International Training

International counternarcotics training is managed/funded by INL and carried out by the DEA, U.S. Customs and Border Service, and U.S. Coast Guard. Major objectives are:

• Contributing to the basic infrastructure for carrying out counternarcotics law enforcement activities in countries which cooperate with and are considered significant to U.S. narcotics control efforts;

• Improving technical skills of drug law enforcement personnel in these countries; and

• Increasing cooperation between U.S. and foreign law enforcement officials.

INL training continues to focus on encouraging foreign law enforcement agency self-sufficiency through infrastructure development. The effectiveness of our counternarcotics efforts overseas should be viewed in terms of what has been done to bring about the establishment of effective host country enforcement institutions, thereby taking drugs out of circulation before they begin their journey toward the United States. U.S. law enforcement personnel stationed overseas are increasingly coming to see their prime responsibility as promoting the creation of host government systems that are compatible with and serve the same broad goals as ours.

The regional training provided at the ILEAs consists of both general law enforcement training as well as specialized training for mid-level managers in police and other law enforcement agencies.

INL-funded training will continue to support the major U.S. and international strategies for combating narcotics trafficking worldwide. Emphasis will be placed on contributing to the activities of international organizations, such as the UNODC and the OAS. Through the meetings of major donors, the Dublin Group, UNODC and other international fora, we will coordinate with other providers of training, and urge them to shoulder greater responsibility in providing training, which serves their particular strategic interests.

INL will maintain its role of coordinating the activities of U.S. law enforcement agencies in response to requests for assistance from U.S. Embassies. This will avoid duplication of effort and ensure that presentations represent the full range of USG policies and procedures.

International Law Enforcement Academies (ILEAs)

The mission of the regional ILEAs has been to support emerging democracies, help protect U.S. interests through international cooperation, and promote social, political and economic stability by combating crime. To achieve these goals, the ILEA program has provided high-quality training and technical assistance, supported institution building and enforcement capability, and fostered relationships of American law enforcement agencies with their counterparts in each region. ILEAs have also encouraged strong partnerships among regional countries, to address common problems associated with criminal activity.

The ILEA concept and philosophy is a united effort by all the participants—government agencies and ministries, trainers, managers, and students alike—to achieve the common foreign policy goal of international law enforcement. The goal is to train professionals that will craft the future for the rule of law, human dignity, personal safety and global security.

The ILEAs are a progressive concept in the area of international assistance programs. The regional ILEAs offer three different types of programs. The Core program, a series of specialized training courses and regional seminars tailored to region-specific needs and emerging global threats, typically includes 50 participants, normally from three or more countries. The Specialized courses, comprised of about 30 participants, are normally one or two weeks long and often run simultaneously with the Core program. Lastly, topics of the Regional Seminars include transnational crimes, financial crimes, and counterterrorism.

The ILEAs help develop an extensive network of alumni that exchange information with their U.S. counterparts and assist in transnational investigations. These graduates are also expected to become the leaders and decision-makers in their respective societies. The Department of State works with the Departments of Justice (DOJ), Homeland Security (DHS) and Treasury, and with foreign governments to implement the ILEA programs. To date, the combined ILEAs have trained over 18,000 officials from over 75 countries in Africa, Asia, Europe and Latin America. The ILEA budget averages approximately $16-18 million annually.

Africa. ILEA Gaborone (Botswana) opened in 2001. The main feature of the ILEA is a six-week intensive personal and professional development program, called the Law Enforcement Executive Development Program (LEEDP), for law enforcement mid-level managers. The LEEDP brings together approximately 45 participants from several nations for training on topics such as combating transnational criminal activity, supporting democracy by stressing the rule of law in international and domestic police operations, and by raising the professionalism of officers involved in the fight against crime. ILEA Gaborone also offers specialized courses for police and other criminal justice officials to enhance their capacity to work with U.S. and regional officials to combat international criminal activities. These courses concentrate on specific methods and techniques in a variety of subjects, such as counterterrorism, anti-corruption, financial crimes, border security, drug enforcement, firearms and many others.

Instruction is provided to participants from Angola, Botswana, Lesotho, Malawi, Mauritius, Mozambique, Namibia, Seychelles, South Africa, Swaziland, Tanzania, Zambia, Djibouti, Ethiopia, Kenya, Uganda, Nigeria, Cameroon, Comoros, Congo, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Gabon and Madagascar.

United States and Botswana trainers provide instruction. ILEA Gaborone has offered specialized courses on money laundering/terrorist financing-related topics such as Criminal Investigation (presented by FBI) and International Banking & Money Laundering Program (presented by DHS/FLETC Federal Law Enforcement Training Center). ILEA Gaborone trains approximately 500 students annually.

Asia. ILEA Bangkok (Thailand) opened in March 1999. The ILEA focuses on enhancing the effectiveness of regional cooperation against the principal transnational crime threats in Southeast Asia—illicit drug-trafficking, financial crimes, and alien smuggling. The ILEA provides a Core course (the Supervisory Criminal Investigator Course or SCIC) of management and technical instruction for supervisory criminal investigators and other criminal justice managers. In addition, this ILEA presents one Senior Executive program and about 18 specialized courses—lasting one to two weeks—in a variety of criminal justice topics. The principal objectives of the ILEA are the development of effective law enforcement cooperation within the member countries of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), East Timor and China (including Hong Kong and Macau), and the strengthening of each country’s criminal justice institutions to increase their abilities to cooperate in the suppression of transnational crime.

Instruction is provided to participants from Brunei, Cambodia, East Timor, China, Hong Kong, Indonesia, Laos, Macau, Malaysia, Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam. Subject matter experts from the United States, Thailand, Japan, Netherlands, Philippines and Hong Kong provide instruction. ILEA Bangkok has offered specialized courses on money laundering/terrorist financing-related topics such as Computer Crime Investigations (presented by FBI and DHS/Bureau of Customs and Border Protection (BCBP)) and Complex Financial Investigations (presented by IRS, DHS/BCBP, FBI and DEA). Total annual student participation is approximately 600.

