Although some cannabis is cultivated and consumed locally, Angola neither produces nor consumes significant quantities of drugs. Angola continues to be a transit point for drug trafficking, particularly cocaine brought in from Brazil or South Africa and destined for Europe. Angola is a member of the Southern African Development Community (SADC) Counternarcotics Protocol in 2003. Angola is a party to the 1988 UN Drug Convention.

II. Status of Country

Angola is not a major center of drug production, money laundering, or production of precursor chemicals, and is not likely to become one. It is however, a transit point for drug trafficking. Narcotics, mostly cocaine, enter from Brazil and are then transported to Europe and South Africa. Police continued to seize cocaine and cannabis in 2006. Increased intelligence sharing and the scanning of incoming containers improved the effectiveness of drug interdiction.

II. Country Actions Against Drugs in 2006

Law Enforcement Efforts. Angola cooperates with South Africa, Brazil, and Portugal in fighting the flow of cocaine through Angola to various destinations. South Africa has provided intelligence, training, and equipment to the Angolan police. Angola also cooperates on a regional basis via the SADC.

Corruption. Although cases of public corruption connected to narcotics trafficking are rare, in June 2005, three officials of the National Department for Criminal Investigation were charged with trafficking in cocaine. As a matter of government policy, Angola does not encourage illicit production or distribution of drugs or associated money laundering.

Agreement and Treaties. Angola is a party to the 1988 UN Drug Convention, the 1971 UN Convention Against Psychotropic Substances, and the 1961 UN Single Convention as amended by the 1972 Protocol. Angola ratified the UN Corruption Convention on August 29, 2006 and has signed, but has not yet ratified the UN Convention against Transnational Organized Crime.

Domestic Programs/Demand Reduction. In 2004, Angola enacted legislation mandating treatment for those convicted of narcotics abuse. Drug rehabilitation centers have been established in Luanda, Lubango, and Benguela, but government resource constraints limit what the government can offer in modern drug treatment.

IV. U.S. Policy Initiatives and Programs

Bilateral Cooperation. In 2006, 24 Angolan police officers participated in State Department-sponsored regional training courses, which included segments on counternarcotics.

The Road Ahead. The U.S. will continue to assist Angola through training of law enforcement officials at ILEA Gaborone and in ILEA Roswell.

Benin

I. Summary

Benin is a low volume narcotics producer and remains a transit point for illegal narcotics. During 2006, no new counternarcotics laws or initiatives were introduced in Benin. Benin's drug enforcement police squad, the Central Office for Repression of Illicit Drug Trafficking (known by the French acronym OCERTID) operates with limited resources. The rate of illegal drug seizures, compared to the likely volume of drugs transiting Benin, was low in Benin during 2006, as were quantities seized. Benin is a party to the 1988 UN Drug Convention, and Benin's antinarcotics legislation adopted into law in 1997 is based on the UNODC model.

II. Status of Country

Benin produces illegal narcotics - but in very modest quantities for local consumption. Marijuana is the only drug produced in significant quantities. There is no production of chemical drugs such as methamphetamines. Marijuana is cultivated along the western and eastern borders with Nigeria and Togo. Marijuana is also cultivated in the central area of the country. During 2006, there were no new efforts by the government to eradicate in these areas. Benin's porous borders and lack of port security allow for the easy transshipment of narcotics by regional traffickers. All forms of narcotics are known to transit through Benin. The extent of the transit is uncertain, but seems to be growing, based on seizures.

III. Country Actions Against Drugs in 2006

Policy Initiatives. In March 2006, Benin elected a new president in a generally fair democratic election. Within the severe limits imposed by the poverty of the country, the existing level of activity against narcotics continued, and a few new initiatives were proposed.

Law Enforcement Efforts. The total reported drug seizures in Benin during 2006 were: cannabis: 2.2 MT; cocaine: 28.2 kg,; and heroin: 25.2 kg. Total arrest and prosecution statistics are not available. Law enforcement resources continue to target small-scale couriers, users, and criminals involved in other forms of crime that are captured with various quantities of illegal drugs. Legislation adopted in 1997 (which increased sentences for traffickers, criminalized drug-related money laundering, and permitted the seizure of drug-related assets) remains in effect, but with limited implementation. Benin has no legal mechanism in place to seize narcotics-related assets. OCERTID has had a team assigned to the port of Cotonou since November 2005, but this team continues to be hampered by a lack of training in the area of seaport security and container search procedures. In general, Benin suffers from a lack of follow-up and focus on implementation in its counternarcotics efforts. The United States Millennium Challenge Compact, which was signed in February 2006 and entered into force in October, will help address these weaknesses over the next five years. The Compact includes the development and implementation of a port master plan that incorporates institutional security improvements in the areas of access, customs services, and cargo screening.

Corruption. There is no information that a senior Beninese government official or government entity engages in, encourages, or facilitates the illicit production or distribution of narcotic or psychotropic drugs. There is no legislation or legal framework in Benin to prevent or punish narcotics-related corruption, and Benin did not take any new steps to prevent narcotics-related corruption in 2006. However, in May 2006, upon his election to the Presidency, Boni Yayi signed a good governance charter with 22 of his ministers publicly, laying out clear code of conduct ground rules for all his ministers.

Agreements and Treaties. Benin is a party to the 1988 UN Drug Convention, the 1961 UN Single Convention as amended by the 1972 Protocol, and the 1971 UN Convention on Psychotropic Substances. Benin is a party to the UN Convention against Corruption, and to the UN Convention against Transnational Crime and its protocols against trafficking in persons, migrant smuggling and illegal manufacturing and trafficking in firearms.

Domestic Programs. Benin's drug enforcement coordination office called CILAS (Interdepartmental Committee to Fight Against Drugs and Narcotics Abuse) encompasses representatives from the Ministries of Health, Family, Social Protection, Finance, Economy, Environment, and Youth. CILAS is responsible for implementing Benin's domestic drug policy, but no results on the effectiveness of its programs are available.

IV. U.S. Policy Initiatives and Programs

The Road Ahead. With the inauguration of the new Beninese Presidential administration in early 2006 and its new initiatives, which include efforts to address corruption, the GOB could improve its efforts in implementation of prior and new counternarcotics initiatives in response to increased drug-trafficking through the country. Efforts by the U.S. Government, such as improving port and border security through the Millennium Challenge Corporation agreement, will greatly enhance the GOB's capacity to address drug-trafficking.

Egypt

I. Summary

The Arab Republic of Egypt is not a major producer, supplier, or consumer of narcotics or precursor chemicals. Heroin and cannabis are transported through Egypt, but presumed levels have not risen in four years. The Anti-Narcotics General Administration (ANGA) is the main counternarcotics organization in Egypt. It is competent and progressive, and cooperates fully with the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) office in Cairo. In 2004, a joint DEA-ANGA investigation uncovered a significant MDMA (Ecstasy) laboratory in Alexandria, resulting in the arrest of four individuals, indictment of three U.S. citizens, and a secondary ongoing investigation that has already identified more than two million dollars of drug related proceeds. In 2006, DEA conducted several major international joint investigations with ANGA. Egypt is party to the 1988 UN Drug Convention.

II. Status of Country

Egypt is not a significant producer or consumer of narcotics or precursor chemicals, despite the fact that opium poppy and cannabis plants are grown in Egypt. The substances that are most commonly abused are cannabis, which is known in Egypt as "bango," and legitimate pharmaceuticals. Narcotics do pass through Egypt. Egypt's long and mostly uninhabited borders, combined with the high level of shipping passing through the Suez Canal Zone, have made Egypt prone to the transshipment of Asian heroin. Other types of narcotics periodically pass through Cairo International Airport. The narcotics are primarily destined for Western Europe, with only small amounts headed to the United States. Transshipment has diminished considerably in recent years due to the elevation of security in Egypt and the region as a whole.

The ANGA is the oldest counternarcotics unit in the Arab world. It has jurisdiction over all criminal matters pertaining to narcotics and maintains offices in all major Egyptian cities and ports of entry. Despite limited resources, ANGA has continually demonstrated improvements in its capabilities.

III. Country Actions Against Drugs in 2006

Policy Initiatives. The Government of Egypt (GOE) continues to aggressively pursue a comprehensive drug control strategy that was developed in 1998. ANGA, as the primary Egyptian drug enforcement agency, coordinates with the Egyptian Ministry of Interior, the Coast Guard, the Customs Service, and select military units on all aspects of drug law enforcement. Government and private sector demand reduction efforts exist, but are hampered by financial constraints and logistical challenges.

Accomplishments/Law Enforcement Efforts. Internal security and combating terrorism are the major foci of Egyptian law enforcement efforts. Despite these priorities, ANGA is able to operate an effective program against narcotics trafficking. Egypt is a transit country for narcotics. ANGA investigates and targets significant drug traffickers, intercepts narcotics shipments, and detects and eradicates illegal crops. Large-scale seizures and arrests are rare, primarily because Egypt does not have a significant narcotics market or narcotics abuse culture. ANGA operates its own drug awareness campaign in addition to other government and private sector demand reduction programs. ANGA's Eradication Unit conducts monthly operations against cannabis and opium crops in the Sinai. Reversing a trend over the past several years, the amount of narcotics seized during 2005 was lower than that of the previous year.

According to the GOE, drug seizures in 2005 included cannabis (78.0 MT), hashish (1.5 MT), and smaller amounts of heroin, opium, psychotropic drugs, and cocaine. Significant amounts of prescription and "designer" drugs such as Ecstasy (10,683 tablets), amphetamines, and codeine were also seized. During the course of 2005, Egyptian law enforcement officials eradicated 380 hectares of cannabis and 106 hectares of opium poppy plants. Late in 2004, a joint DEA-ANGA investigation uncovered an MDMA laboratory located in a small apartment building in Alexandria, Egypt. ANGA raided the laboratory, arresting four individuals and seizing chemicals, paste, and equipment. Additionally, a secondary ANGA financial investigation conducted in 2005 with assistance from the DEA country office has identified over two million dollars in drug proceeds located in Egypt. Since 2003, production of illicit pharmaceuticals and counterfeit narcotics are on the rise in Egypt, which may represent a new trend toward shifting synthetic drug labs to the region due to the region's relatively lax regulation of commercial chemical products. With the passage of the first anti-money laundering law in 2002, which criminalized the laundering of proceeds derived from trafficking in narcotics and numerous other crimes, seizures of currency in drug-related cases have amounted to over 4,560,000 Egyptian Pounds ($800,000). In October 2005, ANGA seized two metric tons of marijuana that originated in the northern Sinai.

Corruption. As a matter of government policy, the Government of Egypt does not encourage or facilitate illicit production or distribution of narcotic or psychotropic drugs or other controlled substances, or the laundering of proceeds from illegal transactions. The GOE has strict laws and harsh penalties for government officials convicted of involvement in narcotics trafficking or related activities. However, low-level local police officials involved in narcotics-related activity or corruption have been identified and arrested.

