This record is a partial extract of the original cable. The full text of the original cable is not available.

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 04 BRUSSELS 004677 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SENSITIVE 
 
DEPARTMENT FOR INL/PC MAREN BROOKS; DEPARTMENT PASS ONDCP 
CHARLOTTE SISSON 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: AF BL CO EU KCRM SNAR XM EUN USEU BRUSSELS
SUBJECT: DRUGS TROIKA DISCUSSES EU DRUGS STRATEGY, 
ALTERNATIVE DEVELOPMENT PROGRAMS AND HEROIN PRODUCTION 
 
¶1.  (U) Summary.  The annual U.S.-EU Drugs Troika was held 
October 25 in Brussels.  INL DAS Jonathan Farrar had 
wide-ranging discussions on trends in cocaine, heroin and 
synthetics production and trafficking. The USAID Office 
Director of South America Affairs gave a detailed 
presentation on U.S. support for alternative development 
programs in the Andean Region.  The EU summarized its 
2005-2008 Drugs Strategy, noting that no new legal 
instruments would be introduced to combat trafficking; 
rather, priority would be to make use of existing legislation 
to stem the supply of drugs into the EU.  The ONDCP previewed 
its National Synthetic Drugs Action Plan and Europol 
discussed synthetics production in Europe. The UK delegation 
reported on heroin production in Afghanistan.  The incoming 
Luxembourg Presidency proposed June 21 for the next troika. 
End summary. 
 
¶2.  (U) The Dutch Presidency hosted the annual U.S.-EU Drugs 
Troika October 25.  The U.S. delegation was led by INL DAS 
Jonathan Farrar and included INL program analyst Maren 
Brooks, ONDCP Supply Reduction Policy Analyst Charlotte 
Sisson, USAID Office Director of South America Affairs Beth 
Hogan, Global Affairs Officer Erin Webster-Main from Embassy 
The Hague, DEA/Brussels James C. Kabel, and USEU NAS Frank 
Kerber.  The EU side was chaired by Robert van Embden, Head 
of the Judicial and Police Cooperation Division of the 
Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and included representatives 
from the Commission, the EU Drug Monitoring Center in Lisbon, 
the upcoming Luxembourg Presidency, Europol, and national 
delegations from France, Germany, Austria, Poland, Malta, 
Belgium, Ireland, the UK and Spain.  The chair of the central 
Dublin Group also attended. 
 
¶3.  (U) Mr. van Embden opened the meeting with an overview of 
the EU Drugs Strategy for 2005-2008.  He emphasized themes of 
international cooperation and research and evaluation found 
throughout the strategy.  No new legal instruments are 
proposed for counter narcotics; rather, priority will be 
given to making use of existing instruments to reduce drug 
supply.  Among these are the EU Mutual Legal Assistance 
Treaty and the Framework Decision on Minimum Penalties for 
Drug Trafficking.  On the latter, the Member States have 18 
months to pass national legislation along the guidelines 
contained in the Framework Decision.  Emphasis in the new 
Strategy will be on Afghanistan, Colombia, Morocco and the 
drug supply routes into Europe.  The Commission has completed 
its evaluation of the 2000-2004 Action Plan.  The new 
Strategy 2005-2008 will be formally adopted in December. 
 
¶4.  (SBU) DAS Farrar provided the USG introduction of the 
agenda item on cocaine, mentioning our success in reducing 
coca cultivation in Colombia and the need to protect the hard 
won progress made previously in Peru and Bolivia.  He noted 
that INL A/S Robert Charles has been invited to testify 
before Congress on November 17 on European assistance to 
counternarcotics efforts in Colombia.  He asked that the EU 
provide information on any counternarcotics or alternative 
development programs there, and also information on any plans 
to provide assistance for demobilization programs in 
Colombia.  He noted that our programs are on target to spray 
130,000 hectares of coca in Colombia in 2004, similar to the 
2003 results, and that we are prepared to spray a similar 
amount in 2005 if it were necessary. 
 