Europe. ILEA Budapest (Hungary) opened in 1995. Its mission has been to support the region’s emerging democracies by combating an increase in criminal activity that emerged against the backdrop of economic and political restructuring following the collapse of the Soviet Union. ILEA Budapest offers three different types of programs: an eight-week Core course, Regional Seminars and Specialized courses in a variety of criminal justice topics. Instruction is provided to participants from Albania, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Bulgaria, Croatia, Czech Republic, Estonia, Georgia, Hungary, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyz Republic, Latvia, Lithuania, Macedonia, Moldova, Montenegro, Poland, Romania, Russia, Serbia, Slovakia, Slovenia, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, Ukraine and Uzbekistan.

Trainers from 17 federal agencies and local jurisdictions from the United States and also from Hungary, Canada, Germany, United Kingdom, Netherlands, Ireland, Italy, Russia, Interpol and the Council of Europe provide instruction. ILEA Budapest has offered specialized courses on money laundering/terrorist financing-related topics such as Investigating/Prosecuting Organized Crime and Transnational Money Laundering (both presented by DOJ/OPDAT). ILEA Budapest trains approximately 950 students annually.

Global. ILEA Roswell (New Mexico) opened in September 2001. This ILEA offers a curriculum comprised of courses similar to those provided at a typical Criminal Justice university/college. These three-week courses have been designed and are taught by academicians for foreign law enforcement officials. This Academy is unique in its format and composition with a strictly academic focus and a worldwide student body. The participants are mid-to-senior level law enforcement and criminal justice officials from Eastern Europe; Russia; the Newly Independent States (NIS); Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) member countries; and the People’s Republic of China (including the Special Autonomous Regions of Hong Kong and Macau); and member countries of the Southern African Development Community (SADC) plus other East and West African countries; the Caribbean, Central and South American countries. The students are drawn from pools of ILEA graduates from the Academies in Bangkok, Budapest, Gaborone and San Salvador. ILEA Roswell trains approximately 450 students annually.

Latin America. ILEA San Salvador was established in 2005. The training program for the newest ILEA is similar to the ILEAs in Bangkok, Budapest and Gaborone and will offer a six-week Law Enforcement Management Development Program (LEMDP) for law enforcement and criminal justice officials as well as specialized courses for police, prosecutors, and judicial officials. In 2007, ILEA San Salvador will deliver three LEMDP sessions and about 10 Specialized courses that will concentrate on attacking international terrorism, illegal trafficking in drugs, alien smuggling, terrorist financing, financial crimes, culture of lawfulness and accountability in government.

Components of the six-week LEMDP training session will focus on terrorist financing (presented by the FBI), international money laundering (presented by DHS/ICE/Immigration and Customs Enforcement) and financial evidence/money laundering application (presented by DHS/FLETC and IRS). The Specialized course schedule will include courses on financial crimes investigations (presented by DHS/ICE) and money laundering training (presented by IRS). Instruction is provided to participants from: Argentina, Bardados, Bahamas, Belize, Bolivia, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, Dominican Republic, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Jamaica, Nicaragua, Panamá, Paraguay, Perú, Trinidad and Tobago, Uruguay and Venezuela.

The ILEA Regional Training Center located in Peru will officially open in 2007. The center will augment the delivery of region-specific training for Latin America and will concentrate on specialized courses on critical topics for countries in the Southern Cone and Andean Regions.

Drug Enforcement Administration

The primary responsibility of the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) is to reduce the threat posed to our nation by illicit narcotics through vigorous law enforcement. The majority of illegal drugs impacting American society are produced outside of the U.S. and smuggled into our country. These illegal drugs are smuggled from their country of origin and often transit other nations before arriving in the U.S. Thus, a strong international commitment to counter narcotics law enforcement is required to effectively blunt this menace. In cooperation with other U.S. agencies and foreign law enforcement counterparts, DEA strives to disrupt the illicit narcotics distribution chain; arrest and prosecute those involved in all aspects of the illegal drug trade and seize their profits and assets.

DEA’s contribution to our nation’s international counternarcotics strategy is accomplished through the 86 offices located in 62 countries that DEA maintains worldwide, in cooperation with its U.S-based offices. The DEA overseas mission is comprised of the following components:

• Conduct bilateral investigative activities;

• Coordinate intelligence gathering;

• Coordinate training programs for host country police agencies in countries receiving U.S. counternarcotics assistance;

• Assist in the development of host country drug law enforcement institutions and develop mutually beneficial law enforcement relationships with foreign law enforcement agencies.

The emphasis placed on each component is determined by conditions and circumstances within the host nation. In nations where the law enforcement infrastructure is advanced and well developed, the DEA office may tailor its activities to specific areas that best support host nation efforts. In countries lacking a robust law enforcement capability, DEA personnel may provide assistance in all four of the mission areas annotated above. The following sections highlight the assistance/joint enforcement work in which DEA played a crucial role during 2007 in support of the four established mission components.

Bilateral Investigative Activities: Important Joint Operations

Drug Flow Attack Strategy

In response to the President’s National Drug Control Strategy calling for market disruption by attacking the flow of drugs, the DEA developed an International Drug Flow Attack Strategy. The primary objective of the strategy is to cause major disruption to the flow of drugs, money, and chemicals between the source zones and the United States.