Agreements and Treaties. Egypt and the United States cooperate in law enforcement matters under an MLAT and an extradition treaty. Egypt is a party to the 1988 UN Drug Convention, the 1971 UN Convention on Psychotropic Substances, and the 1961 UN Single Convention as amended by the 1972 Protocol.. Egypt is a party to the UN Convention against Transnational Organized Crime and its protocols on migrant smuggling and trafficking in persons. Egypt also is a party to the UN Corruption Convention . The 1988 UN Drug Convention, coupled with an 1874 extradition agreement with the former Ottoman Empire, provides the United States and Egypt with a basis to seek extradition of narcotics traffickers.

Cultivation and Production. Cannabis is grown year round in the northern and southern Sinai and in Upper Egypt, while opium poppy is grown in the southern Sinai only from November through March. Rugged terrain means that plots of illegal crops are small and irregularly shaped. ANGA combats this production by using aerial observation and confidential informants to identify illegal plots. Once the crops are located, ANGA conducts daylight eradication operations that consist of cutting and burning the plants. ANGA has yet to implement a planned herbicide eradication program. No heroin processing laboratories have been discovered in Egypt in the last 14 years and no evidence is available indicating that opiates or cannabis grown in Egypt reach the United States in sufficient quantities to have a significant impact. In an ongoing investigation that started in 2004, a joint DEA-ANGA operation uncovered the first ever MDMA laboratory in Egypt and eliminated it before it reached significant production.

Domestic Programs /Demand Reduction. In 2005, the National Council for Combating and Treating Addiction continued to be the GOE's focal point for domestic demand reduction programs. The Council is an inter-ministerial group chaired by the Prime Minister and has the participation of ten ministries. The group espouses a three-pronged strategy to counter the demand for narcotics: awareness, treatment (including detoxification and social/psychological treatment), and rehabilitation. The group's efforts over the past year included a range of activities, for example, a media advertising campaign with participation from First Lady Suzanne Mubarak, annual seminars at Al-Azhar University on "Islam and Narcotics," and the establishment of a drug treatment hotline and website. Additionally, the Council sponsors four rehabilitation centers, primarily focused on the Cairo metropolitan area. These centers annually receive thousands of requests from addicts for help.

IV. U.S. Policy Initiatives and Programs

Policy Initiatives/Bilateral Cooperation. The U.S. counternarcotics policy in Egypt is to engage the GOE in a bilateral program to reduce narcotics transshipments and decrease opium poppy and cannabis cultivation. The policy includes the following specific objectives: increase training to ANGA and other government offices responsible for narcotics enforcement; assist with the identification of illegal crop eradication targets; improve narcotics interdiction methodology; and improve intelligence collection and analysis. In 2005, the DEA country office initiated Operation Sphinx, a joint DEA-ANGA operation to collect actionable intelligence for enforcement/interdiction action in the Suez Canal and the Gulf of Aqaba. The operation targets sources of information in the maritime industry throughout the region.

The Road Ahead. In fiscal year 2007, the U.S. Government plans to increase its joint operations with ANGA, moving beyond a previously predominant focus on monitoring the narcotics problem. This will involve the DEA country office continuing to work closely with ANGA on joint investigations, as well as improving interdiction and eradication techniques and developing additional sources of information on trafficking and production.

Ethiopia

I. Summary

Ethiopia does not play a major role in the production, trafficking or consumption of illicit narcotics or precursor chemicals associated with the drug trade. Although Ethiopia is strategically located along a major narcotics transit route between Southwest/Southeast Asian heroin production and European markets, the amount of drugs transiting Ethiopia remains small. Small amounts of heroin transit Ethiopia for markets in West Africa, Europe and the United States, primarily due to Ethiopia's good airline connections between those markets and Southwest/Southeast Asia. Nigerian traffickers use Ethiopia as a transit point on a limited basis. In addition, cannabis is grown throughout Ethiopia, but most is consumed in rural areas of Ethiopia itself. Khat, a chewable leaf with a mild narcotic effect, is legal in Ethiopia. Ethiopia now produces more khat than coffee for export. Seizures are up, and illegal exports from Ethiopia, through Europe to the U.S., are rising. Khat chewing is part of the culture of several countries bordering the Red Sea. The Illicit Drug Control Service (IDCS), formerly the Ethiopian Counternarcotics Unit (ECNU), has a small staff, limited training and equipment, and would like to partner with the international community to improve its capabilities. The IDCS maintains an interdiction team at the international airport in the capital. Ethiopia is a party to the 1988 UN Drug Convention.

II. Status of Country

Ethiopia is not now, and is not likely to become, a significant producer, trafficker or consumer of narcotic drugs or diverted precursor chemicals. Cannabis is produced in rural areas throughout Ethiopia. Only a small portion is being produced for export, primarily to neighboring countries; the majority is consumed at home, but absolute quantities in both cases are moderate. According to the IDCS, cannabis is primarily grown and used by the Rastafarian population, and that the highest volume was grown in and outside of the town of Shashemene, approximately 250 kilometers south of Addis Ababa. IDCS also believed that cannabis was likely sold side by side with khat. No seizures of opium have been reported since 2001, when opium poppy was seized at two locations where it was apparently being grown as an experimental crop.

III. Country Actions Against Drugs in 2006

The use of heroin and other hard drugs remains quite low, due primarily to the limited availability of such drugs, their high street price, when available, and low incomes of most Ethiopians. To the extent such hard drugs are available; it is in large part due to the spillover effect from drug couriers transiting through Bole International Airport in Addis Ababa. Bole is a major air hub for flight connections between Southeast and Southwest Asia and Africa, and according to Ethiopian authorities, much of the heroin entering and/or transiting Ethiopia comes from Asia, although absolute quantities in both cases are low. Some of the flights require up to a two-day layover in Addis Ababa, permitting a limited opportunity for the introduction of these drugs into the local market.

Law Enforcement Efforts. The IDCS has a small staff and inadequate budget, which limit its capabilities. There is currently no training offered for officers in IDCS, and IDCS had no permanent programs. After changing its leadership in 2002, IDCS has been more proactive at the federal level, but is still hampered by financial constraints. IDCS is comprised of approximately 40 individuals, including federal police officers and administrative personnel. Its efforts include an airport interdiction team comprised of 11 staff, a four-person surveillance team, and an educational unit with six staffers. At the airport, the interdiction team uses its one drug sniffer dog to examine, with a degree of randomness, cargo and luggage. The IDCS formerly had two dogs from the U.S., which have died. The current sniffer dog was a donation from Sudan; however, the dog could only detect cannabis. The IDCS routinely screens passengers, luggage and cargo on flights arriving from "high risk" origins, such as Dubai, Bangkok, Mumbai, New Delhi, Bombay, Karachi, and Islamabad. The interdiction unit continues to improve its ability to identify male Nigerian/Tanzanian drug "mules," which typically swallow drugs to smuggle them. However, the airport interdiction unit relies heavily on tips from other countries to identify the drug mules. The Ethiopian government reports that the overall volume of drugs interdicted has been low, as most seizures involve airline passengers carrying small quantities in luggage or on their person.

Corruption. There is no evidence of government corruption related to illicit drugs. The Anti-Corruption Commission, created in 2001, was given substantial police powers to investigate corruption, and for a short while attracted considerable attention when it arrested and charged several high-level government officials with corruption (unrelated to drugs) in 2001 and 2002. Since then, the Commission seems to have become bogged down bureaucratically and is no longer a formidable organization. There have been no charges of drug-related corruption against government officials.

Agreements and Treaties. Ethiopia is a party to the 1988 UN Drug Convention, the 1961 UN Single Convention as amended by the 1972 Protocol and the 1971 UN Convention against Psychotropic Substances. Ethiopia has signed, but has not yet ratified, the UN Convention against Transnational Organized Crime and the UN Convention against Corruption.

Cultivation/Production. Cannabis is produced in rural areas throughout Ethiopia, of which a small portion is for export, primarily to neighboring countries; the majority is consumed at home, but quantities in both cases are moderate. Khat is grown all over Ethiopia to accommodate traditional users in Ethiopia itself and increasingly for export.

Drug Flow/Transit. The amount of drugs transiting Ethiopia remains small. Heroin transits Ethiopia for markets in West Africa, Europe and the United States, primarily due to Ethiopia's good airline connections between those markets and Southwest/Southeast Asia. Nigerian traffickers use Ethiopia as a transit point on a limited basis.

Domestic Programs. The only domestic program to combat narcotics in Ethiopia is the IDCS, which has both an enforcement and limited drug education role. The ICDS' education unit aims to increase public awareness by partnering with antidrug clubs in high schools. Further, the education unit educates domestic police on how to detect and control drugs in all areas of Ethiopia.

IV. U.S. Policy Initiatives and Programs

Policy Initiatives. The United States is working to raise the profile of crime-related issues and encourage criminalization of money laundering. At present, the U.S. is not providing assistance to the IDCS.

The Road Ahead. Ethiopia is likely to remain a minor trafficking center for Africa because of its airport and the flight arrangements described above. The GOE's goal is to partner with the international community to improve its detection capabilities.

Ghana

I. Summary

Ghana has taken steps to combat illicit trafficking of narcotic drugs and psychotropic substances and has mounted major efforts against drug abuse. It has active enforcement, treatment, and rehabilitation programs; however, corruption and a lack of resources remain problems. A national narcotics scandal in 2006 involving allegations of official complicity in narcotics trafficking complicated Ghana's efforts to combat the drug trade, but served to focus public attention on the growing problem. Ghana-U.S. law enforcement coordination strengthened in 2006, particularly at the policy level, but operational cooperation was strained by the narcotics scandal. Interagency coordination among Ghana's law enforcement remained a challenge. Ghana is a party to the 1988 UN Drug Convention.

II. Status of Country

Ghana has become a major transshipment point for illegal drugs, particularly cocaine from South America, as well as heroin from Southeast and Southwest Asia. Europe remains the major destination, but drugs also flow to South Africa and to North America. Accra's Kotoka International Airport (KIA) is increasingly a focus for traffickers. Ports at Tema, Sekondi, and Takoradi are also used, and border posts at Aflao (Togo) and Elubo and Sampa (Cote d'Ivoire) see significant drug trafficking activity. In 2006, South American cocaine trafficking rings increased their foothold in Ghana, establishing well-developed distribution networks run by Nigerian and Ghanaian criminals. Ghana's interest in attracting investment provides good cover for foreign drug barons to enter the country under the guise of doing legitimate business. However, South American traffickers reduced their need to visit Ghana in person by increasing reliance on local partners, thus further insulating themselves from possible arrest by local authorities.

