to official statistics, there were 900,000 registered addicts in 2001, but officials admit that the real figure may be many times higher. Individuals identified as addicts are subject to compulsory rehabilitation. China provides counternarcotics education to all school children, and has also taken steps to warn citizens about the link between intravenous drug use and HIV/AIDS. According to official statistics, the number of HIV/AIDS patients in China has risen to over 22,000, up from a reported 12,639 in 1998. Presently, nearly 71 percent of China’s HIV/AIDS cases are reported to have become infected via drug injection, as opposed to 67.5 percent in 1998. China has continued to implement "drug free community" programs in order to mobilize entire communities to work together to combat narcotics trafficking and encourage addicts not to relapse.

Agreements and Treaties. China is a party to the 1988 UN Drug Convention, the 1971 UN Convention on Psychotropic Substances, and the 1961 UN Single Convention on Narcotic Drugs, as amended by the 1972 Protocol. China has signed more than 30 mutual legal assistance treaties with 24 countries. On March 8, 2001, a mutual legal assistance agreement between China and the United States entered into force. It potentially constitutes a powerful tool for obtaining evidence important to the U.S. investigation and prosecution of transnational criminals, including narcotics traffickers. China has long refused to provide assistance in response to U.S. requests, and this reluctance has continued since the mutual legal assistance agreement entered into force. In 1999, China and the United States signed a bilateral customs mutual assistance agreement, but China has not yet activated it. This agreement, if brought into force, would facilitate cooperation by customs officials and enhance the flow of narcotics intelligence.

China also cooperates actively with countries in the region in the fight against drug trafficking. Along with the UN Drug Control Program and five Southeast Asian nations (Cambodia, Laos, Burma, Thailand, and Vietnam), China is a member of the Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) program. In the MOU, the members agreed to collaborate on drug-control projects and programs. In August 2001, senior officials from Thailand, Burma, Laos, and China met in Beijing to discuss ways to strengthen regional efforts to fight drug trafficking and the transshipment of precursor chemicals. China and Laos continue to cooperate in combating transnational crimes, including narcotics trafficking. China continues to support crop-substitution initiatives for farmers in Burma and Laos, as well as demand reduction efforts in areas bordering Yunnan province. China participates in the ASEAN-and-China Cooperative Operations in Response to Dangerous Drugs (ACCORD) program, an action plan developed by ASEAN in partnership with UNDCP. ACCORD has four major goals: fostering civic awareness of the dangers of drugs in the community, undertaking effective demand reduction, strengthening rule of law and law-enforcement cooperation, and eliminating illicit drugs through alternative development and eradication. China also participates in the "Six plus Two" Drug Control Mechanism program, with Iran, Pakistan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan, Russia, and the U.S.

Bilateral counternarcotics cooperation improved further in 2001. Chinese and U.S. officials continued to cooperate closely in conducting transnational investigations, exchanging information on existing and emerging threats, and developing Chinese law-enforcement capabilities.

Ministry for Public Security counternarcotics officers attended training courses at the International Law Enforcement Academy in Bangkok, Thailand, such as the Narcotics Unit Commanders Course, and the Transport Interdiction Course, and a training course organized by the DEA for forensics officials. In 2001, Chinese authorities provided their U.S. counterparts drug samples on numerous occasions.

The Road Ahead. Despite these advances, there is much room for improvement in U.S.-China cooperation on narcotics control, particularly in expanding and strengthening cooperation by exchanging narcotics-related intelligence. The United States has proposed holding regular meetings of working-level counternarcotics officials to discuss specific topics and targets of mutual interest, but little progress has been made in this area to date. The United States also continues to encourage China to provide more samples of narcotics seized. As in the past, the United States will continue to monitor both the transshipment of Burmese heroin through China and the threat posed by the explosive growth of methamphetamine trafficking in China.

Fiji and Tonga

I. Summary

Neither Fiji nor Tonga is a major producer or a significant consumer of narcotics. There are some indications both Fiji and Tonga are being used by drug syndicates as transshipment points for drugs bound for Australia, Canada, and New Zealand. Police suspect that Fiji has also been used to transship drugs to the United States. Both Fiji and Tonga are parties to the 1988 UN Drug Convention.