This effort began with a threat assessment to ensure the most efficient use of interagency resources for the disruption of drug trafficking organizations (DTO) in the source and transit zones. The threat assessment utilized interagency expertise as well as knowledge gained from the previous iterations of joint enforcement operations, such as Operation All Inclusive. In 2007, DEA, in conjunction with the Government of Mexico (GOM), conducted the third iteration of Operation All Inclusive, codenamed “Operation Doble Via”, which is an operational component of the Drug Flow Prevention Strategy. Operation Doble Via was a multi-agency enforcement operation. This combined effort brought together U.S. resources (DEA, Customs and Border Patrol, Immigration and Customs Enforcement, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms, the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the Department of Defense, the IC, Texas State and selected local law enforcement) with Mexico’s Cuerpo Federal de La Policia (CFP) and Mexican military units. Operation Doble Via resulted in total drug seizure results of 3,363 kilograms of cocaine, 30 kilograms of heroin, 121.8 metric tons (MT) of marijuana, 15,948 marijuana plants, 21 pounds of methamphetamine powder, 33.6 liters of liquid methamphetamine, 11,800 dosage units of MDMA, 6 liters of dangerous drugs, and $4,969,647.33 in U.S. currency, as well as the arrest of 181 individuals.

Drug Flow Attack Strategy Highlights:

• An early success of Operation Doble Via was the arrest of DTO “Gulf Cartel” “Gatekeeper” Juan Oscar Garza-Alanis. On April 14, 2007, the Mexican law enforcement arrested Garza-Alanis and four associates at a nightclub in Reynosa, Tamaulipas, Mexico. Since June 2005, Garza-Alanis has been responsible for the transportation of multi-ton quantities of cocaine and marijuana through the Reynosa, Tamaulipas/McAllen, Texas corridor on a monthly basis.

• On April 20, 2007, the Meridian, Georgia Police Department seized $5,369,270 in suspected illicit drug trafficking proceeds during a traffic stop. The driver was released pending further investigation. However, on May 20, 2007, this same driver was arrested again, this time in possession of an additional $1,609,220 by a local police force outside of Atlanta, Georgia.

• On May 13, 2007, the Texas Department of Public Safety (DPS) Narcotics Section seized $953,000 in U.S Currency from a tractor trailer driver after a traffic stop on U.S. Hwy-36 southbound near Waco, Texas. The driver was arrested. Also seized were a Colt AR 15-M-16-type .223 rifle, a Springfield 9mm pistol, and a .37 mm grenade launcher.

• On May 23, 2007, the Texas Department of Public Safety (DPS) seized $1,449,860 as the result of a traffic stop and arrested the driver. Subsequent to this seizure, the DPS executed a search warrant at the drivers’ residence that resulted in the seizure of weapons, money counters, ballistic vests and numerous documents.

• On June 2, 2007, U.S. Border Patrol agents at the Falfurrias, Texas checkpoint seized approximately 9,070 kilograms of marijuana concealed within a tractor trailer and arrested the driver.

• On June 3, 2007, the Georgia State Patrol seized $13,964,995 in suspected drug proceeds resulting from a traffic stop and arrested the driver.

• On June 24, 2007 the U.S. Border Patrol Checkpoint in Falfurrias, Texas seized 4,188 pounds of marijuana concealed within a tractor trailer and arrested the driver.

• On July 14, 2007, a DEA McAllen District Office Special Agent observed Carlos Landin, a former Mexican State Judicial Commandante (Police Official), at a local grocery store in McAllen, Texas, in the company of two Mexican males. Landin was subsequently arrested and transported to the McAllen Police Department holding facility. On July 16, 2007, Landin was charged with federal narcotics violations. Landin is a close associate of Gregorio Sauceda-Gamboa, who is in charge of the Reynosa plaza of the Gulf Cartel.

• On July 18 and 19, 2007, pursuant to information developed by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), DEA McAllen, ICE, and the South Texas High Intensity Drug Trafficking Area (HIDTA) seized a total of 1,003 kilograms of cocaine concealed within two tractor trailers. Both seizures have been linked to the Gulf Cartel. Two subjects were arrested.

• On August 6, 2007, DEA’s McAllen District Office initiated surveillance on a residence in Hidalgo, Texas, based on information forwarded by the U.S. Border Patrol Special Response Team (SRT) in McAllen, Texas. A search warrant was executed and agents seized 250 kilograms of cocaine, two vehicles, eight cellular phones, and arrested seven suspects.

DEA enforcement operations “All Inclusive” 2006-1 and 2007-1, targeted South American source regions, Eastern Pacific and Western Caribbean transit areas of the Mexico/Central America transit zones, and the Mexico and Central America land mass, to attack the drug trade’s main arteries and support infrastructure with innovative, multi-faceted, and intelligence-driven operations. Both operations exploited the maritime, overland, commercial air, and private air smuggling vulnerabilities of Mexican DTOs in the movement of drugs, money, and chemicals. DEA and other federal and host nation law enforcement and military agencies supported both operational and intelligence aspects of these operations.

Operation All Inclusive 2006-1, as with all Operation All Inclusive (OAI) operations this was an interagency effort using all available information gained from OAI 1-2005. OAI 2006-1 used the combined abilities of the Special Operations Division, the El Paso Intelligence Center, and Operation Panama Express. Pre-operational and operational intelligence was used to identify targets of interest, their vulnerabilities, and cause a sustained disruption in the flow of drugs ultimately destined for the United States. OAI 2006-1 consisted of a combination of land, air, maritime, and financial components, which were designed to synchronize interagency counter drug operations, influence illicit trafficking patterns, and increase disruptions of drug trafficking organizations. OAI 2006-1 targeted the flow of drugs, money, and chemicals within the source and transit zones in a combined effort utilizing DEA, Joint Interagency Task Force (JIATF)-South, the IC, and host counterpart capabilities.

- Operation All Inclusive 2006-1 Operational Highlights:

• Mexican Federal Police seized $2.2 million dollars in U.S. currency found inside false luggage compartments at the Mexico City Airport. Four Colombians scheduled to fly to Guadalajara, Mexico were arrested.

• Ecuadorian National Police seized 5.5 MT of cocaine packaged in 677 boxes within a maritime container. The container originated in Buenaventura, Colombia, and was en route to Colon, Panama. This was largest cocaine seizure ever made at the Port of Guayaquil.

• Fifteen cocaine-processing labs were seized and dismantled in Colombia (11 in March and four in April). A total of 92.6 MT of precursor chemicals and 500 kilograms of explosives were seized.

