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International Narcotics Control Strategy Report, 1998
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BRAZIL
I. Summary
Brazil made substantial progress in heightening its counternarcotics posture in 1998. President Fernando Henrique Cardoso declared illicit narcotics a matter of national concern and created a new National Anti-Drug Secretariat (SENAD) to coordinate all counternarcotics programs and efforts. In February, Brazil's congress, passed long-pending anti-money laundering legislation, and enacted legislation permitting the military to intercept unauthorized civilian aircraft, including those suspected of smuggling narcotics. However, a two-year-old omnibus counternarcotics bill remained pending in the Congress at year's end.
Brazil continues to be a major transit country for illicit drugs shipped to the United States and Europe, and the country's domestic drug problem continues to grow. A wave of violence striking Sao Paulo and Rio de Janeiro is closely linked with drugs and was a major factor in the President's decision to form SENAD and appoint Brazil's first drug czar.
Brazil's large territory, especially the sparsely populated Amazon region, provides traffickers with numerous air, river, and road routes, as well as seaports and airports, to transship illicit drugs. Brazil cooperated with its neighbors, particularly Peru and Colombia, to apply pressure on the smuggler "air bridge" flights that carry illicit drugs across western Brazil.
Federal Police reported having seized just over six metric tons of cocaine in 1998, nearly two metric tons more than was seized in 1997. However, as Brazil has no system for compiling all drug seizure and arrest statistics, including those generated by state and local police forces, it is believed that actual narcotics seizures may well be higher than those reflected in Federal Police reports.
Although there is no large-scale illicit drug crop cultivation, Brazil is a major producer of precursor chemicals and synthetic drugs.
As one of its primary tasks, the new SENAD has been assigned the duty of coordinating all counternarcotics interdiction efforts, to include those of local, state, and Federal Police, and the Brazilian military. The recently named head of SENAD, a retired army general, faces the challenge of enhancing interagency cooperation. Meanwhile, the resources of the Federal Police--Brazil's primary interdiction agency--continued to be stretched. Responding, in part, to public pressure, Brazilian authorities on all levels of government continued to expand drug awareness and education programs in 1998; SENAD is also charged with developing and overseeing drug demand reduction and education, as well as drug rehabilitation programs.
Brazil signed the 1988 UN Drug Convention in 1991 and endeavors to meet all the goals and objectives of the convention. An omnibus counternarcotics law, approved by the Lower House of the Brazilian Congress (the Chamber of Deputies) in December 1996 and which would formally implement most remaining aspects of the UN Drug Convention, awaits final action in the Brazilian Senate. Although the draft law was scheduled to come to a vote at the end of 1998, a delay ensued when a National Narcotics Conference called for key changes to be incorporated into the bill.
Brazil has a bilateral narcotics agreement and a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with the U.S. that provide for bilateral counternarcotics cooperation. Brazil also cooperates bilaterally with several other countries and participates in multilateral counternarcotics initiatives such as the UN Drug Control Program (UNDCP) and the Organization of American States/Anti-drug Abuse Control Commission (OAS/CICAD).
II. Status of Country
Brazil is primarily a conduit for cocaine base moving from the Andean Ridge cultivation areas to processing laboratories in Colombia. It is also a transit point for cocaine hydrochloride (HCl) bound from Colombia and other neighboring countries to North America, Europe, and Brazil's own population centers. A low-grade, boiled-base cocaine, locally dubbed "crack," developed in Bolivia, has found its way to the country's southern cities. Finally, there are indications that small but growing quantities of heroin entered the country from Colombia.
In recent years, Brazil's vast western region has been used by narcotics traffickers to sustain an "airbridge" to avoid the airspace in Peru and Colombia, which maintain active aerial interdiction policies. An extensive Amazonian riverine transportation network also helps carry drugs to Atlantic ports for transshipment elsewhere. This network is also used to transport precursor chemicals, many of which are manufactured in Brazil, to narcotics processing laboratories upriver, primarily in Colombia.