Indications of the quantity of drugs transiting Fiji and Tonga are provided by the November 2001 seizure in Tonga of 100 kilograms of cocaine, and the seizure in Fiji of 357 kilograms of 90 percent pure heroin in October 2000. On November 21, 2001, the Tonga police seized 100 kilograms of cocaine hidden in a shipment of floor tiles. The tiles were shipped to Tonga from Panama. Paperwork associated with the shipment indicates that the floor tiles were scheduled to be shipped to Fiji and then to Australia. The Australian federal police are working with Tonga in this investigation and state that they believe that an additional 150 kilograms of cocaine had already transited Tonga before the Tonga police discovered the cocaine they seized. Neither the Fiji nor Tonga police forces are capable of combating major drug activity without assistance.

The greatest impediments to effective narcotics enforcement in Fiji and Tonga are their outdated laws and inexperienced and under-trained police. For example, Fiji law requires the approval of the President of Fiji in order to conduct a wiretap. Fiji law also requires that before customs officers can open a suspicious package or container the owner must be informed and must be present. Even when laws provide for modern investigative techniques, the police are often unable to manage such techniques. The maximum possible sentence for narcotics offenses in Fiji is eight years.

Both Fiji and Tonga have laws permitting controlled deliveries of drugs for investigative purposes, although the ability of both local police forces to conduct such operations is limited. They do not have the training, personnel, or equipment to conduct the surveillance that would be part of a controlled delivery. Fiji police have conducted one controlled delivery with personnel and technical assistance from the Australian federal police. The use of controlled deliveries by the police is also limited because Fiji and Tonga laws require the police to prosecute only based on the amount allowed to remain in the controlled delivery and not the original amount of drugs.

Fiji does have a law to provide for the confiscation of the proceeds earned from the commission of serious offenses. The Fiji police have never used these asset seizure laws in a criminal case. Nor have they ever used the provision of the law for identifying criminal proceeds.

Policy Initiatives. Both Fiji and Tonga are taking steps to try to modernize their narcotics laws and criminal investigative procedures. Fiji and Tonga have established Combined Law Agency Groups (CLAGs). CLAGs consist of law enforcement and other agencies and are designed to provide for the timely exchange of information, enhance cooperation efforts, and develop joint target strategies.

Cultivation/Production. Fiji has a growing internal problem with the cultivation and sale of cannabis. Other than cannabis, neither Fiji nor Tonga produces any drugs. Neither plays any role in the procurement of precursor chemicals.

Fiji is working to meet the goals of the 1988 UN Drug Convention. The Fiji police seized 175 kilos of marijuana in a raid on a rural farming area in 2001. As the economy continues to worsen, an increasing number of farmers are switching to marijuana. There are no known incidents of export of cannabis from Fiji. Cannabis is the drug of choice primarily for economic reasons. The average income level in Fiji does not allow for the purchase or use of more expensive drugs.

Agreements and Treaties. Both Fiji and Tonga are parties to the 1988 UN Drug Convention and both are trying to meet the goals and objectives of the Convention. Fiji and Tonga are also parties to the 1961 UN Single Convention on Narcotic Drugs, the 1972 Protocol amending the Single Convention, and the 1971 UN Convention on Psychotropic Substances.

The 1931 U.S.-UK Extradition Treaty remains in force between the United States and Tonga through a 1977 exchange of notes. Similarly, the 1931 U.S.-UK Extradition Treaty remains in force between the United States and Fiji through an exchange of notes that entered into force in 1973. Cooperation generally between Fiji, Tonga, and the United States is excellent

Corruption. The political instability caused by the overthrow of the previous government makes Fiji highly vulnerable to corruption, while poverty contributes to corruption in Tonga.

Law Enforcement Efforts. According to Tonga officials, Tonga faces an increased threat from the large number of criminal deportees sent from the United States. Officials note that in 2000, 23 criminals were deported to Tonga from the United States in accordance with U.S. law requiring the deportation of criminal aliens. As of the date of this report, 25 more criminals had been deported to Tonga in 2001. Many of these deportees had been convicted for drug-related crimes and other serious offences, such as armed assault, armed robbery, and sexual assault. In May 2001 Tonga police identified at least three deportees who were members of the "Tonnage Crip Gang" while in the United States. Tonga authorities say that they are now faced with sophisticated criminals whose skills and knowledge exceed that of the local authorities. Authorities of Tonga have stated that crime is increasing 40 percent each year in Tonga. Tonga police do not have the training or equipment to deal with the increase in either the number of crimes or the sophistication of criminals.