¶5.  (U) AID Office Director of South America Affairs Beth 
Hogan gave a presentation on USAID's Alternative Development 
(AD) Program in the Andean Region.  She said that U.S. 
foreign policy objectives for the program are to strengthen 
democracy, promote economic growth, eliminate narco-terorrism 
and significantly reduce narco-trafficking.  The three 
pillars of U.S. counter-narcotics strategy are eradication, 
interdiction and alternative development.  USAID's objectives 
for its AD assistance are to reduce coca production; prevent 
the spread of coca into new areas; promote alternative licit 
crops; develop economic and social infrastructure; and create 
sustainable, licit employment opportunities.  Among the 
challenges faced by the program are the fact that coca 
production is rooted in history, culture, economics and 
geography; coca is a low maintenance, high yield crop; coca 
provides a lucrative market amid widespread poverty; it is 
politically and tactically difficult to eliminate; and it is 
hard to maintain adequate financial support for the program 
in a time of increasing budget pressures.  USAID has learned 
valuable lessons about alternative development from its 
experience over the years.  These lessons include: crop 
substitution is not enough; community infrastructure projects 
help build social cohesion and economic opportunity; 
sustainable economic opportunity is key to long-term success; 
there is a need to create economic opportunities beyond 
coca-growing regions; expanding/strengthening state presence 
is critical; production is moving to hard-to-reach areas; 
risk avoidance is the dominant factor in decreasing 
production while production costs are a secondary concern; 
the cocaleros are becoming increasingly politically 
sophisticated and disruptive; there is increasing evidence of 
collusion across borders; and finally, the traditional 
"agro-centric" approach still has merit but a 
multidimensional effort is needed.  This integrated 
development approach includes expanding the state presence; 
building host government capacity to meet social needs and to 
provide security and law enforcement; strengthening 
democratic institutions; developing the private sector; 
increasing trade capacity; and generating public support and 
political will.  Hogan presented AID's estimated FY 05 Andean 
funding levels for AD efforts in Bolivia, Colombia, Peru and 
Ecuador as a share of total development assistance.  She then 
gave a brief summary of the AD programs in those countries, 
noting that over 30,000 families are receiving AD assistance 
in Bolivia and nearly 40,000 families in Colombia.  Tentative 
Andean targets for the program are 100,000 families in AD 
activities, completion of 2,000 economic/social 
infrastructure projects, and development of 150,000 hectares 
of licit/forest land. 
 
¶6.  (U) Europol responded to the presentation by noting the 
significant decrease in coca production since 1985.  The 
Andean region is also among EU priorities.  Cocaine 
shipments, seizures and consumption have increased in several 
EU Member States.  Cocaine enters the EU primarily through 
maritime means, but also via couriers and air cargo. 
Colombian groups are setting up commercial enterprises in 
West Africa (e.g., Togo, Ghana and Nigeria).  90 tons of 
cocaine was seized in the EU in 2003, mostly in Spain and the 
Netherlands.  Spain especially has become a "depot" country 
for cocaine imports.  There is a growing link between 
organized crime and cocaine trafficking, especially in Spain 
and Greece.  Albania is developing into a cocaine storage and 
processing area.  Half of the cocaine seized in the 
Netherlands last year came via couriers landing at 
Amsterdam's Schipol airport.  Couriers are also operating 
from Jamaica into the UK.  Europol does not collect Member 
State data on drug prices or purity - only data on the active 
ingredient in the drugs on the market.  However, the European 
Drug Monitoring Center (EMCDDA) noted plans underway to begin 
collecting price/parity data in order to better evaluate the 
drug situation in Europe. 
 
7,  (U) The Commission (DG External Relations) said that EC 
drug assistance to Latin America is focused on the Andean 
Region.  However, the EC's approach to AD is different from 
that of the U.S.  The EC never compensated farmers for not 
growing coca.  The EC stresses community development.  There 
is no conditionality with the governments for EC assistance; 
AD forms part of the political dialogue with these countries. 
 The Commission rep said the EC has two AD projects in 
Colombia, three in Peru and two in Bolivia.  The EC projects 
in Colombia are "peace labs," which the Commission rep said 
were AD programs in the broadest sense, and may be expanded 
to a third site.  The Colombia projects are funded for Euro 
35 million each over eight years.  (During the luncheon 
following the Troika, EU reps said they had no new 
information on EU plans for demobilization assistance in 
Colombia but would endeavor to provide an update on the 
margins of next week's UNODC Major Donors meeting in Vienna.) 
 The EMCDDA rep (European Monitoring Center for Drugs and 
Drug Addiction) said that the Center's 2004 Annual Report, to 
be published November 25, will show that cocaine use in the 
EU is on the increase.  EU Member States are having 
difficulties identifying effective treatment for cocaine drug 
users; U.S. experience in this regard is important. 
 