The year was marked by a series of cocaine scandals, including allegations of police complicity in cocaine trafficking. In May five kg of cocaine went missing from a police evidence locker. An ensuing investigation, which received extensive domestic media attention, quickly expanded to other cases. In the most prominent case, security agencies interdicted a ship, the MV Benjamin, thought to have been carrying as much as two tons of cocaine, of which authorities only seized thirty kg. The scandal intensified when a secret recording surfaced that caught an Assistant Commissioner of Police and known narcotics traffickers on tape discussing why they had not been alerted to the two ton cocaine shipment. In a separate case, a woman alleged that a different senior police official requested a $200,000 bribe to drop a case against her boyfriend, a foreign cocaine trafficker. The ruling party and the opposition political parties used the scandal to accuse each other of allowing the country to become a transshipment point for cocaine and heroin bound for other countries. As a result of these scandals, a handful of law enforcement officials lost their jobs and the government renewed its focus on how to combat the narcotics trade.

Trafficking has also fueled increasing domestic drug consumption. Cannabis use is increasing in Ghana, as is local cultivation of cannabis. Law enforcement officials have repeatedly raised concerns that narcotics rings are growing in size, strength, organization and capacity for violence. The government has mounted significant public education programs, as well as cannabis crop substitution programs. Diversion of precursor chemicals is not a major problem.

III. Country Actions Against Drugs in 2006

Policy Initiatives. The Narcotics Control Board (NCB) coordinates government counternarcotics efforts. These activities include enforcement and control, education, prevention, treatment, rehabilitation, and social reintegration. The two top officials at the NCB were suspended at the outset of the 2006 narcotics scandal. The top official was ultimately replaced, but the NCB remained without an operations chief at year's end. The Ministry of Interior set up a fact-finding committee to investigate the loss of the two tons of cocaine apparently not seized by enforcement personnel, and related issues. Following the release of the committee's report in September, the UNDP funded a series of experts' meetings to develop a new national drug policy and make recommendations on improving the country's counternarcotics efforts. The series of meetings was ongoing at year's end.

Each year since 1999, the NCB has proposed to amend the 1990 narcotics law to fund NCB operations using a portion of seized proceeds, but the Attorney General's office has not acted on this proposal. In 2006, the Attorney General succeeded in amending the narcotics law to allow stricter application of the bail bond system (i.e., no general granting of bail when flight is a real possibility; higher sureties to assure that defendants appear for trial). The NCB also called for amendment, without success, of PNDC Law 236 (1990) to enable it to confiscate property and assets purchased by identified drug dealers using illegal proceeds. The government began drafting a Proceeds of Crime bill and a Money Laundering bill in 2006, and final drafts were reportedly near completion by year's end. The government reportedly plans to present the bills to parliament for consideration in early 2007.

Law Enforcement Efforts. In 2006, Ghanaian law enforcement agencies continued to conduct joint police/NCB operations against narcotics cultivators, traffickers, and abusers. NCB agents, who are not armed, rely upon the police's Criminal Investigative Division's (CID) narcotics unit in situations requiring armed force. The Ghana Police Service has assigned several investigators to narcotics cases, holds suspects in its cells and prepares such cases for docket. The NCB continued to work with DHL, UPS, and Federal Express to intercept packages containing narcotics. The NCB reported that total drug seizures of cocaine, heroin, and cannabis from January to September 2006 decreased by 17 percent compared to the same period in 2005, likely reflecting a temporary decrease in trafficking activity following the 2006 narcotics scandal. Projected fourth quarter data (based on data for the earlier part of the year) suggests that the number of cocaine arrests in 2006 dropped to roughly half that of 2005, while heroin and cannabis arrests both showed modest declines. The NCB said narcotics rings find trafficking cocaine to Europe easier and more profitable than obtaining heroin from the Far East and trafficking it to the U.S.

Convictions in drug cases involving 100 grams or more increased in 2006. During the year, courts delivered 33 drug-related convictions in such cases, including 4 for arrests made in 2006 and 29 for arrests made in 2005. In addition to a number of Ghanaians, courts sentenced citizens of Nigeria, Cote d'Ivoire, Togo, Guinea, Belgium, and Germany in cases involving cocaine and heroin trafficking. Despite these positive trends, at year's end courts still had 96 cases pending that involved 100 grams or more. Of these, 52 were for 2006 arrests and 44 were for older cases. The NCB reported that the price of cannabis increased sharply in 2006, possibly as a result of eradication efforts. The price of a small parcel of cannabis (the size of a loaf of bread) in 2006 was approximately cedis 100,000-150,000 ($10.86 - $16.29), while a wrapper or joint sold for cedis 2,000-5,000 ($0.22 - $0.54), from two to five times the price in 2005. The NCB and other law enforcement agencies continued their successful cooperation with U.S. law enforcement agencies in 2006 until the eruption of the narcotics scandal, which forced U.S. agencies to reduce cooperation until the NCB could reconstitute itself. There were no narcotics-related extraditions to or from the United States in 2006.

Corruption. Ghana does not, as a matter of government policy, encourage or facilitate illicit production or distribution of narcotic or psychotropic drugs or other controlled substances, or the laundering of proceeds from illegal drug transactions, nor is any senior official known to engage in, encourage, or facilitate narcotics production or trafficking. Despite the regular arrests of suspected narcotics traffickers, Ghana has an extremely low rate of conviction, which law enforcement officials indicate is likely due primarily to corruption within the judicial system. The backlog of cases pending trial and the limited resources facing the judiciary remain problems in controlling drug trafficking in Ghana. In October 2005, a supervisor of KIA's cargo handling company was arrested attempting to smuggle cocaine using an airport tractor and his access to an airplane. Media outlets alleged that this occurred with either the approval or the involvement of ruling party officials.

NCB officials complain that courts often release suspected smugglers, including foreign nationals, on bail that is often set at only a tiny fraction of the value of the drugs found in a suspect's possession. The court requirement of a surety in addition to bail is often either dropped, or court registrars will fraudulently use the identical property as surety for multiple cases. Government officials hope that with the change to the bail bond system in 2006, this will cease to be a problem.

In September 2004, the NCB was held in contempt of court for withholding the passports of suspects charged with drug trafficking who had been released on bail. The NCB retained the passports while they waited for the Attorney General to file a request not to permit bail, which was ultimately never filed. The NCB eventually had to turn over the passports on a court order. At least one of the suspects in this case, a Ghanaian citizen possessing a Dutch passport, has since traveled in and out of Ghana while on bail. In August 2005, the Attorney General's office filed an appeal to protest a retiring judge's acquittal of two of these suspected traffickers. In 2004 and 2005, there were no cases of alleged evidence tampering. In April 2005, the Ghana Police arrested two policemen who allegedly facilitated a suspected Nigerian drug trafficker's escape from custody. In May 2005, the Ghana Police Criminal Investigations Division took into custody two suspected traffickers and four policemen who allegedly demanded a $60,000 bribe to release the traffickers when they first encountered them with narcotics. In June 2005, all six were granted bail.

Corruption among law enforcement officials remained a serious problem in 2006. In January, two officers from the Bureau of National Investigations were suspended for having inappropriate contact with Nigerian drug traffickers. An Assistant Commissioner of Police and five other officers were arrested for their alleged direct involvement in the trafficking of the cocaine, which went missing from the MV Benjamin. Though no charges of corruption were brought, the two top officials at the Narcotics Control Board were suspended for dereliction of duty in allowing five kg of seized cocaine to go missing from a police evidence locker. In a related development, a state prosecutor was asked to proceed on leave because he charged drug barons with a lesser crime than the charge sought by the Attorney General, allowing the criminals to be granted bail (they were re-arrested the next day and the prosecutor was dismissed). One of those re-arrested allegedly was later allowed by jail personnel to continue using his mobile phone from his jail cell and was reportedly escorted out of the jail some evenings by officers to attend social engagements. It was not until the story broke in a local newspaper that government officials allegedly insisted the trafficker be moved to a more secure facility.

Agreements and Treaties. Ghana is a party to the 1988 UN Drug Convention, the 1971 UN Convention on Psychotropic Substances, and the 1961 UN Single Convention, as amended by the 1972 Protocol. U.S.-Ghana extradition relations are governed by the 1931 U.S.-U.K. Extradition Treaty. In 2003, Ghana signed a bilateral Customs Mutual Assistance Agreement with the United States. In July 2006, Ghana ratified both the UN Convention against Corruption and the African Union Convention on Preventing and Combating Corruption. Ghana has not signed the UN Convention against Transnational Organized Crime.

Cultivation and Production. Cannabis (also known as Indian hemp) is widely cultivated in rural farmlands. The Volta, Brong-Ahafo, Eastern, Western, and Ashanti regions are principal growing areas. Most cannabis is consumed locally; some is trafficked to neighboring and European countries. Cannabis is usually harvested in September and October, and law enforcement teams increase their surveillance and investigation efforts at these times. Due to the shakeup relating to the narcotics scandal, NCB did not investigate cannabis production and distribution, or destroy cultivated cannabis farms and plants in 2006 as they had in years past. In October 2005, a joint operation between the NCB and police destroyed three acres of cannabis in Akatsi and took two Ghanaians and two Jamaicans into custody. In February 2003, the NCB implemented a pilot program designed to reduce the area under cultivation. Under the terms of this project, 140 marijuana cultivators volunteered to give up marijuana in exchange for government assistance with planting and processing new food crops and immunity from prosecution. The NCB expanded the program from 120 farmers in 2004 to 325 in 2005, but did not have funds to expand the program in 2006. NCB reports, however, that by 2006 cultivation in targeted areas had gone down. To provide alternative income to farmers growing cannabis, the Ministry of Women and Children's Affairs donated two cassava-processing plants to a community in Essam, Eastern Region in 2005.

Drug Flow/Transit. Cocaine and heroin are the main drugs that transit Ghana. Cocaine is sourced mainly from South America and destined for Europe, while heroin comes mainly from Southeast and Southwest Asia on its way to Europe and North America. Cannabis is shipped primarily to Europe, specifically to the United Kingdom. Law enforcement officials report that traffickers are increasingly exploiting Ghana's relatively unguarded and porous maritime border, offloading large shipments at sea onto small fishing vessels which carry the drugs to shore undetected. Narcotics are often repackaged in Ghana for reshipment, hidden in shipping containers or secreted in air cargo. Large shipments are also often broken up into small amounts to be hidden on individuals traveling by passenger aircraft. The most common individual concealment methods utilize false bottom suitcases or body cavity concealment. Arrests in 2006 revealed a variety of creative concealment methods, including bricks of cocaine hidden inside women's ornate hair-dos, cans of soup and containers of yoghurt with hidden narcotics, and bricks of marijuana hidden in hollowed-out wooden handicrafts bound for Europe.