Hong Kong

I. Summary

Hong Kong’s efficient law enforcement efforts, the availability of alternate transport routes, and the development of port facilities in southern China have diminished Hong Kong’s role as a major transshipment/transit point for drugs destined for the United States and the international market. Traffickers continue to operate from Hong Kong, however, arranging for shipments from drug producing areas to such destinations as Australia and Canada. Hong Kong adopts a multi-pronged strategy in combating drug trafficking and abuse covering legislation and law enforcement, treatment and rehabilitation, preventive education, research, and international cooperation. Hong Kong plays an active role in international cooperation to combat illicit trafficking of narcotics drugs. In November 2000, Hong Kong was removed from the U.S. list of major illicit drug producing or major drug-transit points, although it remains a country/economy of concern to the United States. The 1988 UN Drug Convention, to which the PRC is a party, applies to Hong Kong.

Hong Kong’s role as a key port city in close proximity to the Golden Triangle and Mainland China historically made it a natural transit/transshipment point for drugs moving from Southeast Asia to international markets, including the United States. In recent years, Hong Kong’s law enforcement efforts and the rapid development of alternate transport facilities in southern China and other transport routes in Southeast Asia have reduced Hong Kong’s role as a transit/transshipment center for narcotics. Nevertheless, limited amounts of drugs continue to transit Hong Kong to the United States and the international market.

Hong Kong law enforcement officials continue to maintain a cooperative liaison relationship with their U.S. counterparts on narcotics and related criminal activities. Hong Kong is not a producer of illicit drugs, and, according to Hong Kong authorities, drugs seized in Hong Kong are smuggled in mostly for local consumption.

The overall number of drug abusers in Hong Kong increased by 10.5 percent from the first half of 2000 (10,710) to the first half of 2001 (11,839). For persons aged 21 and under, an increase of 24.7 percent was recorded during the same period. The sharp increase was mainly driven by the upward trend of abuse in psychotropic substances, such as MDMA (ecstasy) and ketamine. Heroin, used by 71.8 percent of the registered abusers, remains the most commonly abused narcotic in Hong Kong.

Policy Initiatives. In response to a decision by the United Nations Commission on Narcotic Drugs to tighten control on gamma-hydroxybutyric acid (GHB) and 4-methylthioamphetamine (4-MTA), Hong Kong in October 2001 amended Schedule I of its Dangerous Drugs Ordinance to include these two substances. The Hong Kong government, under the guidance set out in the 1988 UN Drug Convention, tightly controls the licensing of 25 precursor chemicals through the Control of Chemicals Ordinance. This ordinance allows the government to suspend the license of any applicant suspected of false representation and to seize any chemicals in the suspect’s possession.

Under the Drug Trafficking (Recovery of Proceeds) Ordinance (DTROP) and the Organized and Serious Crimes Ordinance (OSCO), a court may issue a restraint order against a defendant’s property. Property includes money, goods, real property, and the instrumentalities of crime. In 2002, the Hong Kong government plans to reintroduce to the legislature amendments to strengthen the DTROP and OSCO. The proposed amendments would streamline confiscation procedures and increase the liability of financial institutions engaged in money-laundering activities. There is no express provision in Hong Kong law that provides for sharing confiscated assets with foreign jurisdictions. The law, however, does allow for assets confiscated from an external confiscation order to be held in a special account that enables sharing of assets. In September 2001 the U.S. government received over $3 million in proceeds from a joint U.S.-Hong Kong narcotics investigation.

A new bill centralizing and standardizing the licensing of drug treatment and rehabilitation centers was passed in April 2001. The Drug Dependent Persons Treatment and Rehabilitation Centers Ordinance has improved the quality of service and the protection of patients’ rights. Under this law, the Social Welfare Department of the Hong Kong government became the sole authority for licensing drug treatment and rehabilitation centers throughout Hong Kong.

Law Enforcement Efforts. Hong Kong’s law enforcement agencies accord high priority to the suppression of drug trafficking and the control of precursor chemicals. Hong Kong is not a drug producing territory. Drugs are smuggled into Hong Kong primarily for local consumption and only to a limited extent for onward shipment to the international market. The Hong Kong police take a three-level approach to combating narcotics distribution: at the headquarters level, the narcotics bureau targets drug trafficking and high-level traffickers. The regional police force focuses on trafficking across police district boundaries. At the district level, the police aim to eradicate street-level distribution. Hong Kong works closely and cooperatively with U.S. law enforcement agencies.

