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

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 07 BRASILIA 000061 
 
SIPDIS 
 
DEPT FOR INL, WHA/BSC 
DEPT PLEASE PASS TO AID:  AA/LAC AND LAC/SAM 
JUSTICE FOR OIA, AFMLS, NDDS 
TREASURY FOR FINCEN 
DEA FOR OILS AND OFFICE OF DIVERSION CONTROL 
 
E.O.  12958: N/A 
TAGS: SNAR EFIN KSEP BR NAS
SUBJECT:  BRAZIL 2004-2005 INTERNATIONAL NARCOTICS CONTROL 
STRATEGY REPORT (INCSR) 
 
REF:  STATE 248987 
 
¶1.  Following is Brazil's 2004-2005 INCSR. As requested in 
reftel, the money laundering portion of the INCSR will be 
submitted separately. 
 
BRAZIL 
 
---------- 
¶I. SUMMARY 
---------- 
¶2.   The principal event of 2004 in Brazil's anti-narcotics 
effort was the long awaited implementation of a shoot down 
law that the Brazilian Congress passed years earlier but 
was only put into effect on October 17 after President Lula 
signed the necessary implementing decree.  The GOB adopted 
a new national strategy document for combating money 
laundering.  A principle aim of the 32 goals articulated in 
the strategy document is to better coordinate disparate 
federal and state level anti-money laundering efforts. 
Operation COBRA (Colombia  Brazil) based in Tabatinga, 
Brazil has now been functioning for almost four years and 
is showing positive results.  Similar operations on the 
Venezuelan and Peruvian borders are now up and running. 
 
¶3.  Brazil is a major transit country for illicit drugs 
shipped to Europe and to a lesser extent, to the United 
States. Brazil continues to cooperate with its South 
American neighbors in an attempt to control the remote and 
expansive border areas where illicit drugs are transported. 
Brazil is a signatory of various counternarcotics 
agreements and treaties, including the 1988 UN Drug 
Convention, the 1995 bilateral U.S.-Brazil counternarcotics 
agreement, and the annual Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) 
with the U.S. 
 
--------------------- 
II. STATUS OF COUNTRY 
--------------------- 
¶4.  Brazil is a conduit for cocaine base and cocaine HCL 
moving from source countries to Europe and Brazilian urban 
centers, as well as a conduit for smaller amounts of heroin 
moving from source countries to the U.S. and Europe.  Crack 
cocaine is used among youths in the country's cities, 
particularly Sao Paulo and Rio de Janeiro.  Brazil is not a 
significant drug-producing country.  Organized drug gangs, 
located principally in Rio de Janeiro and Sao Paulo, are 
involved in narcotics related arms trafficking. 
 
------------------------------------------ 
III. COUNTRY ACTIONS AGAINST DRUGS IN 2004 
------------------------------------------ 
 
POLICY INITIATIVES 
 
¶5.  Brazil has undertaken various bilateral and 
multilateral efforts to meet all objectives of the 1988 UN 
Drug Convention, has implemented adequate legal law 
enforcement measures, and achieved significant progress in 
the fight against illegal drugs. 
 
¶6.  The GoB adopted at end-2003 a new national strategy 
document for combating money laundering.  A principle aim 
of the 32 goals articulated in the strategy document is to 
better coordinate disparate federal and state level anti- 
money laundering efforts, and to that end a high-level 
coordination council was created, led by the Ministry of 
Justice's Office for Asset Seizure and International 
Juridical Cooperation.  The council oversees the financial 
intelligence work of Brazil's Council for the Monitoring of 
Financial Activities (COAF), which has been strengthened 
with additional analysts.  In addition to its strategic 
coordination role, the council may assign specific cases to 
law enforcement task forces for investigation. 
 
Implementation of much of the strategy is ongoing, with 
task forces set up to draft legislative changes necessary 
to facilitate law enforcement access to financial 
information during investigations, to refine existing 
legislation to facilitate prosecutions of money laundering 
and terrorism finance cases, as well as to study the 
criminalization of illicit enrichment.  Creation of a 
unified database of all money laundering investigations and 
a national level registry of real estate, steps which would 
aid investigators, is also contemplated. 
 