In Brazil's southern region, drugs are coming from Bolivia and Peru (moved via overland and aerial routes) to the major cities which, according to surveys and other data, have the highest rates of drug usage in the country. Major seaports at Santos, Rio de Janeiro, and Rio Grande, as well as international airports at Sao Paulo, Rio de Janeiro, and Porto Alegre, serve as dispatch points for these drugs.
Brazil's Congress in February 1998 passed a law criminalizing money laundering for the first time. Brazil's strict bank secrecy laws and its highly developed financial networks make the country vulnerable to money laundering activity. For example, sizable amounts of cash are deposited in small banks in border areas, particularly in the Brazil-Paraguay-Argentina tri-border area, then transferred from these small border banks to larger financial institutions in the country's banking centers.
The Brazilian Congress in February 1998 also approved a law that authorized the military to interdict civilian aircraft, with force if necessary. We understand that the Brazilian Government may decide to use this new law in some circumstances to disable aircraft in flight carrying suspected narcotics traffickers. As of year's end, the Brazilian Government was developing regulations governing appropriate application of the law. Brazil has already begun to put in place an Amazon Surveillance System (SIVAM) to provide an integrated air and land-based radar system to detect trafficking and other illicit activity in the thinly populated region.
Drug usage, primarily among young people, continues to climb. Abuse of hard drugs such as the local version of "crack" cocaine and similar substances increased in Brazilian cities and even in some smaller towns along trafficker routes. Sharing of needles by drug abusers is contributing to the spread of AIDS. U.S.-supported drug demand reduction projects, exist in several cities, and the new Anti-Drug Secretariat has as part of its mandate the duty to develop and oversee drug prevention and treatment programs.
III. Country Action Against Drugs in 1998
Policy Initiatives. Brazil's major counternarcotics policy initiative was the formation of the new National Anti-Drug Secretariat (SENAD), which establishes a venue reporting through the head of the military household directly to the President, for coordinating counternarcotics activities nationwide. Key legal initiatives, such as passage of money laundering and aerial interdiction legislation, confirmed Brazil's commitment and provided important tools for use in counternarcotics efforts.
While omnibus counternarcotics legislation still awaits approval in the Brazilian Senate, indications are that the bill reportedly is being held to allow SENAD input for suggested changes to the draft law. In addition, at the behest of his new drug czar, President Cardoso signed several decrees to support counternarcotics programs, including one that permits the government to seize and auction off assets belonging to suspected narcotics traffickers before they have been convicted. A revised National Defense Policy, inaugurated in late 1996, extends the military's border control mandate to include defense against organized crime elements. While the policy does not specifically target narcotics smuggling, it has allowed the military to assist police counternarcotics operations in the Amazon.
Federal Police heightened surveillance of the Amazon region and also carried on lengthy counternarcotics investigations countrywide. As a result of these efforts, total Federal Police cocaine seizures were somewhat above the relatively low levels achieved in 1996 and 1997, but marijuana seizures were significantly down about 10 percent from 1997. Staffing, resources, and coordination problems continue to significantly hamper the Federal Police and other law enforcement agencies. The lack of a centralized arrest and seizure reporting system contributes to the appearance that interdiction efforts yield only limited results.
Accomplishments. Federal counternarcotics interdiction efforts focused on the Amazon region in 1998. The Federal Police seized 250 kilograms of cocaine HC1, the biggest seizure of the year. For the year ending in July 1998, Federal Police operations in the Amazon region (operation Porras II and Bloqueio) had netted seizures of 985 kilograms of cocaine, 16 aircraft, 32 boats, and a variety of other contraband goods valued at approximately $5.2 million. Federal Police also had destroyed 18 clandestine airfields, some of which were subsequently rebuilt. In addition, 96 suspects were indicted, and 46 suspects arrested and charged with drug trafficking offences.