The narcotics bureau of the Hong Kong police cooperates with the People’s Republic of China, Canada, Australia, the United States, and countries throughout Southeast Asia in combating international drug trafficking. However, its resources are primarily focused on syndicates involved in supply and distribution of drugs to the Hong Kong domestic market.

The Hong Kong Customs and Excise Department (HKCE) continues to strengthen its counternarcotics efforts. In March 2001, HKCE established a 34-person task force, the Control Point Investigation Division, specifically aimed at combating smuggling and drug trafficking between Hong Kong and Mainland China. The main function of this new task force is to collect and analyze the latest smuggling and drug trafficking patterns and modus operandi of traffickers to assist frontline officers in targeting suspicious passengers, cargoes, and vehicles.

In 2001 HKCE also improved its narcotics detection capability. Two sets of mobile x-ray systems at a cost of U.S. $5.5 million were put into use at container terminals and border control points. These x-ray systems can scan a fully loaded 40-foot container within 20 minutes without off-loading the cargo. HKCE also completed its first narcotics canine training program in 2001. The narcotics canine unit now has 31 officers and 25 highly trained detector dogs, including five passive alert dogs. These dogs have been deployed at the airport, land border control points, and container terminals.

Corruption. There is no known narcotics-related corruption among senior government or law enforcement officials of Hong Kong, and there is no evidence that any senior Hong Kong officials engage in, encourage, or facilitate the laundering of proceeds from illegal drug transactions. Hong Kong has a comprehensive anticorruption ordinance that is effectively enforced by the Independent Commission Against Corruption (ICAC), which reports directly to the Chief Executive.

Drug Flow/Transit. Although Hong Kong’s role as a major narcotics transit/transshipment point has diminished in recent years, a limited amount of illicit narcotics continues to transit Hong Kong for the international market, including the United States. In January 2001, authorities in New Jersey seized a 58-kilogram heroin shipment that had transited Hong Kong. As several seizures in 2001 indicate, small quantities of drugs, usually weighing two to five kilograms, are still being sent from Hong Kong to the United States, either by courier service or through the postal system. Hong Kong traffickers, using Hong Kong as a base, continue to control large portions of Southeast Asian narcotics traffic, using various routes and means throughout the region. For example, in December 2001 Hong Kong authorities seized 30 kilograms of heroin destined for Taiwan.

In an effort to eradicate Hong Kong’s role as a transport/transshipment point for illicit drugs, Hong Kong authorities have developed a database of information on all cargoes, cross-border vehicles, and shippers. The Air Cargo Clearance System (ACCS), the Land Border System (LBS), and the Customs Control System (CCS) are all capable--at the click of a button--of processing information on all import and export cargoes, cross-border vehicles, and vessels.

International Cooperation. The narcotics division of the Hong Kong Security Bureau and the Action Committee Against Narcotics (ACAN) jointly hosted a trilateral (Guangdong, Hong Kong, and Macau) conference on "Policy To Tackle Drug Abuse And Drug Trafficking" in November 2001. The purpose of the conference was to enhance counternarcotics cooperation among Guangdong Province, Hong Kong, and Macau officials. Over 350 people attended.

Hong Kong maintains close links with the United Nations, the World Health Organization (WHO), Financial Action Task Force (FATF), INTERPOL, and the World Customs Organization (WCO) as well as with individual governments around the world to combat narcotics trafficking and abuse. Hong Kong has mutual legal assistance agreements with the United States, Australia, France, the United Kingdom, New Zealand, Italy, Republic of Korea, and Switzerland. Hong Kong has also signed surrender of fugitive offenders agreements with 12 countries, including the United States, and transfer of sentenced persons agreements with three countries, including the United States. Hong Kong provides assistance to over 140 countries for the restraint and confiscation of proceeds from drug trafficking under the Recovery of Proceeds Ordinance. In addition, Hong Kong’s law enforcement agencies maintain close liaison relationships with Mainland China and counterparts in many countries. Through their established liaison channels, they exchange operational intelligence on drug trafficking, money laundering, and control of precursor chemicals.