• Eight maritime seizures, six in the eastern Pacific and two in the Western Caribbean, totaling 16.16 metric tons of cocaine and 8 kilograms of heroin, were carried out during the operation. The largest seizure occurred on March 11, 2006, 3.3 MT of cocaine, eight kilograms of heroin, from a go-fast boat with five Colombia crewmembers.

• In Colombia, many of the smaller cocaine seizures (10 kilograms or less) from air cargo were destined for Spain.

• 5.6 MT of cocaine was seized in Mexico from a DC-9 that originated in Venezuela. This seizure is one of the largest in recent history in Mexico.

Operation All Inclusive 2007-1 was designed to disrupt the flow of drugs, money, and precursor chemicals from the source zone (South America), through the transit zone (Mexico/Central America/Caribbean), and into United States. OAI 2007-1 expanded the geographical area coverage into the central Caribbean, Bolivia, and Peru; and provided U.S. interagency analytical support to seven countries. OAI 2007-1 resulted in the seizure of 115 MT of cocaine, and approximately $390 million U.S. currency (USC), and the arrest of Consolidated Priority Organization Target (CPOT) Otto Herrera-Garcia and Priority Target Cynthia Matute.

- Operation All Inclusive 2007-1 Operational Highlights:

• March 2007 – The United States Coast Guard seized 17.4 MT of cocaine in the Eastern Pacific (EPAC). This seizure was linked to the Mexican Sinaloa Cartel.

• March 2007 – Mexican authorities seized the equivalent of $207 million in U.S. currency-equivalent in Mexico City. This is the largest U.S. currency seizure in history (approximately $204 million of the overall seizure was U.S. currency), and was made as a result of follow-up investigation regarding 18 tons of pseudoephedrine, a precursor for methamphetamine seized by Mexican authorities on December 5, 2006.

• March 2, 2007 – The arrest of Honduran national Cynthia Matute for money laundering with coordination between DEA Tegucigalpa, DEA Tampa, and the Honduran National Police. Matute is a member of a multi-ton cocaine transportation organization led by her father, Carsin William Matute-Rankin. The Matute organization has operated from the north coast of Colombia to the north coast of Honduras and surrounding islands since the late 1990s.

• June 20, 2007 – Guatemalan Priority Target suspected narcotics trafficker, Otto Roberto Herrera-Garcia, was arrested with coordination among DEA Bogotá, DEA Miami, and the DEA Special Operations Division (SOD). The Herrera organization is responsible for the importation of multi-ton quantities of cocaine from South America to Guatemala on behalf of the Mexican Sinaloa Cartel.

Operation Rum Punch. Operation Rum Punch, which ran from February 13-May 31, 2007, was part of DEA’s Operation All Inclusive 2007. Operation Rum Punch provided training and institution-building to host nation counterparts, as well as assistance in developing an intelligence package that identified DTOs utilizing and operating in Hispaniola. Cumulative seizures for the duration of this operation included 1,137 kilograms of cocaine, $427,241 U.S. currency (USC), 2 vessels, 3 cars, and 14 guns, as well as 18 arrests.

Operation Bahamas and Turks and Caicos (OPBAT). The Bahamas participates actively as a partner in Operation Bahamas and Turks and Caicos (OPBAT), a multi-agency, international drug interdiction cooperative effort established in 1982. OPBAT is the largest and oldest cooperative effort overseas by any government involved in drug enforcement. OPBAT participants on the U.S. side include DEA, U.S. Coast Guard (USCG), Department of Homeland Security, and Department of State. On the Bahamian and Turks and Caicos side, counterparts include the Royal Bahamas and Turks and Caicos Police Forces. With the departure of the U.S. Army after 21 years of support to OPBAT, the DEA Aviation Division has been given the responsibility of replacing aviation support for the program in the central Bahamas. A U.S. Embassy-hosted ceremony in Nassau on October 1, 2007, commemorated the departure of the Army’s Blackhawks and the arrival of DEA Aviation Division assets. The DEA Aviation Division’s arrival in the central Bahamas was the end result of months of planning and coordination by several organizations and DEA offices. Cumulative OPBAT statistics through December 31, 2007, include the seizure of approximately 1,789 kilograms of cocaine, 433,728 pounds of marijuana, 4 kilograms of heroin, and $7,819,860 in USC, as well as 89 arrests.

Operation Containment. Operation Containment is an intensive, multinational, law enforcement initiative established in 2002 and is led by DEA. It involves countries in Central Asia, the Caucuses, the Middle East, Europe, and Russia.

During fiscal year (FY) 2007, Operation Containment resulted in the seizure of 22.6 MT of heroin, 567 kilograms of opium gum, 11.5 MT of cannabis, 14.2 MT of precursor chemicals, and 197 arrests.

Operation Marble Palace II. In January of 2005, DEA Kabul CO agents and Afghan Narcotics Interdiction Unit (NIU) counterparts arrested Afghan Heroin Drug Kingpin Haji Baz Mohammad in Kandahar, Afghanistan. President Bush had previously designated Haji Baz Mohammad as a Drug Kingpin pursuant the Foreign Narcotics Kingpin Designation Act. Mohammad was indicted in the Southern District of New York for distributing hundreds of kilograms of heroin from Afghanistan and Pakistan to the United States, between 1990 and 2005. In October of 2005, Mohammad was extradited from Afghanistan to the United States. This represented the first Afghan drug trafficker that was extradited from Afghanistan to the U.S. to face narcotics charges. Numerous co-defendants who were part of Mohammad’s New York based cell have been prosecuted and sentenced to federal prison. In addition, there is a 25 million dollar forfeiture allegation in the Southern District of New York federal indictment. On July 11, 2006, in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York, Mohammad pled guilty to conspiracy to import heroin into the United States. On October 5, 2007, Mohammad was sentenced to 15 ½ years.