¶7.  After a year of intensive negotiations with the USG to 
successfully secure a Presidential Determination addressing 
liability issues under U.S. law, the GOB implemented its 
air bridge denial ("shootdown") law on 17 October 2004. 
Brazil's law and program permit the Brazilian air force to 
use lethal force interdiction against civil aircraft 
suspected to be engaged in aerial narcotrafficking flights. 
The USG considered that the threat to Brazil's national 
security, as well as its operational safety procedures for 
the program, were sufficiently strong to justify the U.S. 
Presidential Determination, which is similar to the 
determination in place for Colombia's ABD program. (Under 
certain circumstances, U.S. law criminalizes actions that 
lead to shooting down a civil aircraft, hence a special 
determination from the President based on compelling and 
extraordinary circumstances was required to address U.S. 
legal issues.) The determination is subject to annual 
review and renewal by the USG.  The GOB indicates it has 
seen a substantial decrease in suspect aerial activity 
since the law went into force.  There have been no 
shootdown or warning shot incidents thus far. 
 
¶8.  Brazil has forged closer ties with its neighbors in the 
war against drugs as a result of the "joint commission" 
(CM) the GOB formed in 2003.   The Brazilian Foreign 
Ministry, with representatives from the Federal Police, 
SENAD, SENASP (National Public Safety Secretariat), ANVISA 
(National Agency of Health Monitoring), Health Ministry, 
and ABIN (National Intelligence Agency) make up the CM. 
The CM along with the creation of an intelligence center in 
the Tri-Border area and the various border operations have 
increased cooperation between Brazil and its neighbors. 
 
¶9.    Brazil's Unified Public Safety System (SUSP), which 
was created in 2003, is now fully functional and showing 
results.  SUSP, which is administered by SENASP, is a 
national system to integrate diverse state civil and 
military police forces.  Each state has formulated its own 
public safety plan, in accordance with SENASP's national 
plan.  SUSP assists the GOB in ensuring a unified approach 
to law enforcement and statistical crime and narcotics 
seizures reporting. 
 
--------------- 
ACCOMPLISHMENTS 
--------------- 
 
¶10.  In 2004, the GOB exercised a regional counternarcotics 
leadership role.  In June "Operation Seis Fronteiras" (see 
para 30) was carried out with the intention of disrupting 
the illegal flow of precursor chemicals in the region.  GOB 
continued its support of "Operation Alliance" with 
Brazilian and Paraguayan counterdrug interdiction forces in 
the Paraguayan-Brazilian border area.  In August, the GOB 
in partnership with UNODC hosted a seminar on money 
laundering that drew participants from all over Brazil and 
also included the presence of President Lula. 
 
------------------------------ 
ILLICIT CULTIVATION/PRODUCTION 
------------------------------ 
 
¶11.  With the exception of some cannabis grown primarily 
for domestic consumption in the interior of the northeast 
region, there is no significant evidence of the cultivation 
of illicit drugs in Brazil.  Brazilian Federal Police 
analysts believe that international narcotics trafficking 
organizations could increase numbers of cocaine processing 
laboratories in Brazilian territory however a steady supply 
from Bolivia and to a lesser extent Colombia, have not made 
it necessary. 
 
------------ 
DISTRIBUTION 
------------ 
 
¶12.  Federal Counternarcotics Police and state authorities 
are investigating the extensive domestic distribution 
networks in major and secondary cities in Brazil. 
----------------------------- 
SALE, TRANSPORT AND FINANCING 
----------------------------- 
¶13.  The Federal Police took measures to identify 
significant drug trafficking trends, patterns, and 
traffickers throughout Brazil in 2004.  Although one or two 
monthly deliveries of large amounts of Colombian cocaine 
may be shipped to Brazil's urban centers of Rio de Janeiro 
and Sao Paulo, Federal Police analysis indicates that 
Bolivian cocaine and Paraguayan marijuana generally tend to 
dominate in those markets. 
 
