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PP RUEHAG RUEHAST RUEHDA RUEHDBU RUEHDF RUEHFL RUEHIK RUEHKW RUEHLA
RUEHLN RUEHLZ RUEHROV RUEHSR RUEHVK RUEHYG
DE RUEHPS #1057/01 3451006
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
P 111006Z DEC 06
FM USOFFICE PRISTINA
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 6806
INFO RUEHZL/EUROPEAN POLITICAL COLLECTIVE
RUCNDT/USMISSION USUN NEW YORK 0936
RHMFISS/CDR USEUCOM VAIHINGEN GE
RUFOADA/JAC MOLESWORTH RAF MOLESWORTH UK
RHFMIUU/AFSOUTH NAPLES IT
RHMFIUU/CDR TF FALCON
RHEFDIA/DIA WASHDC
RUEKJCS/SECDEF WASHINGTON DC
RUEPGEA/CDR650THMIGP SHAPE BE
RHEHNSC/NSC WASHDC
RUEAWJA/DEPT OF JUSTICE WASHDC
RUFOANA/USNIC PRISTINA SR

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 04 PRISTINA 001057 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SIPDIS 
 
DEPT FOR INL, EUR/SCE AND DRL, NSC FOR BRAUN, USUN FOR DREW 
SCHUFLETOWSKI, USOSCE FOR STEVE STEGER 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PGOV KJUS KCRM EAID KDEM UNMIK YI
SUBJECT: KOSOVO:  RESPONSE TO NARCOTICS AND CHEMICAL 
CONTROL SECTIONS OF 2006-2007 INSCR 
 
 
¶1. (U) Following is the submission from U.S. Office in 
Pristina for the narcotics and chemical control sections of 
this year's INSCR report. 
 
¶2. (U)  Summary.  Kosovo is primarily a transit point for 
heroin originating in Turkey and Afghanistan and destined for 
Western European countries, but it does have a small and 
growing domestic narcotics market.  Kosovo faces serious 
challenges in its battle against narcotics trafficking.  Its 
borders are porous, there is potential for corruption among 
its poorly-paid and poorly-equipped Border Police and Customs 
officers, and its unique status under UNSCR 1244 as a United 
Nations-administered territory prevents it from entering into 
most bilateral, multilateral and international agreements, 
including the 1988 UN Drug Convention.  Kosovo's final status 
is expected to be determined in 2007, and the United States 
and the European Union intend to continue providing rule of 
law technical assistance, training and equipment donations, 
which will help Kosovo to more effectively counter narcotics 
trafficking. 
 
Status of Narcotics in Kosovo 
 
¶3. (U) Kosovo is a transit point for heroin originating in 
Turkey and, to a lesser extent, Afghanistan and destined for 
Western European markets.  Narcotics traffickers capitalize 
on weak border control in Kosovo.  The Kosovo Border Police 
is a young service, lacks basic equipment, and does not have 
a mandate to patrol the green border (areas where there are 
no official, manned border or administrative boundary line 
gates).  NATO's KFOR has roving teams that patrol the green 
border, but traffickers easily take advantage of numerous 
passable roads leading into Kosovo that lack border or 
administrative boundary line gates.  Border Police and 
Customs agents are also poorly-paid, and thus susceptible to 
corruption.  Kosovo officials are attempting to tackle the 
problem, but United Nations Mission in Kosovo (UNMIK) 
officials believe some officers allow narcotics shipments to 
pass through the unmanned border and administrative boundary 
gates. 
 
¶4. (U)  Kosovo is not a significant narcotics producer, but 
Kosovo police have found cases of small-scale marijuana 
cultivation in back yards and uncultivated marijuana plants 
growing in rural areas.  There have been no reports of 
chemical seizures in Kosovo, and Provisional Institutions of 
Self-Government (PISG) and UNMIK officials do not believe 
laboratories are a problem. 
 
¶5. (U) Information on domestic narcotics consumption is not 
systematically gathered, but PISG and UNMIK officials agree 
that there is a growing local market and that illegal drug 
use is on the rise.  The Ministry of Health believes levels 
of narcotics consumption among teenagers and university-aged 
young adults, the primary users, are comparable to those in 
most Western European countries.  Drugs of all types, 
including heroin, are reportedly available in Kosovo. 
Marijuana cases increased in 2006, but the vast majority of 
addicts referred for treatment were heroin users. 
 