Federal Police in March 1998 seized 950 grams of heroin (the largest heroin seizure in Brazil since 1994) that an Italian national was bringing in through Rio's international airport. The Italian, who owned a guest house in the resort town of Porto Seguro in Bahia, had brought the drug from India and apparently was planning on distributing it locally in Porto Seguro.
As an illustration of the possible magnitude of state-level seizures not included in centralized statistics, the Rio de Janeiro state civil police reported taking 570 kilograms of cocaine and 4 metric tons of marijuana, in the month of September. Earlier in the year, 400 Sao Paulo state military police and 200 Denarc civil police counternarcotics agents occupied a favela, or urban slum, in east Sao Paulo that is the main supplier of drugs to the "ABC" industrial area south of the city, and other parts of Sao Paulo. Among the 32 individuals detained was Jeonildes Lima Santos, believed to be Sao Paulo's main drug trafficker. Police seized 5 kilograms of local "crack" 40 kilograms of cocaine HCl, and 27 weapons including a submachine gun, pistols, revolvers, and a rifle.
Lacking inclusion of comprehensive state-level seizures, Federal Police reports would not provide a very complete picture of Brazil's counternarcotics activities.
Illicit Cultivation/Production. Except for some cannabis grown primarily for domestic consumption in the interior of the northeast region, there is no evidence of significant cultivation of illicit drugs in Brazil. Authorities identified no coca or opium cultivation in 1998 and, for the first time in five years, two cocaine-producing laboratories were identified. Brazil does produce illicit psychotropic drugs, such as LSD and amphetamines, as well as anabolic steroids and such "designer" drugs as Rohypnol, the so-called "date rape" drug, which is smuggled to Florida.
Distribution. Extensive domestic distribution networks have developed in major and secondary metropolitan areas in Brazil. Federal counternarcotics police and state authorities have initiated investigations of these networks, which are largely responsible for the significant increase in violence experienced by such cities as Sao Paulo and Rio de Janeiro. Access to the favelas, surrounding several cities in Rio de Janeiro, Sao Paulo, and Porto Alegre, is controlled by local drug lords.
Sale, Transport, and Financing. Federal Police in 1998 continued to focus their efforts on the western Amazon region, which began in 1997 as "Operation Porras." Despite these successes, law enforcement efforts were hampered by a lack of resources and the vast Amazon region remains difficult to police adequately, with narcotics moving across the region both by airplane and along the extensive river system. Some authorities maintain a majority of the cocaine shipped down the Amazon is destined for the United States. Manaus, the largest fresh-water port on the river, and Macapa and Belem on the Atlantic, serve as transshipment points for drugs coming from Colombia, Peru, and Bolivia to be switched to ships bound for the U.S. and elsewhere.
Extradition. Brazil does not extradite its own citizens. Brazil cooperates with other countries in the extradition of non-Brazilian nationals accused of narcotics-related crimes. Brazil and the U.S. are parties to a bilateral extradition treaty signed in 1961. In April 1998, Brazil allowed the extradition to the U.S. of an accused Colombian narcotics smuggler linked to multi-ton cocaine shipments.
Mutual Legal Assistance. The U.S. and Brazil signed a bilateral Mutual Legal Assistance Treaty (MLAT) during the visit of President Clinton to Brazil in October 1997. The U.S. Senate ratified this agreement in January 1999, but it still awaits the advice and consent of the Brazilian senate. When it goes into effect this treaty will support efforts by Brazil to deal with narcotics trafficking and organized crime, as well as other offenses.
Law Enforcement and Transit Cooperation. Top Brazilian counternarcotics officials in the SENAD in 1998 expressed a strong interest in more active cooperation, and coordination with the U.S. in drug control activities.
U.S.Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) agents were again invited in 1998 to observe Federal Police operations in the Amazon region, and information sharing with Brazilian authorities has progressed well. Cooperation with authorities in neighboring countries, particularly in Colombia, Peru, and Bolivia, also enhanced regional efforts to hinder the smuggler "air bridge."