------------- 
ASSET SEIZURE 
------------- 
¶14.  Many assets, particularly motor vehicles, are seized 
during narcotics raids and put into immediate use by the 
Federal Police under a March 1999 Executive Decree.  Other 
assets are auctioned and proceeds distributed based on 
court decisions.  Federal Police records show that one 
airplane, 554 motor vehicles, 39 motorcycles, 4 boats, 253 
firearms, and 984 cell phones were seized in 2004. 
 
----------- 
EXTRADITION 
----------- 
 
¶15.  According to the Brazilian Constitution, no Brazilian 
shall be extradited, except naturalized Brazilians in the 
case of a common crime committed before naturalization, or 
in the case where there is sufficient evidence of 
participation in the illicit traffic of narcotics and 
related drugs, under the terms of the law. 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.  No extraditions were carried out 
during 2004.  There were three extraditions from Brazil to 
the U.S. in 2003, one of which was narcotics-related. 
 
¶16.  There are no pending narcotics-related extradition 
cases of non-Brazilian citizens.  There are five other 
cases of non-Brazilian citizens (all U.S. citizens) who are 
currently incarcerated in Brazil and are pending 
extradition to the U.S. on financial/white collar (non- 
narcotics) charges.  Two were arrested in 2004 and 2003 and 
one was arrested in 2002. 
 
----------------------- 
MUTUAL LEGAL ASSISTANCE 
----------------------- 
 
¶17.  During 2003, various USG agencies and sections, 
including NAS, State Department Public Diplomacy Section, 
DHS, DEA, FBI, and others have provided training throughout 
Brazil in a wide variety of law enforcement areas, 
including combating money laundering, cyber-crime, 
community policing, port security, crisis management and 
demand reduction programs. 
 
¶18.   Brazilian Law Enforcement also eagerly accepted 
opportunities to attend training programs in the United 
States.   Money laundering, drug courts, and the F.B.I. 
academy were some of the more notable areas of interest. 
 
--------------------------------------- 
LAW ENFORCEMENT AND TRANSIT COOPERATION 
--------------------------------------- 
 
¶19.  The DPF, SENAD and SENASP continued to express their 
interest in active cooperation, particularly intelligence 
sharing, and coordination with the U.S. in drug control 
activities. 
 
¶20.  Brazil cooperates with authorities in neighboring 
countries, particularly Colombia, Peru and Bolivia, to 
enhance regional counternarcotic efforts.  In June 2004, 13 
law enforcement officers attended specialized training in 
Bolivia.  Brazilian authorities maintain good working 
relationships with their neighboring counterparts.  A head 
of the training section of the Brazilian Federal Police 
academy attended a high level planning meeting in Panama 
City for the planned International Law Enforcement Academy 
(ILEA).  In January 2004, a group of 12 Brazilian police 
officers (9 Federal, 2 state military, and one civilian) 
attended the ILEA advanced management course in New Mexico. 
Seven policemen from the state of Minas Gerais participated 
in a community policing exchange in Austin, Texas.  This 
program also gave the same opportunity for police from 
Texas to visit Brazil. 
 
---------------- 
DEMAND REDUCTION 
---------------- 
 
¶21. The DARE (Drug Abuse Resistance and Education) program 
(known as PROERD in Brazil) is now active in all 26 states 
of Brazil and the Federal District.  Through the Brazilian 
National Public Safety Secretariat (SENASP) and the 
National Antidrug Secretariat (SENAD), NAS assisted in 
financing and logistics, and NAS personnel visited several 
of the training sessions.  Brazil has the largest DARE 
program outside of the U.S.  The DARE program reinforces a 
positive image of local police forces, while providing a 
strong message concerning demand reduction.  NAS, along 
with several NGOs and the U.S. Consulate in Sao Paulo, is 
working to establish the 40 Assets Program in Sao Paulo. 
The program should be functioning by early 2005.  NAS 
provided funding for SENAD and the Ministry of Education to 
provide training to thousands of school teachers nationwide 
via the educational television network.  The programs 
provide the teachers with an anti-drug curriculum.  The 
SENAD toll-free number on drug information is in the 
process of be upgraded to be able to handle more calls and 
provide medical counseling. 
 