Domestic Programs (Demand Reduction). In 2001, Hong Kong’s preventive education policy continued to focus on youth and parents. Hong Kong provides a comprehensive drug prevention program through its education system. In September 2001 the program was expanded to cover all English-speaking schools. In the first ten months of 2001, three NGOs commissioned by the Hong Kong Narcotics Division gave drug educational talks to over 87,000 students in more than 400 schools and technical institutes. During the same period there were over 70 programs aimed specifically at educating parents and employees of youth organizations on drug abuse. An exhibition hall on narcotics is being built in the newly opened Drug Infocenter in order to spur further interest in efforts to combat drug abuse in Hong Kong.

Cultivation/Production. Hong Kong is not a producer of illicit drugs.

U.S. Policy Initiatives/Programs. U.S. law enforcement officials continue to emphasize joint investigations with their Hong Kong counterparts to develop prosecutable cases--either in Hong Kong, the United States, or other jurisdictions. Hong Kong continues to be an active participant in U.S.-sponsored training programs on narcotics and money laundering. In 2001 over 30 Hong Kong officials attended programs at the International Law Enforcement Academy (ILEA) in Bangkok, Thailand. ILEA Bangkok’s year 2001 curriculum included courses on airport programs and controlled deliveries, complex financial crimes, as well as a "Narcotics Commander" course and three supervisory criminal investigator courses dealing with regional drug and money-laundering issues. Also, in September 2001 ten ILEA-Bangkok graduates from Hong Kong attended a new advanced management course offered at the ILEA in Roswell, New Mexico.

The Road Ahead. The United States will continue to encourage Hong Kong to maintain an active role in combating narcotics and money laundering consistent with its international stature. The United States continues to emphasize the importance of close cooperation based on open, complete, and timely information exchange between Hong Kong and U.S. law enforcement agencies to strengthen, enforce, and implement existing laws and guidelines.

Indonesia

I. Summary

Although by international standards Indonesia is not a major drug producing, consuming, or drug-transit country, the use of drugs produced or manufactured in Southeast Asia is increasing. To improve its ability to combat this trend, the Indonesian National Police (INP) has participated in several international donor-initiated training programs. The INP received much needed equipment, re-directed the focus of its forces to operations, and improved its relationship and interaction with NGOs dealing with drug users and rehabilitation. Yet these efforts fall well short of having a demonstrable impact on illicit drug trafficking, manufacturing, sales, and use. For example, the Narcotics Detective Unit of Greater Jakarta has a total of 150 investigators, who cover a city with a population of nearly 15 million. The head of this unit also doubles as the head of the Anti-Terrorism and Bomb Unit. Indonesia has legislation to support and enable an aggressive response to illicit narcotics activities. The police have the support of the judiciary and civil society in this regard, but they lack the organizational framework and certain fundamental capacities to effectively target the drug trade. The INP is limited not only by what assistance it can derive from major international donors, but also by its own inability to plan, develop, and implement a comprehensive drug prevention and enforcement program. Indonesia is a party to the 1988 UN Drug Convention.

The drug of choice in Indonesia continues to be amphetamine-type stimulants (ATS), such as methamphetamine, MDMA (ecstasy), and especially "ice," which is also known locally as "Shabu Shabu" (crystal methamphetamine). Police and NGO statistics indicate use of these and other narcotics has increased in 2001. Although use remains comparatively low per capita, heroin, cocaine, and marijuana use is reportedly up 90 percent from 2000. These drugs are readily available in all major urban areas, including schools, Karaoke lounges, bars, cafes, discotheques, night clubs, and, in increasing numbers, certain neighborhoods and villages becoming known for their tolerance of drug trafficking.

Informal reports and other anecdotal information received by the DEA indicate that marijuana continues to be harvested in North Sumatra, the Aceh area in particular. The INP alleges that the Free Aceh Movement (GAM), a separatist organization in Aceh, traffics in marijuana domestically to support its operations. However, the INP has produced no evidence to support this allegation. Nevertheless, arrests for distribution and possession of marijuana have increased significantly throughout the archipelago.