Precursor Chemical Control. Brazil, South America's largest producer of industrial chemicals, requires registration with federal narcotics police for all production, transport, and distribution of precursor chemicals. A 1995 law places eleven chemicals under control, sets minimum thresholds for reporting and record keeping on transactions, provides for import and export licensing, and fixes substantial administrative penalties for noncompliance. However, a lack of resources prevents active government follow-up or verification of most shipments and/or their ultimate destinations, although compliance with the permit process at least appears to be widespread. Nevertheless, diversion of chemicals such as ether and acetone to neighboring Colombia, Peru, and Bolivia occurs. The United Nations Drug Control Program (UNDCP) in September 1998 initiated a $9 million program, for increasing precursor chemical control.
Demand Reduction. With the creation of SENAD in 1998, Brazil elevated its focus on drug demand reduction and education, as well as on rehabilitation of drug users, to the highest level. At the end of November 1998, SENAD hosted a National Anti-Drug conference attended by nearly 2,000 interested professionals and other parties from throughout the country. The conclusion of this conference was that, as a matter of national policy, Brazil should put even more focus on demand reduction, education, and treatment than on interdiction. Most of Brazil's demand reduction efforts are aimed primarily at young people, who constitute the largest group of drug users. TheU.S., through its counternarcotics funds, helps support demand reduction and drug education programs in Brazil. One major focus has been on the PROERD (Programa Educacional de Resistencia a Violencia e as Drogas) program, based on the American DARE (Drug Abuse Resistance Education) model. PROERD provides training to uniformed state military police drug education volunteers in 17 of Brazil's 26 states, as well as in the federal district. A major accomplishment in 1998 was the decision by the acting public security director in the state of Rio de Janeiro to reinstitute PROERD, which had been closed down by his predecessor in 1995. As a symbol of its support for Brazil's efforts with PROERD, DARE International will hold its worldwide conference in February 1999 in the state of Sao Paulo, which has been the focus of all PROERD programs in Brazil since the demise of the Rio program in 1995. Most Brazilian states and cities conduct some drug awareness campaigns.
Law Enforcement Efforts. The Federal Police seized 5.8 metric tons of cocaine in 1998, nearly 2 metric tons more than they seized in 1997 but nearly double the 3.1 metric tons seized in 1996. Marijuana (cannabis) seizures of just under 29 metric tons were about 10 percent below 1997 levels, when nearly 32 metric tons were taken. Seizures of marijuana were markedly up in the southeastern and central regions and down in the main marijuana cultivation areas in the northeast. Most cocaine seized derived from the northern region, including the majority of the Amazon region. Seizures of psychotropic drugs registered a 40-fold increase over the 1997 level, but about a quarter of the total psychotropics taken in 1998--25,000--were taken in just three raids in one day in the Northeastern state of Ceara.
U.S. efforts were successful in helping to block the court-approved transfer to Manaus of Antonio Mota Graca, a major Brazilian trafficker responsible for facilitating a large part of the Cali drug cartel's cocaine in and through Brazil to international markets. Federal Police suspected that Mota Graca was planning to escape following his transfer to Manaus.
Corruption. The Brazilian government, as a matter of policy and practice, does not condone production, shipment, or distribution of illicit drugs or laundering of drug money; nor do senior government officials engage in, encourage, or facilitate such activities. Brazil's new money laundering legislation contains provisions to assist law enforcement in uncovering and hindering official corruption as well.
Agreements and Treaties. Brazil became a party to the 1988 UN Drug Convention in 1991, although it still lacks legislation, in the form of the pending omnibus counternarcotics bill, formally implementing all of the provisions of the Convention. Legislation outlawing money laundering was passed in February 1997. While the provisions of the pending omnibus law are needed to bring Brazil into full compliance with the UN convention, in practice Brazil meets many of its overall objectives. Bilateral agreements based on the 1988 convention form the basis for counternarcotics cooperation between the U.S. and Brazil. Brazil also has bilateral narcotics control agreements with all its South American neighbors, and with Germany and Italy. The Federal Police share liaison on counternarcotics matters with the U.S., Germany, Great Britain, France, The Netherlands, and Italy through narcotics officers of those countries posted to their embassies in Brasilia. Brazil has agreements facilitating extradition and integrating police operations with its Mercosur partners (Argentina, Uruguay, and Paraguay) and participates in a wide range of counternarcotics programs sponsored by UNDCP.