Operation Panama Express. Operation Panama Express is a joint operation designed to disrupt and dismantle major maritime drug smuggling organizations operating from the Pacific and Caribbean coasts of Colombia. The operation is conducted by DEA and several other federal, state, and local law enforcement authorities, including the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), and Joint Inter-Agency Task Force (JIATF). Since the February 2000 implementation of Operation Panama Express, 507 MT of cocaine have been seized, 170 MT of cocaine have been destroyed when vessels carrying these illicit drugs were scuttled by their crews to avoid capture or when the boats were sunk by law enforcement, and 1,478 individuals have been arrested.

Operation Raw Deal. Operation Raw Deal followed the success of DEA’s Operation Gear Grinder, which culminated in December 2005 and targeted eight of the largest steroid manufacturing companies in the world (all located in Mexico).

Under Operation Raw Deal, the DEA, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), the U.S. Postal Inspection Service and other U.S. federal agencies identified numerous underground steroids labs that predominantly purchased raw steroid powder from Chinese manufacturers/suppliers and converted the powder into a consumer usable product. This conversion was typically conducted in residences or other private structures. Besides steroids, many websites targeted also offered other dangerous drugs and chemicals such as ketamine, fentanyl, ephedrine, pseudoephedrine, and GHB.

Since Operation Raw Deal began in December 2005 a total of 143 federal search warrants were executed on targets nationwide, resulting in 124 arrests and the seizure of 56 UGLs across the United States. In addition, this operation resulted in the seizure of approximately 11.4 million steroid dosage units, as well as 242 kilograms of raw steroid powder of Chinese origin, $6.5 million in U.S. currency, 25 vehicles, three boats, 27 pill presses, and 71 weapons.

Operation Twin Oceans I. Operation Twin Oceans I was a multi-jurisdictional investigation that targeted the Pablo Rayo-Montaño DTO, a cocaine ring responsible for smuggling more than 15 tons of cocaine per month from Colombia to the streets of the U.S. and Europe. Rayo-Montaño, aka “Don Pablo,” was the commander and controller of a criminal organization. In addition, the organization worked in close association with Colombian narco-terrorist organizations such as the Autodefensas Unidas de Colombia (AUC), Fuerzas Armadas Revolucionarias de Colombia (FARC), and Norte del Valle Cartel. An international coalition spearheaded by the Brazilian Federal Police (DPF), Panamanian Judicial Police, Colombian National Police, and DEA was responsible for dismantling this international drug cartel. Rayo-Montaño was arrested by the DPF at his residence in Sao Paulo, Brazil on May 16, 2006, on charges including money laundering and conspiracy and possession with intent to distribute cocaine. He represents the 42nd Consolidated Priority Organization Target (CPOT) arrest since the inception of the program. Since May 16, 2006, Rayo-Montaño has been in jail pending extradition to U.S., and on September 26, 2007, this case was closed successfully as a CPOT investigation. As a result of outstanding international cooperation, Operation Twin Oceans I was able to identify, target, and dismantle all levels of criminal activity from the Colombian source of supply to wholesale distributors that had a direct impact on the cocaine market in the U.S. This 3-year investigation resulted in over 100 arrests and the seizure of 47.5 MT of cocaine, as well as the identification of over $100 million in assets in Mexico, Panama, Colombia, Brazil, and the United States. These assets included ships/yachts, vehicles, islands, other real property, U.S. currency, other foreign currency, bank accounts, artwork, etc.

Operation Windjammer. On May 19, 2005, based on information provided by DEA’s Cartagena Resident Office (RO), the DEA Kingston, Jamaica Country Office (CO) initiated a Priority Target Investigation that targeted a multi-ton, Jamaica-based, cocaine distributor. Through a myriad of investigative resources, the DEA Kingston CO, in conjunction with the DEA Cartagena RO, Panama CO, New York Field Division, and Special Operations Division (SOD) determined that the target distributed multi-ton quantities of cocaine to the U.S. and Europe via Panama and Mexico. On January 3, 2006, a 2-count indictment was handed down by the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia alleging that the target, his father, and 5 co-conspirators were in violation of Title 21, U.S. Code (USC), Sections 863 and 959, conspiring to transport cocaine into the U.S. In support of Operation Windjammer, the DEA Kingston CO played a significant role in obtaining vital evidence that was utilized to implicate the target in a conspiracy to transship cocaine into the U.S. As evidenced by this indictment, Operation Windjammer was tailored to assist DEA, via host nation counterparts, in pursuing Priority Target and/or significant narcotics traffickers impacting the U.S. via Jamaica. Cumulative statistics through December 31, 2007, resulting from the success of Operation Windjammer include the seizure of 195 pounds of hashish oil and 13 tons of marijuana, as well as 18 arrests.

Project Cohesion. Project Cohesion is an international chemical precursor control initiative that is run under the auspices of the International Narcotics Control Board (INCB) to track the flow of the cocaine precursor, potassium permanganate, and the heroin precursor, acetic anhydride. Project Cohesion was created in October 2005 by combining the former INCB sponsored projects: Operation Topaz and Operation Purple. The combined steering committee of these two operations determined that while Operations Topaz and Purple had been effective in their time, changes needed to be made to reinvigorate these projects. Under the auspices of the INCB, Project Cohesion maintains the system of Central National Authorities (CNAs) for the use of Pre-Export Notification (PEN) system for both of these substances. Project Cohesion is committed to adopting a regional approach to increase arrests and chemical seizures. In addition, the project is committed to increasing the efficiency of sharing intelligence and enforcement activities so that the real time exchange suspect consignment information can be obtained.

Project Prism. This project,which began in June 2002, is an initiative sponsored by the INCB under the United Nations. The initiative is aimed at assisting governments in developing countries and implementing operating procedures to more effectively control and monitor trade in Amphetamine Type Stimulants (ATS) precursors, used mainly in the production of methamphetamine and Ecstasy, in order to prevent their diversion. A task force oversees the initiation of individual operations and ensures the sharing of information, intelligence, and resulting findings.