The coordinator of the National Anti Narcotics Movement (Granat), the most prominent drug prevention NGO in Indonesia, confirms that the use of heroin and opium derivatives is increasing, particularly in Jakarta. The INP Narkoba Unit, Directorate of Customs and Excise, and DEA believe heroin is smuggled into Indonesia from the "Golden Triangle" countries (Thailand, Burma, and Laos). Arrests and intelligence indicate that drugs entering Indonesia frequently transit Thailand, either from Bangkok to Jakarta or from Bangkok to Singapore to Jakarta. The INP also reports an increase in heroin and opium derivatives being smuggled into Jakarta and Bali from the "Golden Crescent" countries (Afghanistan, Pakistan, and Iran). From either area, the bulk of these narcotics are transiting Indonesia en route to Australia, the United States, and Western Europe. Drugs transiting Indonesia do not have a significant impact on the United States.

The INP and Directorate of Customs and Excise indicate that much of the heroin coming in from East and Southwest Asia is being transported by or on behalf of Nigerian traffickers. It is alleged they solicit, or in some cases marry, Asian women for the purpose of transporting heroin into and through Indonesia. Anecdotal information to the DEA, as well as news accounts, suggests that Africans (especially Nigerians) are very closely scrutinized by Indonesian enforcement, and that the potential for them to be brutalized or killed during an attempted arrest is statistically greater than any other ethnic group.

There are reports from Narkoba of an increasing number of clandestine methamphetamine and ecstasy laboratories in Indonesia. Yet international trafficking of these drugs into Indonesia still represents the largest source for these stimulants. China is said to be the primary source of ecstasy and crystal methamphetamine, entering through any one of hundreds of entry points along Indonesia’s extremely porous coastline. None of these entry points, including Jakarta, have adequate detection or enforcement mechanisms. Neither the Airport Police, nor the Navy, nor the Directorate of Customs and Excise is trained, equipped, funded, or otherwise adequately supported to deter or detect drugs. The same can be said of the entities responsible for domestic enforcement, the INP’s Narkoba and Criminal Investigations Units.

Arrest statistics, information about users in rehabilitation, and hospital data indicate that cocaine is not widely used in Indonesia. However, one arrest at Soekarno Hatta Airport in June 2001 netted 15.2 kilograms of cocaine. By comparison, according to INP statistics, from 1997 through 2000, a total of half a kilogram was confiscated in Indonesia. The traffickers arrested in June were from Mexico.

Policy Initiatives. Indonesia has not passed any new counternarcotics legislation since 1997. Nevertheless, the Indonesian counternarcotics code is sufficiently inclusive to enable the police, prosecutors, and the judiciary successfully to arrest and prosecute offenders. Enforcement officials lack training and experience in contemporary enforcement and investigative methodologies, and corruption is a constant problem.

In November 2000 Indonesia hosted the ACCORD conference in Bali, which brought together experts from ASEAN countries and China to discuss narcotics abuse/trafficking issues.

Indonesia plans to order its Narkoba Unit to assist the Airport Police. Narkoba’s assistance to the Airport Police, a concept long supported by the DEA, will improve the Airport Police’s enforcement capacity as well as enhance its in-service training capability. With previously allocated State Department funding support, training will be provided in support of this Indonesian initiative. The program will focus on management, logistical and tactical considerations, detection, interdiction, and use of canines and appropriate scanning equipment.

Accomplishments/Law Enforcement Efforts. Indonesia has no counternarcotics master plan. Until one is developed, the INP will have difficulty articulating its immediate and long-term counter narcotics enforcement goals. Nonetheless, the INP and other entities have taken some measures to address Indonesia’s growing drug problem.

During a recent seminar in Jakarta, President Megawati called on the National Coordinating Board Against Narcotics (BKNN) to become operational. The chief of the INP, Da’i Bachtiar, has stated publicly that he will model BKNN after the United States DEA, and it will have specific responsibility for intelligence networking and investigation of international drug syndicates that impact Indonesia’s counternarcotics efforts.

The Indonesian Navy, with support from President Megawati, has begun to act more aggressively against crimes committed within Indonesia’s territorial waters, to include drug enforcement and interdiction. Furthermore, there are efforts under way to better define and clarify the roles of the Navy and the INP’s Air and Sea Police to avoid duplicating efforts.

Agreements and Treaties. Indonesia is a party to the 1988 UN Drug Convention, the 1971 Convention on Psychotropic Substances, the 1961 UN Single Convention on Narcotic Drugs, and the 1972 Protocol amending the Single Convention. Indonesia signed the UN Convention against Transnational Organized Crime, the Protocol to Prevent, Suppress and Punish Trafficking in Persons, and the Protocol against the Smuggling of Migrants in December 2000.