IV. U.S. Policy Initiatives and Programs
Policy Initiatives. U.S. counternarcotics policy in Brazil focuses on working with Brazilian authorities to identify and dismantle international narcotics trafficking organizations, reduce money laundering, and increase awareness of the dangers of drug trafficking and abuse. Assisting Brazil to develop a strong legal structure for narcotics and money laundering control and enhancing cooperation at the policy level are key goals. Bilateral agreements, provide for cooperation between U.S. agencies and the National Anti-Drug Secretariat, the Federal Police, other federal and state agencies, PROERD, and other organizations.
Bilateral Cooperation. The Brazil President's new drug czar expressed strong interest in a close and cooperative relationship with the U.S. in counternarcotics matters, but relations on the working level with some agencies, notably the Federal Police, could be improved.
Bilateral programs that took place in 1998 included. a month-long training course offered by DEA in the Washington area for a group of Federal Police officers hand-picked to be part of a special intelligence counternarcotics unit; attendance of three Brazilian officials to an OAS-funded Regional Port Security Course in Lima during October 1998; a week-long port inspection training program offered by the U.S. Coast Guard and the U.S. Customs Service (The course, held at the Port of Santos, Latin America's busiest port, concentrated on narcotics interdiction and was attended by officials from the Federal Police, Internal Revenue Service (Customs) and the port guard); two training programs offered by the Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms Bureau of the U.S. Department of Treasury (ATF) to federal and state police officials on control of illicit arms trafficking; continuation of the "administration of justice" program offered by the U.S. Department of Justice that helps train judicial task forces; provision of printed materials, translations, and interpretation services for a judges' seminar in Manaus focusing on property seizures in narcotics arrests; a week-long training course for nearly 40 community organizations in Rio de Janeiro on community mobilization for drug awareness, demand reduction, and treatment programs; six of nine modules of the "therapeutic community" course offered by Daytop International to local agencies and groups in Sao Paulo, with the remaining modules to be given early in 1999; and DARE/PROERD mentor training in Sao Paulo. In addition, Brazil sent officials from several civilian and military agencies to take part in the three-part "United Counter Drugs '98" exercise-conference sponsored by SOUTHCOM in Miami and Key West, Florida.
The DEA continued to support Federal Police counternarcotics operations in the Amazon region throughout 1998, assisting with information sharing and facilitating cooperation with police authorities in neighboring Colombia, Peru, Bolivia, and Venezuela. DEA plans to assist a joint anti-drug task force at the Sao Paulo international airport in cooperation with Brazilian customs, the Federal Police, and Sao Paulo civil police still await action by the Federal Police to complete preparations for the project.
The Federal Police department in October opened its new jungle survival school in the Amazon jungle 30 km from Manaus and began operations by offering specialized jungle operations training to police officials from Brazil, Peru, and Ecuador. DEA agents taught some modules of the course, and future plans call for inviting participation by Colombia, Bolivia, and Venezuela.
In 1998, the U.S. provided both technical and monetary assistance for demand reduction programs in several Brazilian cities and states.
The Road Ahead. High-level Brazilian officials, including the President's recently appointed national drug czar, have expressed a strong interest and commitment to enhanced bilateral cooperation with the U.S. in the fight against narcotics trafficking. The Government of Brazil has demonstrated an increased willingness to work closely with its neighbors in fighting the narcotics trade. Further signs of Brazil's strong commitment to combat drug trafficking would include passage of omnibus counternarcotics legislation, promulgation and enforcement of money laundering regulations, continued high-level attention to counternarcotics efforts, further funding of counternarcotics programs and law enforcement agencies, and a continued interdiction effort in regions most exploited by international narcotics traffickers.