¶8.  (SBU) The U.K. rep opened the discussion of the drug 
situation in Afghanistan by noting that opium production was 
3,600 tons in 2003 and is expected to increase in 2004.  The 
CNPA (Central Narcotics Police of Afghanistan) has been set 
up in Kabul.  The UK is working to involve ISAF and Coalition 
forces in CN efforts; a new counternarcotics annex on ISAF 
made real progress in expanding upon the actions which ISAF 
can take in this area.  Italy is heavily engaged in 
strengthening the judicial system.  A special task force on 
criminal justice in counter narcotics is being set up, and 
there is on-going training for CN prosecutors, judges and 
investigators.  There remains a need to strengthen 
Afghanistan's CN legislation and prison capacity.  The U.K. 
made a strong pitch to his EU colleagues to provide 
immediately additional experts on the ground for interdiction 
efforts (i.e., customs and CN police), investigations, and 
intelligence gathering.  CN efforts must be mainstreamed 
whenever feasible into development aid projects focused on 
areas that are targeted for eradication.  DAS Farrar 
responded that the new Afghan government also would need to 
take forceful steps to remove corrupt officials as part of 
its counternarcotics campaign. 
 
¶9.  (SBU) On the regional side, EU chair van Embden noted 
there has been an increase in the volume of heroin 
trafficking from Afghanistan to Europe through Pakistan, Iran 
and Turkey.  Drug trafficking routes through Central Asia 
serve primarily Russia's internal market.  DAS Farrar 
underscored our support for a regional approach to the 
problem, but added that concerns had arisen in Washington as 
to whether Tashkent was the appropriate site for the UNODC's 
proposed Central Asia Regional Information Coordination 
Center (CARICC).  The European Commission representative 
responded that the EU had concerns as to whether the project 
was viable given Central Asian states' domestic capacity to 
collect and share information.  Both sides agreed that 
further discussion would be needed.  The DEA rep noted that 
most heroin flows to the U.S. are from Colombia and Mexico; 
only four percent comes from SE Asia and four percent from SW 
Asia. 
 
¶10.  (U) Charlotte Sisson from ONDCP previewed the new 
National Synthetic Drugs Action Plan (available on 
www.whitehousedrugpolicy.gov).  The plan lays out actions to 
address the growing problems posed by synthetic drugs, 
including illicit drugs and diverted pharmaceutical products. 
 Sisson noted that the plan combines domestic and 
international efforts for attacking and disrupting the trade 
in synthetics.  Sisson highlighted the 46 recommendations in 
the areas of prevention, treatment, chemical control and law 
enforcement.  Europol noted that the Netherlands and Belgium 
remain the primary producers of Ecstasy and amphetamines. 
Authorities seize 50 to 70 major synthetic drug laboratories 
each year.  Several criminal groups supply only the equipment 
or the chemicals used in the drug production - not the drugs 
themselves.  While 24 million Ecstasy tablets were seized in 
the EU in 2003, Europol noted consumption in one Member State 
is one million tablets per week.  There has been increased 
ethnic involvement in the Ecstasy drug trade, especially 
among Turks, Moroccans and Chinese.  The Chinese connection 
is understandable given that China is the main supplier of 
precursor chemicals.  Most synthetic drug seizures are still 
at airports, but the trade is moving to maritime shipments. 
The price per tablet in the EU is approximately Euro 5.  The 
principal international traffickers are from Albania, the 
Dominican Republic, Russia and Israel. 
 
¶11.  (SBU) The U.S. and the EU agreed to coordinate positions 
for the 2005 meeting of the United Nations Commission on 
Narcotic Drugs (CND).  The EU will begin substantive 
discussions on the CND in late November and has received the 
U.S. documents for the thematic debates on HIV/AIDS and 
Community Capacity Building.  DAS Farrar summarized that the 
U.S position leading up to CND would be that the UNODC has an 
overly full plate already, particularly in implementing its 
commitments in Afghanistan and the Central Asia region, and 
that it should not be asked to take on additional mandates. 
The U.S. delegation also noted it has not prepared any 
resolutions for the CND. 
 
¶12.  (U) The incoming Luxembourg Presidency proposed to hold 
the next drugs troika on June 21.  Both sides agreed to 
monitor developments in the coming months before deciding 
whether a June meeting is warranted. 
 
¶13.  (SBU) Comment.  The EU schedules its drug troika with 
the U.S. around its internal horizontal drugs meeting for the 
convenience of its Member States.  Several national 
delegations use this schedule to attend the troika meeting. 
This is highly unusual, since other troikas are normally 
attended only by the Commission, the current and future 
presidencies, and occasionally the Council Secretariat.  As 
noted above, this drugs troika was attended by national 
representatives from France, Germany, Austria, Poland, Malta, 
Belgium, Ireland, the U.K. and Spain.  Only the U.K. had a 
substantive role in the agenda.  The department needs to 
consider whether it is comfortable with this extended 
attendance or whether we should raise the issue with future 
EU Presidencies.  End comment. 
 
MCKINLEY