At the 49th Commission on Narcotic Drugs in Vienna, Austria, in March, 2006, the United States sponsored a resolution, entitled “Strengthening Systems for Control of Precursor Chemicals Used in the Manufacture of Synthetic Drugs,” involving the synthetic drug precursors ephedrine, pseudoephedrine, as well as preparations containing these substances, 3-4 methylenedioxyphenyl-2-propanone and phenyl-2-propanone (P2P). Under the terms of this resolution, member countries were strongly urged to estimate the licit market for certain methamphetamine dual-use precursor chemicals, and provide that information to the INCB to assist enforcement officials in identifying excess shipments of these chemicals which might be diverted to illicit uses.

In June 2006, the Project Prism Task Force agreed to a voluntary operation focusing on the trade of ephedrine, pseudoephedrine and ephedra, including pharmaceutical preparations to the extent possible, to the Americas, Africa, and Middle East. During the operation approximately 53 tons of questionable shipments of ephedrine were suspended, stopped, or seized. The INCB issued 35 notifications to the task force members containing information on suspicious shipments.

Coordinate Intelligence Gathering

Colombia—DEA Colombia expanded its joint intelligence gathering efforts with Colombian agencies in 2007. The objectives of these intelligence gathering programs include information related to new groups emerging from the demobilization process of paramilitary organizations, intelligence on methamphetamine production and transportation in Colombia, information related to Colombia/Venezuela cross-border drug trafficking activity, and a final intelligence program which targeted the Colombian Ports and the transportation organizations using the ports.

Europe/Africa—Law enforcement information, seizures, and market indicators suggest that increasing amounts of cocaine are being smuggled from South America to European markets, including through West Africa. Multi-ton quantities of cocaine are smuggled to Europe via several African countries, to include Nigeria, Ghana, Togo, Benin, Guinea-Bissau, Cape Verde, Morocco, Mauritania, Senegal, Ivory Coast and Guinea-Conakry. In order to combat these networks, DEA, in coordination with European and African law enforcement agencies, has developed and implemented a program to gain increased understanding of narcotics trafficking in West Africa, fill intelligence gaps, and promote intelligence sharing.

Europe/Asia/Africa—From January 1 through June 30, 2007, 65 countries participated in an operation focusing on the trade of ephedrine, pseudoephedrine, ephedra, and pharmaceutical preparations containing those chemicals, moving in nominally licit trade to the Americas, Africa and West Asia. Analysis of data obtained during this operation has clearly identified a trend for trafficking organizations to target and exploit regions, specifically the African continent and certain Middle Eastern nations, for transiting of these precursor chemicals before they are diverted to illicit uses.

China—DEA has been working closely with law enforcement agencies in China, Pakistan, and Afghanistan to target the flow of Afghan heroin to China. Authorities in all three countries have reported increased arrests of couriers smuggling Afghan heroin to China. Increased intelligence sharing among the countries has led to the identification and disruption of several West African drug trafficking organizations. Investigations have revealed that West African criminal networks are the primary smugglers of Afghan heroin into China.

Mexico—During the first six months of 2007, DEA detected a significant decrease in cocaine availability in the United States, due in large part to the Government of Mexico’s (GOM) counternarcotics efforts. The GOM’s increase in counternarcotics operations, including key usage of checkpoints along lucrative drug routes as well as highly successful U.S.-led operations in the transit zone, effectively interdicted the supply of cocaine into the United States via the southwest border. The price of cocaine in the United States rose by 44 percent, from $95.35 per gram of pure cocaine to $136.93 per gram of pure cocaine, while the purity decreased by 15 percent, from 66.9 percent to 56.7 percent.

Centers for Drug Information—During the 2002 Summit of the Americas, the Heads of State in the Western Hemisphere adopted several resolutions calling for the intensification of collaborative efforts in the fight against illicit drugs in the Americas. As part of the response to these resolutions, the International Drug Enforcement Conference (IDEC) Presidents and the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) developed a regional strategy to target transnational drug trafficking organizations. One of the solutions proposed was the creation of the Centers for Drug Information (CDI). The IDEC Regional Presidents unanimously approved the proposal and DEA was tasked with implementing the CDI Program. The CDI Program is a web-based program using the internet as its communication backbone. The Centers were designed to provide coordination, analysis, and daily summaries of events that have occurred and are staffed by analysts from the host nation, the Joint Interagency Task Force-South (JIATF-S) and DEA.

This DEA managed initiative became operational during June 2003, with 41 participating countries and protectorates located throughout the Caribbean, Mexico and Central America and South America. A fifth Regional Center (Kabul, Afghanistan) was established in 2005. The program presently supports 48 countries and protectorates and includes over 250 users.

Coordinate Training Programs for Host Nation Police Agencies

DEA’s international training activities are conducted in coordination with DEA’s foreign offices, U.S. Embassies, and the Department of State, Bureau for International Narcotics and Law Enforcement Affairs (INL).

International Law Enforcement Academy (ILEA) Training Programs

Recognizing that the pervasive influence of organized transnational crime threatens the stability and rule of law in emerging democracies around the world, the ILEA program was established by the U.S. Department of State in 1995. Currently, there are four ILEAs operating in Budapest, Hungary; Bangkok, Thailand; Gaborone, Botswana; and San Salvador, El Salvador. Funding for the ILEAs is provided by the Department of State, INL. ILEAs offer a program of mid-career leadership training for regional police and other enforcement officers, as well as specific training programs arranged in accordance with regional interests. DEA’s role is to provide counternarcotics course instruction and best practices for the core supervisory sessions, as well as specialized training courses at the ILEAs.

DEA’s International Training Section (TRI) provides one-week of counter narcotics training at each of the five annual eight-week sessions of law enforcement training at the ILEA in Budapest, Hungary. Twenty-six countries from Central Asia, Eastern Europe, and the former Soviet Union participate in ILEA Budapest training. In addition to offering training at the eight-week sessions, TRI also conducts a one-week Drug Unit Commander Course.