Officials at UK airports found that the total tonnage of trafficked narcotics seized from passengers on flights originating in Ghana eclipsed those from Nigeria in 2006. In partial response to this trend, the British Government launched a program deploying experienced U.K. customs officers and state of the art ion scan detection equipment to Kotoka International Airport. The program, which will last one or two years, will also involve training Ghanaian customs officers on how to use the equipment, as well as profiling, targeting, intelligence-gathering and other security techniques.

There is no hard evidence that drugs transiting Ghana contribute significantly to the supply of drugs to the U.S. market. However, there are indications that direct shipments to the United States--particularly of heroin--are on the rise, fueled by an increase in shipments of heroin to Ghana from Pakistan and Afghanistan in 2006. In November 2004, two alleged leaders of a drug smuggling ring from Ghana were indicted in Columbus, Ohio for shipping heroin for distribution across central Ohio, indicating a direct flow of illicit narcotics from Ghana into the U.S. Midwest. The November 2005 arrest of a Ghanaian parliamentarian indicated a similar flow of heroin to the New York area, and in 2006 a significant number of Ghanaians were arrested in the United States for trafficking heroin. In the past, direct flights from Accra played an important role in the transshipment of heroin to the U.S. by West African trafficking organizations. In July 2004, the Federal Aviation Administration banned Ghana's only direct flights to the United States for safety reasons. However, this did not appear to reduce the trafficking of drugs between the two countries. Instead, drug traffickers rerouted the flow through Europe, according to the NCB. Direct air links were re-established in 2005, with a second airline adding non-stop service between Ghana and the United States in December 2006, in addition to multiple carriers providing connecting flights to the United States via Europe, which may result in increased attempts at smuggling by direct air links.

In 2006, the U.S. Embassy uncovered widespread visa fraud associated directly with drug trafficking organizations, further raising fears of highly organized smuggling rings attempting to carry drugs into the United States from Ghana by air. The NCB reported that in response to increased vigilance against West African drug mules arriving at foreign airports, a new trend appears to be use of Caucasians as carriers of narcotics to arouse less suspicion by customs and immigration officials at European and U.S. airports. Despite concerns with increased use of air travel for drug transshipment, however, the primary problem remains Ghana's long, relatively unpatrolled coastline.

Domestic Programs. The NCB works with schools, professional training institutions, churches, local governments, and the general public to reduce local drug consumption. The Ministries of Health and Education further coordinate their efforts through their representatives on the Board. Board Members and staff frequently host public lectures, participate in radio discussion programs, and encourage newspaper articles on the dangers of drug abuse and trafficking. Although treatment programs have lagged behind preventative education and enforcement due to lack of funding, there are three government psychiatric hospitals receiving drug patients, and three private facilities in Accra, run by local NGOs, also assisting drug abusers. The NCB's national drug education efforts continued in schools and churches, heightening citizens' awareness of the fight against narcotics and traffickers. In 2006, the NCB continued broadcasting TV programs to explain narcotics' effects on the human body, individual users and society, which are being broadcast on state television in local languages. In partial response to the narcotics scandal, the NCB also began efforts to sensitize coastal fishermen on the dangers of getting involved in the drug trade and on the need to cooperate with law enforcement officials. The Regional Minister for the Central Region (where many fishing ports are located) met with local fishermen to discuss the problems of drug trafficking.

IV. U.S. Policy Initiatives and Programs

Bilateral Cooperation. The USG's counternarcotics and anticrime goals in Ghana are to strengthen Ghanaian law enforcement capacity generally, to improve interdiction capacities, to enhance the NCB's office and field operation functions, and to reduce Ghana's role as a transit point for narcotics. In 2002, the United States provided the Government of Ghana counternarcotics assistance in the form of surveillance and detection equipment, worth $64,000, including two narcotics detection devices ("Itemisers") installed at Kotoka International Airport in December 2003. Similar equipment funded in FY 2000 and FY 2001 is effectively maintained and has facilitated a number of drug arrests and seizures. Ghana is still benefiting from police training funded in FY 2002, which helped suppress corruption and strengthen the capacity of the police to interdict illegal drugs. A four-week, interagency counternarcotics training course, funded by the U.S. in FY 2002 and undertaken in November 2004, focused on drug interdiction at Ghana's air and seaports.

In August 2005, the U.S. government signed an agreement to provide Ghana's law enforcement agencies with an additional $200,000 to fight narcotics trafficking. Under this funding, DEA provided a two-week basic narcotics investigations skills course for NCB and other GOG counternarcotics staff in November 2006. At the end of the training, the U.S. Embassy donated 25 sets of new Smith & Wesson handcuffs, provided by the Department of Justice, to the NCB. Future assistance using these funds will focus on advanced narcotics investigation skills and financial crimes investigations. The USG is also working with the Customs, Excise and Preventive Service (CEPS), urging the agency to establish an internal affairs unit that would strengthen internal anticorruption efforts along Ghana's borders.

The Road Ahead. Ghana made progress in late 2006 addressing its legislative and enforcement deficiencies, brought into the public eye by the narcotics scandal, but there is a long road ahead. The NCB's plan to hire forty additional agents will be a good start. Tougher confiscation provisions, with a portion of such resources dedicated to fighting narcotics trafficking, would strengthen Ghana's counternarcotics regime. Better oversight of financial transactions is particularly important given the potential for any narcotics financial networks to be used by terrorist organizations or for internal corruption. Upgraded measures to combat corruption are also essential. Sea interdiction and surveillance capabilities need to be enhanced. These initiatives will require significant re-allocation of resources, and it remains to be seen whether Ghanaian officials have the political will to see them through.

Iran

I. Summary

The Islamic Republic of Iran is a major transit route for opiates smuggled from Afghanistan and through Pakistan to the Persian Gulf, Turkey, Russia, and Europe. The largest single share of opiates leaving Afghanistan (perhaps 60 percent) passes through Iran to consumers in Iran itself, Russia and Europe. There is no evidence that narcotics transiting Iran reach the United States in an amount sufficient to have a significant effect. There are some indications that opium poppy cultivation is making a comeback in Iran, after a long period during which poppy cultivation was negligible. There are an estimated 3 million opiate abusers in Iran, with 60 percent reported as addicted to various opiates and 40 percent reported as casual users. With record levels of opium production right next door in Afghanistan, the latest opiate seizure statistics from Iran continue to suggest Iran is experiencing an epidemic of drug abuse, especially among its youth.

There is overwhelming evidence of Iran's strong commitment to keep drugs leaving Afghanistan from reaching its citizens. As Iran strives to achieve this goal, it also prevents drugs from reaching markets in the West. Iran claims that more than 3500 Iranian law enforcement personnel have died in clashes with heavily armed drug traffickers over the last two decades, and Iran reports that another 56 died in 2005. Iran spends a significant amount on counter drug-related activities, including interdiction efforts and treatment/prevention education. Estimates range from $250-$300 million to as much as $800 million each year, depending on whether treatment and other social costs are included. Iran claims to have invested upwards of $1 billion in its elaborate series of earthworks, forts and deep trenches to channel potential drug smugglers to areas where they can be confronted and defeated by Iranian security forces. Nevertheless, traffickers from Afghanistan and Pakistan continue to cause major disruption along Iran's eastern border. Iranian security forces have had excellent seizure results for the last several years by concentrating their interdiction efforts in the eastern provinces.

Iran is a party to the 1988 UN Drug Convention, but its laws do not bring it completely into compliance with the Convention. The UNODC is working with Iran to modify its laws, train the judiciary, and improve the court system.

II. Status of Country

Iran is a transit country and a major consumer country of opiates and hashish. Entering from Afghanistan and Pakistan into eastern Iran, heroin, opium, and morphine are smuggled overland, usually to Turkey. Drugs are also smuggled by sea across the Persian Gulf. Although China is estimated to have the largest population of those who consume opiates, Iran is itself a major opiate consuming country, with the highest share of population abusing opiates in the world. The UNODC estimates that 2.8 percent of the Iranian population between the ages of 15 to 64 used opiates in 1999 (latest complete survey data available). A 2005 Quick Assessment drug use survey conducted by Iranian authorities, confirmed the accuracy of the earlier 1999 survey on drug abuse. Many Iranian practitioners, especially in the treatment community, argue that the share of opiate abusers now is even higher than 2.8 percent of the population.

Nevertheless, 2.8 percent is very high. It is almost five times the rate of opiate abuse in the U.S. (.6 percent). A continuing sharp increase in the share of unrefined opium in total opiate seizures made by Iranian enforcement in the first nine months of 2006 suggests that drug traffickers in Afghanistan have consciously decided to serve the growing opium market in Iran, while also continuing to ship refined or semi-refined opiates (heroin and morphine base) for ultimate consumption in Europe. This choice by traffickers and the record opium crops in Afghanistan over the last few years are contributing to what can only be termed an epidemic of opiate abuse in Iran.

III. Country Actions Against Drugs in 2006

Policy Initiatives. Narcotics-related assistance projects emerging from last year's "Paris Pact" organized visit to Iran began to be implemented this year. Among these projects were interdiction projects focused on exit routes along the Iranian/Turkish border, and others designed to develop additional capacity for intelligence-led investigations of trafficking organizations. Projects focused on improved drug treatment and drug education, and to encourage more effective courts and decrease corruption also advanced towards implementation during 2006. Iran continues to spend at least 50 percent of its own budgeted counterdrug expenditures on demand reduction activities. This appears to be response to the growing social and health impact of more dangerous drug abuse in certain populations (e.g., heroin vice opium), and more intravenous heroin abuse, with certain addict populations (especially addicts in Iran's prisons) sharing needles. Sharing needles is known to contribute to the spread of HIV/AIDS. On the other hand, police forces engaged in narcotics suppression activities have begun to complain publicly that their budgets are inadequate for their interdiction responsibilities.

Law Enforcement Efforts. The head of Iran's Drug Control Headquarters received an important visit from UNODC Executive Director, Antonio Maria Costa in late 2006. Costa praised Iran's enforcement efforts and thanked Iran for preventing important quantities of opiates and other dangerous drugs from reaching markets in the West.

Iran pursues an aggressive border interdiction effort. A senior Iranian official told the UNODC that Iran had invested as much as $1 billion in a system of mud walls, moats, concrete dams, sentry points, and observation towers, as well as a road along its entire eastern border with Pakistan and Afghanistan. According to an official GOI Internet site, Iran has installed 212 border posts, 205 observation posts, 22 concrete barriers, and 290 km of canals (depth-4 m, width-5 m), 659 km of soil embankments, a 78 km barbed wire fence, and 2,645 km of asphalt and gravel roads. It also has relocated numerous border villages to newly constructed sites, so that their inhabitants are less subject to harassment by narcotics traffickers. Prior indications are, however, that Iran invested in this extensive barrier-type construction and fortification system on its eastern border region many years ago, well before the burgeoning drug problem started in the mid-1990's, as security protection against a general lawlessness along its eastern border.