----------------------- 
LAW ENFORCEMENT EFFORTS 
----------------------- 
 
¶22.  In 2004, the Federal Police seized 7.7 metric tons of 
cocaine HCl and 120 kilograms of crack.  Marijuana 
(cannabis) seizures totaled 149.2 metric tons in 2004. 
Three cocaine drug laboratories were dismantled in 2004. 
These numbers are incomplete, since only those of the 
Federal Police, and not those of local police forces, are 
reported on a national basis.  Federal Police sources 
estimate they record perhaps 75 percent of seizures and 
detentions. 
 
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CORRUPTION 
---------- 
 
¶23.  As a matter of government policy, Brazil does not 
condone, encourage, or facilitate production, shipment, or 
distribution of illicit drugs or laundering of drug money. 
The Federal Police have carried out a number of high 
profile investigations of public officials and State Police 
involved in money laundering and/or narco-trafficking.  The 
fight against corruption remains a high priority for 
Brazilian law enforcement. 
 
----------------------- 
AGREEMENTS AND TREATIES 
----------------------- 
 
¶24.  Brazil became a party to the 1988 UN Drug Convention 
in 1991.  Bilateral agreements based on the 1988 convention 
form the basis for counternarcotics cooperation between the 
U.S. and Brazil.  Brazil also has a number of narcotics 
control agreements with its South American neighbors, 
several European countries, and South Africa. Brazil 
cooperates bilaterally with other countries and 
participates in the UN Drug Control Program (UNDCP) and the 
Organization of American States/Anti-drug Abuse Control 
Commission (OAS/CICAD). 
 
----------------- 
DRUG FLOW/TRANSIT 
----------------- 
 
¶25.  Marijuana from Paraguay and cocaine from Bolivia are 
smuggled into Brazil across remote border areas and are 
destined primarily for domestic consumption.  Federal 
Police officials indicate that cocaine leaving Colombia and 
entering Brazil by air is destined for international 
markets in Europe hidden in containerized cargo.  Brazil's 
recently enacted shootdown law has had an effect on 
clandestine flights.  Sources [and the press] indicate that 
flights are down by 35 percent.  It is too soon to tell 
what real impact the law will have in the long run. 
According to Federal Police, smaller amounts of cocaine 
leave Colombia via Brazil's waterway networks in the Amazon 
region and are mainly destined for the Brazilian domestic 
market.  In addition, smaller quantities of heroin have 
been detected moving through Brazil from source countries 
to the U.S. and Europe. 
 
----------------------- 
U.S. POLICY INITIATIVES 
----------------------- 
 
¶26.  U.S. counternarcotics policy in Brazil focuses on 
liaison with and assistance to Brazilian authorities in 
identifying and dismantling international narcotics 
trafficking organizations, reducing money laundering and 
increasing awareness of the dangers of drug abuse and drug 
trafficking and related issues such as organized crime and 
arms trafficking.  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, the National Anti-drug Secretariat 
and the Ministry of Justice. 
 
--------------------- 
BILATERAL COOPERATION 
--------------------- 
 
¶27.  In accordance with the bilateral U.S.-Brazil letter of 
agreement (LOA) on counternarcotics, bilateral programs 
that took place in 2004 included:  cooperation with the 
Regional Intelligence Center of Operation COBRA; expansion 
of COBRA prototype to other areas of the country, a 
country-wide conference on money laundering in Brasilia; 
and a SENAD project that involves a partnership with the 
Ministry of Education to provide long distance drug 
prevention training to over 5,000 teachers nation wide via 
the educational television network.  Brazil and the U.S. 
are seeking to meet all goals set forth in the bilateral 
LOA. 
 
¶28.  Through the LOA, in 2004, the USG worked closely with 
the Federal Police, SENASP (Brazilian National Public 
Safety Secretariat), and SENAD.  Various operations, such 
as Operation Alianza (Brazil, Paraguay) that involved 
marijuana eradication/interdiction, Operation Six Frontiers 
and a chemical control task force in the port of Santos 
were supported with LOA funds.  With SENASP, the USG worked 
with local state and military police forces throughout 
Brazil to ensure such forces had basic law enforcement 
equipment and training.  The USG worked closely with SENAD 
in 2004 on programs such as DARE, the implementation of a 
nation-wide drug use survey and a toll free counseling 
hotline. 
 