ILEA-Bangkok began offering courses in March 1999. DEA has held the Directorship at ILEA Bangkok since its inception. The ILEA Bangkok core program of instruction is the six-week Supervisory Criminal Investigator Course (SCIC). TRI provides seven days of instruction during the SCIC for 13 countries from Southeast Asia. DEA also offers several specialized courses at ILEA Bangkok.

ILEA Gaborone, Botswana, became operational in 2001. ILEA Gaborone training includes a six-week supervisor’s course, the Law Enforcement Executive Development and a number of specialized courses. TRI provides four days of counter narcotics training at each of the four Executive Development sessions, and a one-week Regional Chemical Control Training Seminar. ILEA Gaborone conducts training for 23 eligible southern African countries.

San Salvador, El Salvador, was selected in 2005 as the permanent venue for ILEA Latin America, and the first six-week pilot training program was conducted at the Academia Nacional De Seguridad Publica (ANSP) academy. It is anticipated that a new academy to serve Central and South America, as well as the Caribbean will be built on ANSP grounds. DEA serves as the Deputy Director for ILEA San Salvador, which also conducts specialized training courses at an alternate training venue, a Regional Training Center in Lima, Peru. ILEA San Salvador provides training of law enforcement officials from 30 participating Latin American countries. TRI provides five days of instruction at each of the four annual Law Enforcement Management Development Program sessions, as well as several specialized courses. A total of 841 participants were trained during FY 2007 at the ILEAs.

Bilateral Training Programs

TRI offers both in-country and regional training programs conducted by mobile training teams. In-country programs are seminars conducted in a host country and only include participants from that country. Regional training is designed to bring together a combination of participants from a number of countries sharing common drug trafficking issues or routes. An advance pre-school planning and assessment trip is conducted by a training team member to design each school to the specific requirements of the students registered for the courses. In FY 2007, TRI conducted bilateral training seminars funded by INL for 589 participants from 18 countries.

Asset Forfeiture/Money Laundering Training Programs

Three Department of Justice (DOJ)/Asset Forfeiture Money Laundering Seminars are offered: an International Asset Forfeiture Seminar, an Advanced International Asset Forfeiture Seminar, and a Money Laundering Seminar. An inter-agency group in Washington coordinates funding for approximately six of these seminars per year. The actual training modules to be offered at International Asset Forfeiture and Money Laundering programs are developed by TRI in a joint effort with DOJ. During FY 2007, a total of 214 participants from five countries were trained at Basic and Advanced Asset Forfeiture/Money Laundering Seminars.

International Narcotics Enforcement Management Seminar (INEMS) Program

The INEMS is a three-week program funded by the Department of State conducted by the International Training Section of DEA held in the United States for upper-level law enforcement managers. In addition to management concepts, the supervisors are exposed to the current and innovative enforcement techniques used by DEA and other U.S. enforcement agencies. Each country trainee group is required to present an overview of the narcotics situation in their home country. FY 2007’s INEMS No. 85 included 15 participants from 15 countries and was conducted in Clearwater Beach, Florida.

North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO)-Russia Council Counter Narcotics Training Project

DEA provides mobile training teams to support the NATO-Russia Council (NRC) Training Project on Counter Narcotics training of Afghan and Central Asian personnel. This project is implemented by the UNODC. The mobile training seminars are being conducted in each of the Central Asia countries of Tajikistan, Kyrgyzstan, Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan, and Turkmenistan. NRC training programs will occur throughout FY 2008 in Afghanistan and Central Asia and is supported by DEA by sending experienced instructors to Academies in Russia and Turkey, as well as Tajikistan, Kyrgyzstan, Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan, and Turkmenistan.

DEA’s fourth Key Mission Objective is to assist in the development of host country drug law enforcement institutions and form effective cooperative relationships with foreign law enforcement organizations.

The DEA tries to help foreign countries fight drug criminals by identifying and working with those foreign law enforcement organizations which have the integrity and the courage to develop and pass strong counternarcotics laws and build strong law enforcement institutions into existence to suppress crime. For example, DEA’s successful operations in concert with the Colombian National Police (CNP) are an outgrowth of its long-term, strategy to develop strong working relationships with reliable, honest governmental institutions. The fact that the CNP has been able to remain steadfast in the face of continuing threats of violence and the temptations of corruption by DTOs is a testimony to the honesty and valor of its leadership, and individual member officers. The DEA has excellent working relationships with law enforcement in other countries as well, and these partnerships have resulted in tremendous successes across the globe. DEA’s cooperative efforts with host countries have helped DEA to develop more self-sufficient, effective drug law enforcement programs.

The DEA actively participates in several international forums to promote international law enforcement cooperation. One forum is the annual International Drug Enforcement Conference (IDEC) that brings together upper-level drug law enforcement officials from around the world to share drug-related intelligence and develop operational strategies that can be used against international drug traffickers. The yearly conferences focus on such areas of common concern as the growing sophistication of drug trafficking organizations and money laundering.

United States Coast Guard

Overview

The Coast Guard’s multiyear campaign plan to combat the dynamic maritime drug trafficking threat, Campaign Steel Web, is continually evolving to reflect changes in drug trafficking trends.

Steel Web is fully aligned with the National Drug Control Strategy (NDCS), the National Interdiction Command and Control Plan (NICCP), national security and other directives complementing the contributions of our law enforcement (DOJ/DEA, DHS/ICE, CIS, CBP and local LEAs) and DoD partners in this effort.

Three pillars form the foundation of Steel Web:

• Flexible, Intelligence Driven Operations: On an individual basis as well as being major actionable intelligence providers for Joint Interagency Task Force South (JIATF-S), United States Coast Guard (USCG) Operational Commanders aggressively conduct and support coordinated, flexible and dynamic operations in the transit zone in response to tactical intelligence and information. The Coast Guard also continues to coordinate operations with local, state, and federal law enforcement and Defense agencies.