Brazil Statistical Tables [Excel file 21.5KB]
I. Summary
Chile is not a center for the production of illegal drugs. Partly because of its geographic isolation, it has until recently avoided many of the problems created by illegal narcotics in other South American countries. Drug producers use Chile as a source of precursor chemicals and for transshipment to the U.S. and Europe. Chile's proximity to producer countries, dynamic economy, and relatively developed banking system makes it vulnerable to money laundering. Corruption receives public attention but is not generally drug-related. Drug use, previously limited to the lower classes, has become more prevalent in the upper-income neighborhoods and offices in Santiago. A 1998 national survey revealed that four percent of the population, or about 700,000 people, admitted to having consumed dangerous drugs in the last year. The May 1998 dismantling of a large drug trafficking and money laundering ring demonstrates the Government of Chile's (GOC) continued efforts to counter drug smuggling and related criminal (e.g., money laundering) activity. Chile is a party to the 1988 UN Drug Convention. Government and private organizations are active in supporting drug abuse prevention and rehabilitation programs.
II. Status of Country
Chile is a source of precursor chemicals and a transshipment country for cocaine products. Reports periodically emerge of cocaine processing labs along the Chile/Bolivia border. A 1995 counternarcotics law criminalizes illicit association, traffic in precursor chemicals, and money laundering and permits wire intercepts, undercover operations and defendant cooperation. The Government of Chile continues to refine the law and hopes to enact stricter money-laundering legislation in 1999. Availability of resources remains a limiting factor in Chilean counternarcotics investigation and enforcement despite an increasing national budget. Chile is not a drug producing country except for a small amount of cannabis grown for domestic consumption.
III. Country Actions Against Drugs
Policy Initiatives. Chile's major drug-policy initiative in 1998 was the decision by the National Drug Control Council (CONACE) to decentralize its national project bank for drug prevention, education and rehabilitation, whose funding reached 4.0 billion pesos (approximately $8.8 million) in 1998. Regional councils and local municipalities now have a greater voice in projects totaling 90 percent of the bank's funds. Individual projects are proposed and implemented by non-governmental organizations (NGOs), local governments, universities and other institutions.
Chile continues to play a leading role with the Inter-American Drug Abuse Control Commission (CICAD), including its efforts to create a multilateral evaluation mechanism (MEM) for efforts to combat illegal drugs. Chile worked closely with CICAD in the area of money laundering in 1998 and sponsored seminars on this topic in the public and private sectors.
Accomplishments. The major drug-enforcement success story of 1998 was the arrest of 13 individuals involved in a large Chilean money laundering and drug trafficking ring. Overall, enforcement and seizure methods have improved--law enforcement now places greater emphasis on disrupting and dismantling networks vice individual traffickers. For example, following up on the DEA co-chaired International Drug Enforcement Conference (IDEC) initiative to improve border cooperation, Chilean Customs and Investigative Police worked successfully with their Argentine counterparts at two central and southern border crossings to break up a marijuana trafficking group. Also in 1998, law enforcement dismantled a cocaine trafficking network that used the international airport (U.S. and Europe-bound), a trucking network that shipped cocaine from Peru to the U.S. via Chile and Argentina, and a cocaine and marijuana smuggling ring in the southern city of Osorno.
Corruption. The corrupting influence of drug money is seen on occasion in the lower levels of the police and judiciary. It does not seem to have taken hold at more senior levels. Where police officials have been accused of involvement in narcotics-related incidents, the institutions have investigated the allegations and imposed sanctions as appropriate.
Agreements and Treaties. The Chilean foreign ministry is attempting to modernize Chile's extradition treaties with various countries. The United States' bilateral extradition treaty with Chile (signed in 1901) is outdated. Chile and the U.S. have an agreement to exchange financial crimes investigative data. As a party to the 1988 UN Convention, Chile continues to work towards compliance with its goals and objectives through its 1995 law. Chile is a party to the 1961 UN Convention, the 1972 protocol thereto, and the 1971 UN Convention. Chile and the U.S. are currently working toward a broad counternarcotics cooperation agreement; Chile has similar agreements with the United Kingdom, Spain, and the European Union. Bilateral agreement negotiations are underway with France, Germany, Poland, and the Czech Republic.