Some villagers organized into self-defense forces (Basij) have received training from the Iranian government, and on occasion even launch offensive operations against traffickers, bandits and ethnic insurgents. Security forces also periodically clash with Baluch tribesmen who are seeking more autonomy from the central governments in Iran and Pakistan in a long simmering conflict. These tribesmen are also an important element in narcotics trafficking and have traditionally smuggled goods across regional borders. As a result, all three elements of lawlessness-narcotics trafficking, ethnic insurgency and smuggling occur simultaneously complicating the situation along Iran's eastern border.

Thirty thousand law enforcement personnel are regularly deployed along Iran's border with Afghanistan and Pakistan. Interdiction efforts by the police and the Revolutionary Guards have resulted in numerous drug seizures. Iranian officials seized 365.7 metric tons of opiates (opium equivalent) during just the first nine months of 2006. Opiate seizures were running at roughly 30 percent more than the same period of 2005. Opiate seizures in projected out for all of 2006 were on track to be almost 107 metric tons more than 2005, and set a new record for Iran's seizures of opiates. Seizures at rates like those claimed in Iran surely strike a blow at narcotics criminals and their financiers. Iran and Pakistan alternate as the countries with the highest volume of opiate seizures in the world.

Iranian opiate seizures in the first nine months of 2006 continued the same interesting trends highlighted in last year's INCSR chapter:

• Unrefined (raw) opium seizures continued to increase sharply; projected out for the year, they were on track to increase by almost 29 percent. This is somewhat less of an increase than that registered for seizures of refined opiates (morphine base and heroin). They are on a track to rise in excess of 33 percent;
  
  
• The share of raw opium in total opiate seizures exceeded 63.4 percent, a level not seen in almost twenty years. Given the weight and bulk advantage of shipping opiates as either a fully or partially refined product (1/10^th the weight and bulk), it would seem that trafficking groups in Pakistan and Afghanistan have made a conscious decision to serve the large and growing market for opium in Iran; 
  
  
• Heroin seizures were roughly 20 percent of all opiates seized (opium equivalent), sharply up from last year's roughly 15 percent share;
  
  
• The morphine base share of seized opiates fell to just 16.8 percent of the total. Refineries in Afghanistan seem to be turning out more heroin, as opposed to base.

NB. To compute shares of opiates seized in Iran accurately, we convert morphine base and heroin into opium equivalents by multiplying by a factor of ten.

One possible explanation for these seizure trends is a return of Iranian addicts to abuse of traditional raw opium, after a period when disruptions in supply from Afghanistan forced a temporary switch to heroin. A large share of heroin and almost all of the morphine base transiting Iran is headed for markets in Europe (heroin) or for further refining in Turkey (morphine base).

Hashish seizures in Iran in the first nine months of 2006 were 48.4 metric tons. If hashish seizures are projected out for the whole of 2006 (60.4 metric tons), they would be down almost 11 percent from seizures of 67.3metric tons during all of 2005.

Iran also reports a category of drug seizures which it labels simply "other". This category of seizures, which probably represents seizures of synthetic drugs, and perhaps destruction of opium poppies in place, has exploded in the last two years. In 2003, "other" seizures were reported at 1647 kg. Then in 2004 and 2005, seizures jumped to 12.4 metric tons and 13.5 MT, respectively. Seizures in this "other" category seem to have fallen sharply in the first nine months of 2006, and were running at only a 7.3 METRIC TONS annual rate. It is indicative of the overall drug problem in Iran that large quantities of synthetic drugs like Ecstasy and methamphetamine are seized there.

Drug offenses are under the jurisdiction of the Revolutionary Courts. Punishment for narcotics offenses is severe, with death sentences possible for possession of more than 30 grams of heroin or five kg of opium. Those convicted of lesser offenses may be punished with imprisonment, fines, or lashings, although it is believed that lashings have been used less frequently in recent years. Offenders under the age of 18 are afforded some leniency. More than 60 percent of the inmates in Iranian prisons are incarcerated for drug offenses, ranging from use to trafficking. Narcotics-related arrests in Iran during the first nine months of 2006 were running at an annual rate of almost 400,000, which is a typical level for the last several years. Twice as many drug abusers were detained as drug traffickers. Iran has executed more than 10,000 narcotics traffickers in the last two decades.

Corruption. Corruption plays an important role in narcotics trafficking in Iran. Corruption cases reached the courts in Iran, and were also featured in media reports. The election campaign in 2005 highlighted incidents of corruption, and to some extent the results can be read as a populist reaction to perceptions of corruption in leadership circles. Although there is no specific indication that senior government officials aid or abet narcotics traffickers, comparison of the situation in Iran with that in other narcotics-transit countries suggests that in addition to corruption among lower/mid-level law enforcement, there is also probably involvement of higher level officials as financiers and protectors of narcotics traffickers. Nevertheless, punishment of corruption can be harsh, and the evidence is compelling that it is Iran's official policy to keep drugs from its people. A high-profile effort is currently under way in Iran to highlight corruption and discourage its spread, but some question its seriousness since some at the top appear to escape punishment. Iran has signed, but has not ratified, the UN Convention against Corruption.

Agreements and Treaties. Iran is a party to the 1988 UN Drug Convention; however, its legislation does not bring it completely into compliance with the Convention, particularly in the areas of money laundering and controlled deliveries. The UNODC is working with Iran through the NOROUZ Program to modify its laws, train the judiciary, and improve the court system. UNODC has also begun to implement new assistance projects for Iran's courts and prosecutors after the recent Paris Pact review of Iran's counternarcotics efforts. The new assistance, which is projected to cost in excess of $7.5 million, focuses on modernization of the courts, especially increased use of computerization in courts, transparency, and corruption reduction. Iran is also a party to the 1971 UN Convention on Psychotropic Substances, and the 1961 UN Single Convention as amended by the 1972 Protocol. Iran has signed, but has not yet ratified, the UN Convention on Transnational Organized Crime. Iran has shown an increasing desire to cooperate with the international community on counternarcotics matters. Iran is an active participant in the Paris Pact, a group of countries that actively seeks to coordinate efforts to counter opiate smuggling in Southwest Asia, and as noted above, Iran hosted an expert round table and review of its counternarcotics efforts by this group in 2005.

Cultivation/Production. A 1998 U.S. survey of opium poppy cultivation in Iran and a detailed U.S. multi-agency assessment concluded that the amount of poppy being grown in Iran was negligible. The survey studied more than 1.25 million acres in Iran's traditional poppy-growing areas, and found no poppy crops growing there, although the survey could not rule out the possibility of some cultivation in remote areas. A follow-up survey in 1999 reached the same conclusion. Iran is now generally viewed as a transit country for drugs produced elsewhere, but there are reports of opium refining near the Turkish/Iranian border. Recently, there have been more indications in Iran's press of opium poppy cultivation in remote areas. The Iranian Press reported government interdiction force operations targeted against opium poppy cultivation in isolated, mountainous regions of western Iran, northwest of Shiraz. These articles appeared in the spring and summer of 2006. The area planted to poppy does not seem to be large-news articles mention on the order of 100 acres. They quote Iranian government officials who link the cultivation to the poverty of communities living in these isolated regions. Most refining of the opiates moving through Iran is done elsewhere, either in Afghanistan or in Turkey.

Drug Flow/Transit. Shipments of opiates enter Iran overland from Pakistan and Afghanistan by camel, donkey, or truck caravans, often organized and protected by heavily armed ethnic Baluch tribesmen from either side of the frontier. Once inside Iran, large shipments are either concealed within ordinary commercial truck cargoes or broken down into smaller sub-shipments. The Iranian town of Zahedan is reportedly a center for the opiate trade as it first enters Iran, and then moves westward. Foreign embassy observers report that Iranian interdiction efforts have disrupted smuggling convoys sufficiently to force smugglers to change tactics and emphasize concealment more than they have in the past. The use of human "mules" is on the rise. Individuals and small groups also attempt to cross the border with two to ten kg of drugs, in many cases either ingested for concealment or hidden in backpacks or hand luggage. Trafficking through Iran's airports also appears to be on the rise. Still, many traffickers move drugs in armed convoys, and are ready for a fight if challenged.

A large share of the opiates smuggled into Iran from Afghanistan is smuggled to neighboring countries for further processing and transportation to Europe. Turkey is the main processing destination for these opiates, most of which are bound for consumption in Russia and Europe. Essentially all of the morphine base, which represented almost 17 percent of all opiates seized in the first nine months of 2006, in Iran, is likely moving towards Turkey, as is some share of the much diminished 20 percent, or so, of opiates moving as heroin. Significant quantities of raw opium are consumed in Iran itself, but some quantities also move on to the west to be refined and consumed as heroin in Europe and elsewhere. There is a northern smuggling route through Iran's Khorasan Province, to Turkmenistan, to Tehran, and then on to Turkey. The mountains and desert, which are sparsely populated along this route, make it hard to police. Traffickers are frequently well armed and dangerous.

The southern route also passes through sparsely settled desert terrain on its way to Tehran en route to Turkey; some opiates moving along the southern route detour to Bandar Abbas and move by sea to the Persian Gulf states. Bandar Abbas also appears to be an entry point for precursor chemicals moving to refineries in Afghanistan. Iran does not specifically control precursor chemicals used for producing illicit drugs, but has made a number of important seizures, mostly at Bandar Abbas, of acetic anhydride, used in the refining of heroin. All precursor chemicals seized were consigned to Afghanistan. Widespread smuggling traditionally used to provide necessities and to escape high taxation facilitates trafficking through Iran. There are also reports that enforcement authorities accept bribes to pass shipments, and fail to enforce laws that prohibit street sales of narcotics inside of Iran.

Azerbaijan and Armenia provide alternative routes to Russia and Europe that bypass Turkish interdiction efforts. Additionally, despite the risk of severe punishment, marine transport is used through the Persian Gulf to the nations of the Arabian Peninsula, taking advantage of modern transportation and communication facilities and a laissez-faire commercial attitude in that area. Hashish moves extensively along this route, as well. Oman and Dubai appear to be important destinations, but some Iranian hashish even finds its way to Iraq. Iranian enforcement officials have estimated that as much as 60 percent of the opium produced in Afghanistan in past years entered Iran, with as much as 700-800 metric tons of opium consumed in Iran itself by its ca. 3 million users.