• International Engagement: The Coast Guard continues to emphasize international partnering, including the planning and execution of both large and small-scale joint and combined operations, as well as the pursuit and judicious use of bilateral maritime agreements and International Maritime Interdiction Support (IMIS) arrangements throughout the theaters of operations. Additionally, Coast Guard provides Training and Technical Assistance to partner nation’s maritime services to serve as force multipliers in drug trafficking operations.

• Technological Initiatives: Coast Guard is actively addressing operational shortfalls through research, developing and fielding detection, monitoring, and non-lethal endgame technologies, such as Airborne Use of Force and Fuel Neutralization, to enhance effectiveness and greatly increase the chances for success against drug traffickers.

The keys to success of Steel Web have been adherence to the concept of centralized operational planning and decentralized execution, which includes maintaining the flexibility to respond to tactical intelligence and information; pursuit of international engagement opportunities, which occur at the tactical, theater and strategic levels; partnering with law enforcement officials of other nations, which helps develop indigenous interdiction forces and enhances the cumulative impact of interdiction efforts directed at drug traffickers in the region; and maintenance and training support through deployable training teams, resident training and subject matter expert exchanges, which improves the effectiveness of our counternarcotics partners.

Combined Operations

The Coast Guard conducted several maritime counternarcotics combined operations in 2007 in coordination and/or cooperation with military and law enforcement forces from: Colombia, Jamaica, the United Kingdom and its Overseas Territories, Netherlands and Netherlands Antilles, Belgium, and France and its Overseas Territories. In FY2007, Law Enforcement Detachments (LEDETs) conducting combined operations onboard British Naval Vessels removed[1] a total of 12,784 pounds of cocaine.

International Agreements

There are now 26 bilateral maritime counternarcotics agreements in place between the U.S. and our Central, South American and Caribbean partner nations, moving toward our goal of eliminating safe havens for drug smugglers. Most recently, the USCG signed a set of operational procedures with the Bureau of Coastal Navy & Merchant Affairs of Ecuador, which facilitate cooperation in cases involving Ecuadorian flagged vessels suspected of engaging in maritime drug smuggling activities. Discussions for a similar agreement with Peru are in progress. In addition, the United States, Belize and France have signed and taken the necessary steps to bring the Caribbean Regional Maritime Counterdrug Agreement (CRA) into force; however, two more countries need to take action for the CRA to come into effect.

International Cooperative Efforts

In FY 2007 the Coast Guard disrupted 65 drug smuggling attempts, which resulted in the seizure of 37 vessels, the arrest of 188 suspected smugglers, and the removal of 355,755 pounds of cocaine and 10,385 pounds of marijuana. Nearly all of the 65 events involved some type of foreign support or cooperation, either through direct unit participation, exercise of bilateral agreements, granting permission to board, or logistics support.

In an effort to stymie law enforcement efforts, DTOs developed a new tactic utilizing fishing vessels to smuggle liquid cocaine. The USCG discovered aboard Colombian and Ecuadorian flagged fishing vessels liquid cocaine mixed in with diesel fuel. Working closely with DEA chemists, the USCG developed testing methods that led to the seizure of 27,512 lbs of liquid cocaine. Cooperation by the flag states was critical to the successful interdiction of these vessels.

The USCG embarked ship riders from Guatemala, Nicaragua, Costa Rica, Belize, Honduras, The Bahamas, and Palau to exercise bilateral agreements, improve cooperation, and maximize the efforts of law enforcement assets on the high seas, and in the territories of partner nations.

International Training and Technical Assistance

In FY2007, the USCG provided International Training and Technical Assistance in support of drug interdiction programs through a variety of support efforts.

The three-person USCG Technical Assistance Field Team (TAFT) provides engineering expertise, vessel assessments, and major repair contracting services to the maritime services of the countries in the Eastern Caribbean’s Regional Security System. USCG ships used the service’s new legislative authority “to conduct training and technical assistance in conjunction with normal operations” in several countries to continue the USCG’s international engagement mission. Several USCG engineering deployments provided crucial technical assistance to the Haitian Coast Guard and aided the Haitian Coast Guard’s efforts to improve the operational readiness of its small boat fleet. The USCG fielded a training detachment in support of the U.S. SOUTHCOM’s Global Fleet Station deployment to six Caribbean countries during the summer of 2007. This detachment led training courses in port security, outboard motor maintenance, and small boat seamanship. The USCG continued to serve as the maritime coordinator of the annual TRADEWINDS multinational exercise. Seventy-eight members from 13 regional maritime services participated in engineering, navigation and seamanship exercises designed to improve operational capabilities at TRADEWINDS 2007 in Belize. The USCG is partnering with U.S. Navy forces off the Gulf of Guinea to plan the Global Fleet Station-like concept called Africa Partnership Station during the winter 2007 and spring 2008.

The USCG’s International Training Division’s Mobile Training Teams deliver one-to-two-week long courses to partner nation maritime services around the world. Typical courses include Maritime Law Enforcement (MLE), Boarding and Advanced Boarding Officer, Joint MLE Boarding, Maritime Operations Planning and Management, MLE Instructor, Port Security/ Port Vulnerability and Small Boat Operations. Courses consist of formal classroom instruction with either on-board or on-locale hands-on skill training. In FY 2007, over 1,400 students from 43 countries from around the world received instruction.

Individual students also receive instruction in USCG resident training programs. These students develop a broad range of skills from boat handling and boat and engine repair to senior officer leadership training. In FY 2007, 178 students from 53 partner nations enrolled in resident courses at USCG training installations.

In FY 2007 and early FY 2008, the first and second Eastern Pacific Ocean Trilateral Maritime Counternarcotics Summits involving the U.S., Ecuador and Colombia, were held in Bogota and Guayaquil respectively. These Summits have resulted in significant improvements in information flow and operational coordination that have enhanced our collective ability to combat illicit narcotics smuggling. The Summits are held on a semi-annual basis.