Cultivation/Production. Chile's climate and geography are not conducive to the production of illegal drugs, although a small, low-quality marijuana crop is grown and sold on the domestic market. Outside groups are not known to use Chile as a base for production of cocaine, heroin or other narcotics.
Drug Flow/Transit. Northern Chile continues to be a transit zone for bulk shipments of precursor chemicals to and narcotics from neighboring producing countries. The length and ruggedness of Chile's mountainous eastern border, its 3,928 miles of coastline, and the extensive commerce in fruit, wine, frozen seafood, and minerals through more than ten deep-sea ports make Chile an attractive location for transshipment of narcotics to the U.S., Europe, and Asia. Evidence suggests that Chile has become a transit point for illegal drug shipments to Canada. Due to treaty restrictions, Chilean authorities cannot open or inspect shipments of goods originating in Bolivia and in transit to third countries. Trafficking via such shipments could be considerable.
Domestic Programs (demand reduction). In 1998, CONACE's budget rose from 2.365 billion pesos (approximately $5.2 million) to 5.0 billion pesos (approximately $11 million). Of the 5.0 billion pesos, CONACE used 1 billion pesos for administration and public education campaigns, while the remaining 4 billion pesos funded a national information bank project. Although narcotics consumption levels in Chile remain low relative to the U.S., public attitudes and government budgets reflect rising concern to reduce demand and prevent abuse. NGOs are active in drug rehabilitation and education activities. Chilean schools, both public and private, incorporate formal drug education classes, most of which are designed and implemented by NGOs.
In an effort to further define demand reduction priorities, CONACE subdivided the national information bank project into four areas in 1998 - community-level drug prevention, school drug prevention, drug rehabilitation and treatment, and drug surveys. Fifty percent of the $8.8 million went toward community-level drug prevention programs, while 25 percent was spent on school drug-prevention programs. CONACE states that the quality of projects improved considerably in 1998, possibly because project decisions were made at the regional and community, vice national, levels. In 1999, CONACE intends to provide separate funds (amount undetermined) directly to communities that develop their own drug-prevention plans
IV. U.S. Policy Initiatives and Programs
The USG participated in and/or sponsored seminars and training programs in precursor-chemical controls, money laundering, investigation, interdiction, demand reduction and rehabilitation. The USG provided $68,875 during 1998 to support training and prevention programs and modest equipment purchases.
U.S. Customs, in conjunction with the U.S. Coast Guard, conducted INL-funded Sea Carrier Initiative Program seminars in Valparaiso and Iquique in November 1998 for 250 private shipping company employees, as well as representatives from Chilean Customs and the Port Police. Three Chilean officials attended an OAS-funded Regional Port Security seminar in Lima, Peru in October 1998.
Bilateral Cooperation (Accomplishments). The USG enjoys cooperative ties with Chilean law enforcement entities, principally through information sharing and technical assistance. These ties directly contributed to GOC accomplishments this year. The USG and Chile also cooperated through regular seminars in 1998 on demand reduction, drug abuse prevention, and money laundering. Both governments recognize the need to negotiate a comprehensive agreement on counternarcotics in order to provide a bilateral framework for future cooperative endeavors.
Road Ahead. The GOC continues to place a high priority on training existing law enforcement officers and improving technical expertise. In 1999, the USG will assist the GOC to develop investigative teams for precursor-chemicals and containerized cargo, areas that require a greater focus for enforcement efforts to be effective. The USG intends to sign a counternarcotics framework agreement with Chile in 1999, providing a context for greater cooperation between both countries. USG funding will be used, inter alia, to improve the Chilean Customs' investigative abilities and to enhance communication among Chilean counternarcotics offices.
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