Domestic Programs/Demand Reduction. Smoked opium is the traditional drug of abuse in Iran, but opium is also drunk, dissolved in tea. Opium and its residue are also injected, dissolved in water, by a small number of addicts. Iranians have clearly been using more heroin during the past several years. Heroin has not replaced opium, the traditional drug of choice in Iran, but for a few years around 2001/02, lower street prices for heroin, and temporary shortages of opium (after the Taliban successfully prohibited opium production in Afghanistan in 2000/01), plus higher prices for opium, encouraged some addicts to switch from opium to heroin. That aberration now seems past, and large seizures of opium suggest that opium is now readily available in Iran. Some heroin is smoked or sniffed, but a growing share is injected. There are also many reports that young people in Iran have turned aggressively to drug abuse as an escape from what they perceive as difficult economic and social conditions. Significant seizures (as much as 6 METRIC TONS in 2004) of synthetic drugs have also been reported, again suggesting that young people are driving drug abuse in Iran to even higher levels. There have also been regular reports of a concentrated or "crack" heroin, which is reportedly more pure than other heroin available in Iran. Where the standard rule-of-thumb holds that 8.5 to 10 units of opium are necessary to make one unit of heroin, crack heroin reportedly requires 15-20 units of opium input. Because of its intensity, crack heroin is associated with increased emergency room visits, and overdose deaths. Typical of comments appearing in the Iranian press is one recent report, quoting the head of Tehran's Specialist Treatment Addiction Center saying that "crack heroin" use in Tehran had doubled in the last year. Seventy-five percent of all drug addicts reporting to the Center are users of crack/crystal heroin. Due to its highly addictive properties and very high purity/intensity, many addicts had died after injecting crystal heroin, according to the Director.

Ninety-three percent of Iranian opiate addicts are male, with a mean age of 33.6 years, and 1.4 percent (about 21,000) are HIV positive. The scale of the drug abuse problem in Iran forces it into the public arena. Under the UNODC's NOROUZ narcotics assistance project, the GOI spent more than $68 million dollars in the first year of project implementation for demand reduction and community awareness. The Prevention Department of Iran's Social Welfare Association runs 12 treatment and rehabilitation centers, as well as 39 out-patient treatment programs in all major cities. A total of 88 out-patient treatment centers spread throughout Iran are now operational. Some 30,000 people are treated per year, and some programs have three-month waiting lists. Narcotics Anonymous and other self-help programs can be found in almost all districts, as well, and several NGOs, which focus on drug, demand reduction. There are now methadone treatment and HIV prevention programs in Iran, in response to growing HIV infection, especially in the prison population.

IV. U.S. Policy Initiatives and Programs

Policy Initiatives. In the absence of direct diplomatic relations with Iran, the United States has no counternarcotics initiatives in Iran. The U.S. Government continues to encourage regional cooperation against narcotics trafficking. Iran and the United States have expressed similar viewpoints on illicit drugs and the regional impact of the Afghan drug trade. In the context of multilateral settings such as the UN's Paris Pact group, the United States and Iran have worked together productively. Iran nominated the United States to be coordinator of an earlier UN-sponsored coordination effort on narcotics called the "Six Plus Two" counternarcotics initiative. The U.S., for its part, has approved licenses, which allow U.S. NGOs to work on drug issues in Iran.

The Road Ahead. The GOI has demonstrated sustained national political will and taken strong measures against illicit narcotics, including cooperation with the international community. Iran's actions support the global effort against international drug trafficking, and have won the praise of such knowledgeable observers of the international effort against narcotics as UNODC Director, Antonio Maria Costa. Iran stands to be one of the major benefactors of any long-term reduction in drug production/trafficking from Afghanistan, as it is one of the biggest victims of the recent increase in opium/heroin production there now. The United States anticipates that Iran will continue to pursue policies and actions in support of efforts to combat drug production and trafficking.

Israel

I. Summary

Israel is not a significant producer or trafficking point for drugs. The Israeli National Police (INP), however, report that in 2006 the Israeli drug market continued to be characterized by a high demand in nearly all sectors of society, and a high availability of marijuana, hashish, Ecstasy, cocaine, heroin and LSD. The intense security presence and surveillance along Israel's borders generally make it difficult for smugglers to bring drugs into the country. Consequently, Israel is not a significant transit country for drugs, although Israeli citizens have been part of international drug trafficking networks in source, transit and distribution countries. In 2006, the INP seized less than half as much marijuana and Ecstasy as in 2005, and less than one third as much of each drug as in 2004. Hashish, heroin and cocaine seizures in 2006 remained consistent with seizures from the previous three years. Widespread use of Ecstasy by Israeli youths is a continuing concern for authorities. Israel is a party to the 1988 UN Drug Convention.

II. Status of Country

Israel is not a major producer of narcotics or precursor chemicals. The INP report that during the year 2006, the Israeli drug market was characterized by a high demand in nearly all sectors of society and a high availability of drugs, including marijuana, Ecstasy, cocaine, heroin, hashish and LSD. The INP estimates the annual scope of the Israeli market to be 100 metric tons of marijuana, 20 metric tons of hashish, 20 million tablets of Ecstasy, four metric tons of heroin, six metric tons of cocaine, and hundreds of thousand of LSD blotters. Officials are also concerned about the widespread use of Ecstasy and marijuana among Israeli youth, and say that juvenile usage mirrors trends in other Western countries.

III. Country Actions Against Drugs in 2006

Policy Initiatives. In 2006, the INP continued its general policy of interdiction at Israel's borders and ports of entry. The INP concentrated specifically on the Jordanian and Egyptian borders, where the majority of heroin, cocaine and marijuana enter Israel.

Law Enforcement Efforts. In 2006, most of Israel's narcotics seizures occurred along its sparsely populated border with Egypt. Eighty-six percent (4,335 kg) of all marijuana, 59 per cent (531 kg) of all hashish, and 43 percent (30 kg) of all heroin seized this year were intercepted near the desert border. Although nearly all the seizures of drugs coming from Jordan occurred at the Arava/Negev border-crossing terminal, the Israeli military seized 17 kg of heroin from Palestinians attempting to bring the drugs across the Dead Sea in one-man boats. According to the INP, the Jordanian police also seized 45 kg of cocaine destined for the Israeli market on the Jordanian side of the Dead Sea from members of the same Palestinian crime ring. Within Israel, the INP shut down a major domestic smuggling operation that shipped liquid cocaine from South America to Israel in wine bottles under the guise of a legitimate wine-importing business. In other operations, the INP seized 41,000 Ecstasy tablets from a single distributor in Qiryat Gat. Finally, the INP reported an increase in the number of domestic marijuana hydroponic cultivating stations seized to ten.

Corruption. As a matter of government policy, Israel does not encourage or facilitate the illicit production or distribution of narcotic or psychotropic drugs or other controlled substances, or the laundering of proceeds from illegal drug transactions. In 2006, a number of public officials were under investigation for corruption-related offenses. Israel has signed, but not ratified, the UN Convention against Corruption. Israel does not have specific legislation for public corruption related to narcotics, but narcotics-related corruption would be covered under its generic anticorruption legislation.

Agreements and Treaties. Israel is a party to the 1988 UN Drug Convention, the 1971 UN Convention on Psychotropic Substances, the 1961 UN Single Convention on Narcotic Drugs, and its 1972 Protocol. A customs mutual assistance agreement and a mutual legal assistance treaty are also in force between Israel and the U.S. Israel ratified the UN Convention against Transnational Organized Crime in December 2006. Israel is one of 36 parties to the COE European Treaty on Extradition and has separate extradition treaties with several other countries, including the U.S. On January 10, 2007, a new Protocol to the Convention on Extradition between the United States and Israel entered into force. Significantly updating the 1962 convention, the Protocol replaces the outdated list of extraditable offenses with a modern dual criminality approach and provides for the temporary surrender for trial in the Requesting State of fugitives serving a prison sentence in the Requested State. In combination with Israeli extradition law, the Protocol also provides a much-improved framework for dealing with fugitives who claim Israeli citizenship and permits the United States to include hearsay evidence in our extradition documents.

Cultivation/Production. Although the vast majority of drugs consumed in Israel are produced in other countries, the INP reported three significant patterns of production activity during 2006. The nomadic Bedouin tribes that inhabit the Negev desert bordering Jordan and Egypt have long been involved in international smuggling operations -- particularly facilitating the movement of heroin from Jordan to Egypt. However, this year the INP reported that the Bedouin have begun to add a substance, known locally as "nabat," in order to substantially increase the volume of the heroin before transporting it to Egypt for sale.

Next, a new domestically produced drug appeared on the streets of Israel in 2006. Marketed under the name "Orange," (even so far as using the logo of the telecommunications company of the same name), or "Sweet Dreams," the blue and white pills produced a similar effect to Ecstasy and were easily obtainable for about $12 per pill at kiosks in the commercial districts of most major Israeli cities. The active ingredient in the drug is dimethyl cathinone, which is produced by extracting the cathinone from the "khat" plant. The plant itself is legal in Israel, and is widely cultivated within Israel's Yemenite and Ethiopian immigrant communities. However, it is against Israeli law to extract the cathinone from khat and use it to fabricate any other substances. Police moved against the kiosks openly selling the drug once it became clear that the drug was being produced illegally.

The INP also reported an increase in domestic cultivation of marijuana. Over ten marijuana hydroponics' greenhouses/incubators were discovered in otherwise uninhabited rental homes in the more affluent central region of Israel, and the homes had been converted for the purpose of full-time marijuana cultivation. The INP reported that the seized incubators demonstrated more sophistication than in previous years, including electronic switch timers for lamps and instruction manuals for increasing the THC content of the marijuana.

Drug Flow/Transit. Due to Israel's unique political situation, the intense security presence and surveillance along Israel's borders generally make it difficult for smugglers to bring drugs into the country. Thus, Israel is not a significant transit country for drugs, although Israeli citizens have been part of international drug trafficking networks in source, transit and distribution countries. In 2006, the Second Lebanese War of July/August, and its aftermath, had an unintended effect on drug smuggling into Israel. The increased military presence along Israel's northern border with Lebanon and Syria caused would-be smugglers to modify the routes by which they attempted to bring drugs into Israel. As security was tightened in the north, more drugs began infiltrating Israel across the relatively peaceful borders with Jordan and Egypt, where Israel has fewer security resources deployed.

In 2006, Israel continued to be more of a transit country than a distribution country for heroin, with heroin primarily flowing from Jordan through Israel en route to the Egyptian market. The Negev Bedouin tribes, using their knowledge of the desert terrain and their familial connections with Jordanian and Egyptian Bedouin, continued to facilitate most of the heroin trafficking across Israel. The Israeli Bedouin trade the heroin in Egypt for cash, Moroccan hashish and marijuana, for which there is a large Israeli market. 60 per cent of the hashish and 86 per cent of the marijuana seized by INP in 2006 was interdicted at the Egyptian border. This year also saw an increase in the amount of cocaine being smuggled across the Jordanian border. While most of the drugs were discovered at the Arava/Negev border-crossing terminal, a Palestinian group also attempted to bring both cocaine and heroin from Jordan across the Dead Sea in one-man boats.