Kosovo Actions Against Drugs in 2006 
 
¶6. (U) Policy Initiatives.  The Government of Kosovo is just 
beginning to address the narcotics problem, and there is no 
national counternarcotics strategy.  The Kosovo Police 
Service (KPS) and Ministry of Health, however, reported that 
they are advocating for creation of an inter-ministerial 
committee or working group, coordinated through the Office of 
the Prime Minister or Deputy Prime Minister, to draft such a 
plan. 
 
¶7. (U) With an eye toward eventual EU accession, Kosovo sent 
a representative from the Ministry of Health to an EU 
conference on "Tackling the Drug Problem in the Western 
Balkans" in September 2006, and determined a number of 
priorities for action based on the EU Drugs Strategy 
2005-2012.  The priorities include evaluation of the current 
 
PRISTINA 00001057  002 OF 004 
 
 
situation, definition of a counternarcotics strategy and 
action plan, and creation of implementation structures such 
as inter-ministerial working groups.  Due to the Kosovo 
budget cycle and the fact that those priorities were 
identified late in the year, officials say little action can 
be expected before 2008. 
 
¶8. (U) Law Enforcement Efforts.  The counternarcotics 
competency was transitioned from UNMIK to KPS in May 2006, 
and narcotics-related arrests have reportedly increased since 
the KPS took control.  From January to late-November 2006, 
the KPS arrested 328 people on narcotics charges and filed 
259 narcotics-related cases.  In the same period, they 
confiscated 13.5 kilos of heroin, 148 kilos of cocaine, 400 
kilos of hashish, 27 kilos of processed marijuana, and 24 
kilos of marijuana plants. 
 
¶9. (U) KPS counternarcotics officers face many challenges. 
They lack basic equipment and resources, and undercover 
operations are complicated by the fact that they can only 
monitor mobile telephones on the Vala 900 network.  The 
Serb-controlled Mobtel mobile telephones and land lines are 
beyond their reach.  Kosovo's small size also hampers 
undercover work because communities are tight-knit and 
everyone knows who is working on counternarcotics.  The KPS 
also noted a decline in effectiveness after it decentralized 
the counternarcotics division in 2005.  It will return to a 
centralized system in 2007. 
 
¶10. (U) Illicit Cultivation.  Kosovo is not a significant 
narcotics producer, but the KPS has found some evidence of 
small-scale marijuana cultivation.  There were six cases of 
marijuana cultivation in 2006.  Three cases involved 
uncultivated marijuana plants, while the other three each 
involved about 20 plants found in back yards.  There have 
been no reports of chemical seizures in Kosovo, and PISG and 
UNMIK officials do not believe labs are a problem. 
 
¶11. (U) Corruption.  There have been no arrests or 
indications of high-level narcotics-related corruption in 
Kosovo.  There are reports of corruption among border police 
and Customs officers, but the KPS and UNMIK Customs Service 
say they are attempting to address it.  Cases reportedly tend 
to involve officers turning a blind eye to narcotics 
trafficking or accepting bribes to allow narcotics to get 
through border or administrative boundary gates.  KPS 
officials see the potential for problems due to the officers' 
low salaries and lack of benefits.  They believe corruption 
exists in the regional counter-narcotics offices. 
 
¶12. (U) Agreements and Treaties.  Due to its unique status as 
a UN-administered province of Serbia, Kosovo is not a party 
to the 1988 UN Drug Convention or any other international 
conventions or protocols.  Its constitutional framework, 
however, calls on it to respect the principles of UN 
conventions. 
 
¶13. (U) Kosovo is unable to enter into most binding bilateral 
or multilateral agreements, but it does cooperate and 
exchange information with countries in the region.  The 
Minister of Internal Affairs attended a Balkan ministerial on 
combating organized crime, including narcotics, in Turkey in 
2006, which resulted in an oral declaration that participants 
would cooperate more closely.  Also in 2006, the Deputy 
Minister of Internal Affairs met with his counterpart in 
Tirana to discuss stronger cooperation on combating organized 
crime.  Finally, KPS officials reported that a regional 
coordination group to include Kosovo, the states of the 
former Yugoslavia, Bulgaria, Romania and Moldova, will be 
launched in June 2007. 
 