¶29.  Brazil continues to be actively involved in IDEC. 
Worldwide conferences are held annually, and sub-regional 
conferences are held approximately six months after the 
general conference.  These conferences, sponsored and 
supported by DEA, bring law enforcement leaders from 
Western Hemisphere countries together to discuss the 
counterdrug situations in their respective countries and to 
formulate regional responses to the problems they face. 
Brazil is a member of the Andean and Southern Cone Working 
Groups. 
 
¶30.  Operation Seis Fronteiras VI is part of a continuing 
regional exercise involving Brazil, Bolivia, Colombia, 
Ecuador, Peru, Venezuela, and U.S. DEA to concentrate 
antidrug law enforcement efforts in the area of precursor 
chemicals, and has been successful. 
 
¶31.  Bilateral cooperation between the USG/NAS and Brazil 
has never been better.  A number of conferences exchange, 
training programs and seminars took place during the last 
year.  Brazilian Federal and State Police were sent for 
training to the United States on various occasions. 
Representatives from U.S. Agencies such as DEA, DHS, FBI, 
U.S. Coast Guard among others came to Brazil to train anti- 
drug units and give presentations at conferences.  This 
relationship is expected to expand during the coming year 
due to the excellent relationship between the two countries 
and an increase in funding under the LOA. 
 
-------------- 
THE ROAD AHEAD 
-------------- 
 
¶32.  The biggest challenge for Brazil in the war against 
narcotrafficking is to secure its frontiers by increasing 
interdiction efforts against criminal organizations that 
are able to exploit a vast border area to smuggle their 
goods.  Fully functional border operations like COBRA 
(Colombia) located in northern Brazil and others still in 
their initial start-up phase such as; Vebra (Venezuela), 
PEBRA (Peru), and BRABO (Bolivia) are one of the keys to 
obtaining this goal.  The planned opening of a joint 
intelligence center in early 2005 in the southern Tri- 
Border area will be a step forward in the fight against 
narcotrafficking and other illegal activities in the 
region.  The center will include representatives from 
Argentina and Paraguay thus ensuring better cooperation 
among the three countries.  Another crucial development 
last year was the implementation of Brazil's shootdown law. 
This law should assist in reducing the number of illegal 
flights over the country's expansive borders. 
 
------------------ 
Statistical tables 
------------------ 
 
¶33.  Calendar year         2004         2003       2002 
 
Coca 
   Eradication (mt)          -             -          - 
   Cocaine seizures (mt)      7.7           7.3       7.5 
   Crack cocaine (mt)          .12           .13       .15 
 
Cannabis 
   Eradication*                .69       1.8          1.6 
   Marijuana seizures (mt) 149.2      157.7        173.3 
 
* .96 million plants destroyed.  Conversion to metric tons 
not given. 
 
Arrests                    1,853        1,840      1,621 
 
Labs destroyed 
Cocaine HCL                   3           1          2 
 
Note:  All figures shown are those provided by the Federal 
Police and do not include the activities of state, local 
and highway police.  No surveys were conducted; market for 
cannabis is domestic. 
 
-------------------------- 
PRECURSOR CHEMICAL CONTROL 
-------------------------- 
 
¶34.  Brazil requires registration with Federal Narcotics 
Police for all production, transport and distribution of 
precursor chemicals. In August 2003, the GOB Justice 
Ministry issued a regulation to prevent the manufacture of 
illegal drugs, which requires the control, and inspection 
of approximately 150 chemical substances.  Any person or 
company that is involved in the purchase, transportation, 
or use of these products must have a Certificate of 
Approval of Operation, real estate registry, certificate, 
or special license. These documents must be issued by the 
Federal Police. 
 
¶35.  The Federal Police have organized precursor chemical 
training and initiated interdiction operations of chemical 
precursors, including cyclical audits and investigations of 
Brazilian chemical firms.  Brazil is compliant with the 
agreements to establish a method for maintaining records of 
transactions of the established list of precursor and 
essential chemicals and has established procedures under 
which such records can be made available to other 
countries' law enforcement authorities. 
Danilovich