The greatest change in the flow of cocaine into Israel during 2006 was the introduction of liquid cocaine from South America. Cocaine in solid form brought $70 - $100 per gram in Israel, and approximately $70,000 per kg. The Netherlands remained the primary source of Ecstasy for the Israeli market, where it is sold for $12 - $20 per pill.

Domestic Programs/Demand Reduction. The Israel Anti-Drug Authority (IADA) is the primary agency responsible for designing and implementing domestic programs to reduce the demand for drugs. In 2006, IADA again addressed the phenomenon of young Israelis developing substance abuse problems while vacationing in India and Southeast Asia. It is commonplace for 20 to 21 year-old Israelis to spend between six months and a year backpacking across Asia or South America after completing compulsory military service. Thousands of young Israelis flock to tourist "colonies" in the Goa region of India for the beaches, the inexpensive cost of living, and the easily accessible and inexpensive drugs -- mostly marijuana and hashish. This year, IADA publicly warned Israeli backpackers of dangers associated with drug activity in India.

IV. U.S. Policy Initiatives and Programs

Bilateral Cooperation. DEA and Israeli officials characterize cooperation between the DEA and INP as outstanding. All DEA investigations related to Israel are coordinated through the DEA Nicosia Country Office.

Road Ahead. The DEA regional office in Nicosia, Cyprus looks forward to continued cooperation and coordination with its counterparts in the Israeli law enforcement community. The INP is seeking to strengthen relationships between law enforcement agencies in other countries, and has established an office of International Relations within the IADA to pursue this objective. Israel began its final year of a four-year membership term on the Commission on Narcotic Drugs (CND) in January 2007.

V. Statistical Tables

*2006 data represents seizures from January through October. Source of data: Israel National Police, Research Department.

**Of the 160kg of cocaine seized in 2005, 120kg were seized aboard one merchant ship in the port of Haifa. The INP determined that this cocaine was destined for Europe, and not the Israeli market.

Jordan

I. Summary

Due to its geographical location between drug producing countries to the north and east, and drug consuming countries to the south and west, Jordan is a transit country for illicit drugs. Jordanians do not consume significant quantities of illicit drugs, and according to the PSD (Public Security Directorate) there are no known production operations in the Kingdom. The PSD believes that the amount of drugs transiting through Jordan continues to grow. According to statistics for the first 11 months of 2006, however, total drug seizures for the year will be slightly below those for 2005. There was a dramatic decrease in the number of persons charged in drug-related cases. There was also a large decrease in the authorities' estimates of the number of drug abusers in Jordan. The PSD attributes these decreases to Jordan's enhanced rehabilitation programs, increased border interdiction operations, better intelligence gathering, and stronger cooperation between Jordan and neighboring countries. The drugs of choice among users arrested for drug possession in Jordan continue to be cannabis and heroin, and people arrested for drug related crimes fall predominantly between the ages of 18 and 35 years old. Additionally, drug movement coming from Iraq has increased again this year. Jordan is a party to the 1988 UN Drug Convention.

II. Status of Country

There are currently no indications that Jordan will move from a predominantly drug transit country to a drug producing country. Statistics produced by the PSD's Anti-Narcotics Department confirm this assessment. Jordan's vast desert borders make it vulnerable to illicit drug smuggling operations. Jordanian authorities do not believe that internal drug distribution is significant.

III. Country Actions Against Drugs in 2006

Policy Initiatives. Due to usage of cannabis and heroin among people predominantly between the ages of 18 and 35, Jordan continues its drug awareness campaign focused at educating people of the dangers of drug use. Authorities continue to provide educational presentations in schools and universities throughout the country. The PSD Anti-Narcotics Department (AND) has created a program they call "Friends of the AND". This program sends volunteer civilians into the schools, universities, and other community centers to speak out against drug usage. Jordan has also reached out to all of the country's religious institutions requesting their assistance in combating drug abuse. Jordan publishes a number of brochures and other materials, including antinarcotics cartoons designed for younger children that are aimed at educating Jordan's youth about the dangers of using narcotics. Jordanian authorities also plan to make antidrug abuse movies directed at Jordanian youths next year. This year, the PSD published the first edition of its antinarcotics magazine, and launched a website in English and Arabic for drug abuse awareness and prevention (http://www.ant-inarcotics.psd.gov.jo/English). Jordan has agreed to provide advanced training to Palestinian anti-narcotics officers in association with the UNODC, and hopes that this will help promote even more cooperation.

Law Enforcement Efforts. Jordan's PSD maintains an active antinarcotics bureau, and maintains excellent relations with the U.S. DEA- Country Office based in Nicosia, Cyprus. In 2004, GOJ authorities began utilizing x-ray equipment on larger vehicles at its major border crossings between Syria and Iraq. This equipment has proven to be effective and has netted numerous drug seizures in 2005 and increased seizures in 2006 at the border crossings where the equipment has been utilized. Seizures of captagon tablets are about the same as last year, but PSD claims not to have observed any wide-spread use of the drug in Jordan. The PSD reports that 85 percent of all seized illicit drugs coming into Jordan are bound for export to other countries in the region. Jordan's general drug traffic trends continue to include cannabis entering from Lebanon and more now from Iraq, heroin from Turkey entering through Syria on its way to Israel, and captagon tablets from Bulgaria and Turkey entering through Syria on the way to the Gulf. The majority of Jordan's drug seizures take place at the Jaber border crossing point between Jordan and Syria, although seizures from Iraq (Karama/Trebil border crossing) have risen significantly again compared to last year. For the last three years, the PSD has continued to observe an increase in trafficking of hashish and opium from Afghanistan through Iraq into Jordan.

Corruption. Jordanian officials report no narcotics-related corruption or investigations into corruption for the reporting period. There is currently no evidence to suggest that senior level officials are involved in narcotics trafficking. As a matter of government policy, Jordan does not encourage or facilitate illicit production or distribution of narcotic or psychotropic drugs or other controlled substances, or the laundering of proceeds from illegal drug transactions. Jordan is a party to the UN Convention against Corruption.

Agreements and Treaties. Jordan is party to the 1988 UN Drug Convention, the 1971 UN Convention on Psychotropic Substances, and the 1961 UN Single Convention as amended by the 1972 Protocol. Jordan has signed, but has not yet ratified, the UN Convention against Transnational Organized Crime. Jordan continues to remain committed to existing bilateral agreements providing for counternarcotics cooperation with Syria, Lebanon, Iraq, Saudi Arabia, Turkey, Egypt, Pakistan, Israel, Iran, and Hungary. The U.S. considers the extradition treaty between the U.S. and Jordan to be in force. A 1997 Jordanian court ruling held that the treaty had not been properly approved by the Jordanian Parliament. The extradition treaty has not been submitted to Parliament for approval.

Cultivation and Production. There are no known production operations. Existing laws prohibit the cultivation and production of narcotics in Jordan and are effectively enforced.

Drug Flow/Transit. Jordan remains primarily a narcotics transit country. Jordan's main challenge in stemming the flow of illicit drugs through the country remains its vast and open desert borders. While law enforcement contacts confirm continued cooperation with Jordan's neighbors, the desolate border regions and the various tribes, with centuries-old traditions of smuggling as a principle source of income, make interdiction outside of the ports of entry difficult. None of the narcotics transiting Jordan are believed to be destined for the United States.

Domestic Programs/Demand Reduction. Jordan increased the scope of its programs on drug abuse awareness, education, and rehabilitation in 2006. Education programs target high school and college-aged kids. Jordan's antinarcotics cartoon program aimed at younger children designed to dissuade youngsters from trying drugs has continued to flourish. Cultural and religious norms help to control drug use. In conjunction with the UNODC, this year Jordan has again strengthened its treatment and rehabilitation services for drug abusers in the country. The national treatment and rehabilitation strategy and coordination mechanism has proven effective, and Jordan looks to continued successes in this strategy. The PSD reports that it has treated over 150 patients at its drug rehabilitation center. The PSD has plans to construct a new, larger rehabilitation facility that will accommodate more patients. PSD also noted that another highlight of the center's success is the number of patients the Government of Lebanon has sent to Jordan for rehabilitation. The PSD notes that this is another indicator of the strong levels of cooperation between the Governments of Lebanon and Jordan in their antinarcotics efforts. The Jordanian Drug Information Network (JorDIN) was officially established in 2005 with help from the UNODC. Jordan continues to develop the network that will serve as an information sharing device for all of Jordan's treatment providers and the GOJ authorities that deal with antinarcotics programs. The network hopes to provide accurate statistics of Jordan's drug abusers and success levels of treatment.

IV. U.S. Policy Initiatives and Programs

Policy Initiatives. The DEA and the interagency Export Control and Related Border Security (EXBS) Program anticipate to providing Jordan with some additional equipment to help Jordan's Border security operations. There are several miles of Jordan's borders that are patrolled only by the PSD's Anti-Narcotics Department. The equipment would include sensitive technologies such as night vision devices, portable thermal imaging units, and all-terrain vehicles. Some of these technologies will require licensing agreements, but would be extremely beneficial to Jordan's antinarcotics programs. Other ongoing GOJ and USG efforts to strengthen border security measures following the Iraq-based terrorist attacks in Amman and Aqaba in 2005 have served to enhance Jordan's detection capabilities and to disrupt the flow of illegal drugs transiting through Jordan.

The Road Ahead. U.S. Officials expect continued strong cooperation with Jordanian officials in counternarcotics related issues.

Kenya

I. Summary

Kenya is a significant transit country for cocaine and heroin bound for Europe, and, increasingly, the United States. The seizure of more than one ton of cocaine in December 2004 raises concerns that international drug trafficking rings have made inroads in Kenya and may benefit from a climate of official corruption that allows them to operate with near impunity. Heroin and hashish transiting Kenya, mostly from Southwest Asia bound for Europe and the U.S., have markedly increased in quality in recent years. There is a growing domestic heroin and cocaine market and use of cannabis or marijuana is becoming more widespread, particularly on the coast and in Nairobi. Although government officials profess strong support for antinarcotics efforts, the overall program suffers from a lack of resources and corruption at various levels. Kenya is a party to the 1988 UN Drug Convention.