¶14. (U) Drug Flow/Transit.  Kosovo is reportedly a transit 
point for heroin from Turkey and Afghanistan, most of which 
is destined for Western European countries, including 
Switzerland, Germany, the United Kingdom, Italy, Norway, and 
Sweden.  Kosovars regularly travel to these countries to 
visit relatives living in them, and UNMIK and KPS officials 
 
PRISTINA 00001057  003 OF 004 
 
 
believe much of the drug trade is managed through family/clan 
networks.  Most drugs allegedly enter Kosovo overland from 
neighboring countries.  Officials believe one major route is 
from Turkey, through Bulgaria and Macedonia, and another is 
from Turkey, through Bulgaria and Serbia.  There are reports 
of collaborative arrangements between Kosovo Serb and Kosovo 
Albanian criminal groups for drug trafficking.  Anecdotal 
evidence suggests the drugs are broken down into smaller 
quantities in Kosovo before heading to Western Europe.  UNMIK 
officials report a lot of small movements of narcotics, such 
as two to five kilos on one person or 10 to 20 kilos in a bag 
on a bus.  The major transit points are Gjilan, Prizren and 
Mitrovica. 
 
¶15. (U) Domestic Programs.  Kosovo lacks an overall policy 
for dealing with existing and potential narcotics-related 
problems, but the PISG is increasingly aware of the dangers 
of narcotics.  The Ministries of Health and Education run 
some domestic prevention programs, and community police 
officers visit schools throughout Kosovo to educate students 
about the risks associated with drug use.  Non-governmental 
organizations assist with some of these efforts. 
 
¶16. (U) There are no reliable estimates for the number of 
drug addicts in Kosovo.  Drug treatment is provided by the 
Pristina University Hospital Psychiatry Department, but only 
one doctor and one nurse are devoted to treating drug 
addicts, and there are no structured drug treatment programs. 
 Methadone is not prescribed because the law does not permit 
it.  Some addicts reportedly receive anti-anxiety medication 
or anti-depressants to relieve withdrawal symptoms, while the 
most severe, agitated patients receive anti-psychotics.  The 
Pristina University Hospital Psychiatry Department says that, 
on average, three to four people are in in-patient treatment 
at any given time, and the overwhelming majority of them are 
heroin addicts.  The number of addicts receiving out-patient 
treatment is reportedly much higher, but the hospital 
declines to give a figure.  Other regional medical centers' 
psychiatry wards reportedly do what they can to assist drug 
addicts, but they do not devote staff to their treatment. 
 
¶17. (U) The Pristina University Hospital Psychiatry 
Department notes that the number of patients is increasing 
and it sees an urgent need for a genuine drug treatment 
program, which has more and better-trained staff, offers 
individual and group therapy, and is separate from the 
psychiatric ward. It has developed a two-year strategic plan, 
including these goals, but its enactment depends on the 
Ministry of Health's approval and funding.  The hospital 
considers construction of a separate drug treatment facility 
a priority because they believe only the most severe cases 
ever reach them due to a dual stigma of patients being 
labeled drug addicts and erroneously viewed as mentally ill 
after seeking treatment in the psychiatric ward. 
 
U.S. Policy Initiatives and Programs 
 
¶18. (U) Bilateral Cooperation.  Kosovo cooperates with the 
United States on counternarcotics issues to the extent 
possible, but Kosovo's unique political status hampers 
bilateral cooperation.  Kosovo cannot legally enter into most 
bilateral, multilateral or international agreements, 
including extradition treaties, until its final status is 
resolved. 
 
¶19. (U) In past years, the United States Government has 
trained prosecutors and police on techniques to combat 
organized crime, including narcotics trafficking.  It has 
also provided technical assistance and equipment donations 
that directly or indirectly support counternarcotics work in 
Kosovo.  The United States Government also funds and 
contributes the largest contingent of police officers (over 
200) in the UN Mission in Kosovo, including monitors and 
mentors of KPS officers working on counter-narcotics efforts. 
 
¶20. (U) The Road Ahead.  Kosovo's final status is expected to 
be resolved in 2007, and the United States will continue to 
 
PRISTINA 00001057  004 OF 004 
 
 
provide rule of law assistance to Kosovo throughout the 
transition period.  The EU is planning a rule of law mission 
under the auspices of the European Security and Defense 
Policy (ESDP), which will take over from UNMIK.  The U.S. is 
coordinating its rule of law assistance goals and priorities 
for Kosovo with the EU, and will continue to provide 
training, technical assistance and equipment, which directly 
or indirectly supports counternarcotics work, to the KPS and 
Kosovo's criminal justice sector.  In 2007, the U.S. 
Department of Justice will conduct extensive training for 
prosecutors in the new Kosovo Special Prosecutors Office, 
which will handle narcotics trafficking and other sensitive 
crimes.  The U.S. will also continue to contribute police 
officers to the civilian police mission in Kosovo. 
KAIDANOW