II. Status of Country

Kenya is a significant transit country for cocaine and heroin and a minor producer of cannabis. It is believed that Kenya is becoming an increasingly significant transit country for multi-ton shipments of cocaine from South America destined for European and African consumers; however, cocaine seizures have only modestly increased over 2005. Kenya's sea and air transportation infrastructure, and the network of commercial and family ties that link some Kenyans to Southwest Asia, make Kenya a significant transit country for Southwest Asian heroin and hashish. Although it is impossible to quantify exactly, officials believe that the United States is at least as significant as Europe as a destination for heroin transiting Kenya. Cannabis is produced in commercial quantities primarily for the domestic market (including use by some elements among the large number of tourists vacationing in Kenya). While it is believed that small quantities of cannabis may be bound for export, there is no evidence of its impact on the United States. Kenya does not produce significant quantities of precursor chemicals.

III. Country Actions Against Drugs in 2006

Policy Initiatives. Counternarcotics agencies, notably the Anti-Narcotics Unit (ANU) within the Kenyan Police Service, continue to depend on the 1994 Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances Act for enforcement authorities and interdiction guidelines. Revisions to the Narcotics Act on the seizure, analysis, and disposal of narcotic drugs and psychotropic substances drafted by the government of Kenya and the United Nations Office for Drugs and Crime (UNODC) in 2005 were implemented in March 2006. The National Agency for the Campaign Against Drug Abuse (NACADA), the quasi-governmental organization charged with combating drug abuse in Kenya, has recently undergone significant reform to its governing structures and mechanisms, including the appointment of a new director and the creation of a board of directors. These changes are widely viewed as improvements that will lead to enhanced efficacy in the pursuit of its mandate. NACADA is leading recent inter-agency efforts to develop a National Drug Control Strategy for Kenya.

In September 2006, the 16th meeting of the Heads of National Drug Law Enforcement Agencies (HONLEA) in Africa was held in Nairobi. The HONLEA meeting brought together heads of law enforcement agencies from across Africa with representatives of international drug law enforcement agencies and UNODC experts. The heads shared information on illicit trafficking of cocaine in Africa, cannabis cultivation, and effective control of precursor chemicals. Although these countries meet annually to discuss relevant issues, it is unknown how effectively and enthusiastically they cooperate on a day-to-day basis.

Kenya has no crop substitution or alternative development initiatives for progressive elimination of the cultivation of narcotics. The ANU remains the focus of Kenyan antinarcotics efforts.

As a result of UNODC and bilateral training programs, the ANU and the Kenyan Customs Service now have a cadre of officers proficient in profiling and searching suspected drug couriers and containers at airports and seaports. Airport profiling has yielded good results in arrests for couriers but not major traffickers. Seaport profiling has proven difficult. Despite the official estimate that a significant portion of the narcotics trafficked through Kenya originates on international sea vessels, ANU maritime interdiction capabilities remain virtually nonexistent. Personnel turnover at the ports is high and Kenya currently has limited maritime interdiction capability.

Corruption continues to thwart the success of long-term port security training. Lack of resources, a problem throughout the Kenyan police force, significantly reduces the ANU's operational effectiveness.

Law Enforcement Efforts. Seizures of heroin and cannabis (and its derivatives) continued to decline from 2005 levels, while seizures of cocaine increased over 2005. Kenya seized almost 17 kg of heroin in 2006, a 14 kg decrease from the quantities seized in 2005 (all statistics on drug seizures in this section reflect the period from January to September 2006 as provided by the ANU), and arrested 76 people on heroin-related charges. The ANU concentrates its antiheroin operations at Kenya's two main international airports. There was a sharp decrease in cannabis seizures for 2006. Kenyan authorities seized 5,144 kg of cannabis and its derivatives in 2006 and arrested 2,584 suspects, down from 50,844 kg seized in 2005. The ANU was unable to provide information on cannabis crop cultivation and eradication efforts in 2006 in time for inclusion in this report. The ANU continued to operate roadblocks for domestic drug trafficking interdiction and is pursuing a variety of policy initiatives for more effective coordination with other government agencies. Weak laws, an ineffective and inefficient criminal justice system and widespread corruption are the main impediments to an effective counternarcotics strategy for Kenya.

Seizures of cocaine and arrests for cocaine trafficking increased. Kenya seized 23 kg of cocaine in 2006 and made 6 arrests, compared to 10 kg seized in 2005. Despite the high profile December 2004 record seizure of 1.1 tons of cocaine, Kenya has to date only achieved one successful prosecution related to the case. All but one of the seven defendants accused of trafficking the one-ton plus cocaine shipment seized in Malindi in 2004 were acquitted due to lack of evidence. One defendant, brother to another suspect held by Dutch authorities in connection to the case, was found guilty of drug trafficking in June and sentenced to thirty years imprisonment and fined approximately $274,000,000. He is the only suspect to be convicted in connection with the seized drugs. It is generally agreed that "smaller fish" were arrested in connection with the case, while the principal culprits responsible for trafficking the cocaine to Kenya remain at large. With the assistance of U.S., U.K., and UNODC experts, Kenya finally tested and destroyed the one-ton cocaine seizure in March 2006. Tests results allayed concerns that the integrity of the one-ton cocaine seizure had been compromised.

Corruption. Official corruption remains a significant barrier to effective narcotics enforcement at both the prosecutorial and law enforcement level. Despite Kenya's strict narcotics laws that encompass most forms of narcotics-related corruption, reports continue to link public officials with narcotics trafficking. The December 2004 cocaine seizure has heightened public concern that international drug trafficking rings enjoy protection by high-level officials for their activities in Kenya. The failure to achieve significant success in the disruption of drug traffickers' networks through arrest and prosecution of those responsible for trafficking the one-ton of cocaine raises questions about the ability or willingness of legal and law enforcement authorities to combat drug trafficking. As in previous years, airport and airline collusion and outright involvement with narcotics traffickers continued to occur in the year covered by this report.

Agreements and Treaties. Kenya is a party to the 1988 UN Drug Convention, the 1961 UN Single Convention and its 1972 Protocol, and the 1971 UN Convention on Psychotropic Substances. The 1931 U.S.-U.K. Extradition Treaty remains in force between the United States and Kenya through a 1965 exchange of notes. Kenya is a party to the UN Corruption Convention and to the UN Convention Against Transnational Organized Crime and its three protocols.

Cultivation and Production. A significant number of Kenyan farmers illegally grow cannabis on a commercial basis for the domestic market. Fairly large-scale cannabis cultivation occurs in the Lake Victoria basin, in the central highlands around Mt. Kenya, and along the coast. Officials continue to conduct aerial surveys to identify significant cannabis-producing areas in cooperation with the Kenya Wildlife Service. However, according to ANU officials, farmers are increasingly savvy about how to shield their crops from aerial detection and difficult terrain hampers eradication efforts. The ANU was unable to provide statistics on the success of their crop eradication efforts in time for inclusion in this report.

Drug Flow/Transit. Kenya is strategically located along a major transit route between Southwest Asian producers of heroin and markets in Europe and North America. Heroin normally transits Kenya by air, carried by individual couriers. A string of cocaine and heroin seizures at Jomo Kenyatta International Airport (JKIA) in spring 2006 (most from flights originating in West Africa) highlights the continuing drug trafficking problem in Kenya. While the arrests of drug "mules" may alert trafficking syndicates that enhanced profiling measures and counternarcotics efforts make JKIA an increasingly inconvenient entry/exit point for drugs, the arrests have achieved little in the way of assisting authorities to identify the individuals behind the drug trafficking networks. ANU officials continued to intercept couriers transiting land routes from Uganda and Tanzania, where it is believed the drugs arrive via air routes. The increased use of land routes demonstrates, in the minds of ANU officials, that traffickers have noted the increase in security and narcotics checks at JKIA. Postal and commercial courier services are also used for narcotics shipments through Kenya. There is evidence that poor policing along the East African coast makes this region attractive to maritime smugglers. Officials have never identified any clandestine airstrips in Kenya used for drug deliveries and believe that no such airstrips exist.

Domestic Programs/Demand Reduction. The NACADA continues to combat drug abuse, although the quasi-governmental organization's budget remains negligible. Recognizing the dearth of reliable statistics on drug abuse in Kenyan, NACADA is developing plans to conduct a comprehensive survey of the problem in 2007. Kenya continues to make progress in efforts to institute programs for demand reduction. Illegal cannabis and legal khat are the domestic drugs of choice. Heroin abuse is generally limited to members of the economic elite and a slightly broader range of users on the coast. Academics and rehabilitation clinic staff argue that heroin use in Nairobi and along the coast has grown exponentially in the past few years. Cocaine use is also expanding in urban centers. Solvent abuse is widespread (and highly visible) among street children in Nairobi and other urban centers. Demand reduction efforts have largely been limited to publicity campaigns sponsored by private donors and a UNODC project to bring antidrug education into the schools. NACADA continues to pursue demand reduction efforts via national public education programs on drug abuse. In 2006, NACADA provided e-training on drug awareness to school teachers throughout Kenya. Churches, mosques, and non-governmental organizations provide limited rehabilitation and treatment programs for heroin addicts and solvent-addicted street children. With the support of USAID, the Ministry of Health has developed two rehabilitation and drug abuse treatment facilities in Nairobi and Mombasa.

IV. U.S. Policy Initiatives and Programs

U.S. Policy Initiatives. The principal U.S. antinarcotics objective in Kenya is to interdict the flow of narcotics to the United States. A related objective is to limit the corrosive effects of narcotics-related corruption in law enforcement, the judiciary, and political institutions, which has created an environment of impunity for well-connected traffickers. The U.S. seeks to accomplish this objective through law enforcement cooperation, the encouragement of a strong Kenyan government commitment to narcotics interdiction, and strengthening Kenyan antinarcotics and overall judicial capabilities.

Bilateral Cooperation and Accomplishments. There was a modest expansion of USG bilateral cooperation with Kenya and surrounding countries on antinarcotics matters in 2006. The recent donation by ATA to the government of Kenya (GOK) of four boats (coupled with training) will enable GOK multi-agency shallow water patrols along Kenya's coastline, which should significantly improve the capacity of the GOK to patrol and secure Kenya's coastal waters and assist drug interdiction efforts on the coast. ATA is also assisting with building Kenya's capacity to patrol points of entry to and in the Port of Mombasa by providing training, refurbishing existing patrol boats, and providing two small new boats. USAID provides support to projects to develop addiction treatment services to heroin addicts in Nairobi and on the Kenyan coast. Additionally, a DOD-funded drug abuse awareness campaign raised public awareness of the growing rates of drug addiction in the coastal region.

The Road Ahead. The USG will continue to take advantage of its good relations with Kenyan law enforcement on enhancing its operational capacity, and information sharing. USG will actively seek ways to maximize antinarcotics efforts both in Kenya and throughout East Africa. Perhaps most significantly, the USG will work with local, regional, and international partners to better understand and combat the flow of international narcotics through Kenya. The USG will also continue to expand our public awareness outreach to assist demand reduction efforts in Kenya.

Lebanon

I. Summary

Lebanon is not a major illicit drug producing or drug-transit country; ho