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Viewing cable 07BRASILIA2091, DRAFT 2007 INTERNATIONAL NARCOTICS CONTROL STRATEGY REPORT

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Reference ID Created Released Classification Origin
07BRASILIA2091 2007-11-06 09:25 2011-07-11 00:00 UNCLASSIFIED Embassy Brasilia
VZCZCXRO8838
PP RUEHRG
DE RUEHBR #2091/01 3100925
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
P 060925Z NOV 07
FM AMEMBASSY BRASILIA
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 0360
INFO RUEHRG/AMCONSUL RECIFE 7331
RUEHRI/AMCONSUL RIO DE JANEIRO 5384
RUEHSO/AMCONSUL SAO PAULO 1122
UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 05 BRASILIA 002091 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SIPDIS 
 
FOR INL, WHA/BSC 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: SNAR EAID KCRM PREL BR
SUBJECT: DRAFT 2007 INTERNATIONAL NARCOTICS CONTROL STRATEGY REPORT 
(INCSR) FOR BRAZIL 
 
REF: A) SECSTATE 136787 B) SECSTATE 137250 
 
1.  Following is a draft of Part I of the Brazil chapter of the 2007 
INCSR.  As requested in reftel B, the money laundering portion of 
the INCSR will be submitted separately. 
 
BRAZIL 
 
---------- 
I. SUMMARY 
---------- 
 
2.  Brazil is a major transit country for illicit drugs shipped to 
Europe and, to a somewhat lesser extent, the United States.  Brazil 
has improved cooperation with its neighbors in an attempt to control 
its remote and expansive border areas where illicit drugs are 
transported, particularly in the tri-border area with Paraguay and 
Argentina. 
 
3.  In 2007 the Government of Brazil (GOB) made important advances 
in its drug prevention and law enforcement programs, including 
numerous seizures of illicit narcotics and weapons, and the arrest 
of important narcotics traffickers.  In one notable example, 
U.S.-Brazilian cooperation helped bring about the capture of Juan 
Carlos Ramirez-Abadia, a notorious Colombian drug cartel leader.  In 
2007, the Government of Brazil (GOB) broke up Mexican and Colombian 
groups involved in sending heroin to the United States, and is now 
targeting groups that sell prescription drugs illegally via the 
Internet.  The Brazilian Federal Police (BFP) is placing a higher 
priority on interdiction capabilities at sea ports, major airports 
and along the Bolivian border, where seizures of low purity cocaine, 
almost exclusively destined for the domestic Brazilian market, 
increased. Brazil is a signatory of various counter-narcotics 
agreements and treaties, the 1995 bilateral U.S.-Brazil 
counter-narcotics agreement, and the annual Letter of Agreement 
(LOA) with the United States.  Brazil is a party to the 1988 UN Drug 
Convention. 
 
--------------------- 
II. STATUS OF COUNTRY 
--------------------- 
 
4.  Brazil is a significant transit country for cocaine base and 
cocaine moving from source countries to Europe, the Middle East and 
Brazilian urban centers, as well as for smaller amounts of heroin. 
Marijuana and lower-quality cocaine are used among youths in the 
country's cities, particularly Sao Paulo and Rio de Janeiro, where 
powerful and heavily armed organized drug gangs are involved in 
narcotics-related arms trafficking. 
 
------------------------------------------ 
III. COUNTRY ACTIONS AGAINST DRUGS IN 2007 
------------------------------------------ 
 
POLICY INITIATIVES 
 
5.  The GOB continues to implement its National Anti-drug Policy, 
which was updated in late 2005.  The GOB anti-money laundering 
legislation drafted in 2005 still has not been presented to 
Congress.  If passed it would facilitate greater law enforcement 
access to financial and banking records during investigations, 
criminalize illicit enrichment, allow administrative freezing of 
assets, and facilitate prosecutions of money laundering cases by 
amending the legal definition of money laundering and making it an 
autonomous offense.  Brazil has established systems for identifying, 
tracing, freezing, seizing, and forfeiting narcotics-related assets. 
 The Brazilian Government's interagency Financial Crimes 
Investigations Unit (COAF) and the Ministry of Justice manage these 
systems jointly.  Police authorities and the customs and revenue 
services have adequate police powers and resources to trace and 
seize assets.  The GOB is in the process of creating a computerized 
registry of all seized assets to improve tracking and disbursal. 
The judicial system has the authority to forfeit seized assets, and 
Brazilian law permits the sharing of forfeited assets with other 
countries. 
 
6.  Narcotics terrorists exploit Brazil's heavily transited border 
crossings and its expansive border areas where Brazilian law 
enforcement only has a minimal presence.  To combat trans-border 
trafficking organizations more effectively, Brazil cooperates 
closely with its neighbors through joint intelligence centers (JIC) 
in strategic border towns.  The newest JIC is located near the 
common border of Brazil, Bolivia, and Peru, in the Brazilian town of 
Epitaciolandia.  The JIC operates out of the Federal Police offices 
and is staffed by the Brazilian DPF and a Bolivian law enforcement 
representative.  Another JIC -- newly built and located in the 
Tri-Border Area of Brazil, Paraguay, and Argentina -- will commence 
operations following the finalization of staffing issues by the 
 
BRASILIA 00002091  002 OF 005 
 
 
three countries. Brazil signed a memorandum of understanding in 
March 2007 to expand the Officer Exchange Program, which now 
includes Argentina, Bolivia, Chile, Peru, and Paraguay.  This 
cooperative exchange allows police officers in these countries share 
real-time intelligence and improve their professional working 
relationships. 
 
ACCOMPLISHMENTS 
 
7.  In 2007 the GOB made important advances in its drug prevention 
and law enforcement programs, including numerous seizures of illicit 
narcotics and weapons, and the arrest of important drug traffickers. 
 In one notable example, U.S.-Brazilian cooperation helped bring 
about the capture of Juan Carlos Ramirez-Abadia, a notorious 
Colombian drug cartel leader.  The BFP also continued to play a 
major role in "Operation Seis Fronteras" (Six Borders) to disrupt 
the illegal flow of precursor chemicals in the region.  The GOB also 
supported "Operation Alliance" with Brazilian and Paraguayan 
counter-drug interdiction forces in the Paraguayan-Brazilian border 
area, and "Operation San Francisco", which successfully targeted a 
Colombian drug trafficking operation tied to the Revolutionary Armed 
Forces of Colombia (FARC). 
 
LAW ENFORCEMENT EFFORTS 
 
8.  In September 2007, the Brazilian Federal Police received new 
leadership, which made several senior executive personnel changes 
that appear to favor increased law enforcement cooperation with the 
United States and other international partners in efforts to target 
major drug trafficking operations in Brazil.  In 2007, the Brazilian 
Federal Police seized 13.1 metric tons (MT) of cocaine, 916 kg of 
cocaine base, 488 kg of crack, 153.1 MT of marijuana, and 16 kg of 
heroin.  The Federal Police makes records relating to chemical 
transactions available to USG law enforcement officials when 
requested.  Since only the Federal Police, and not local police 
forces report seizures on a national basis, and since Federal Police 
sources estimate they record perhaps 75 percent of seizures and 
detentions, all seizure statistics may be incomplete.  The Federal 
Police also indicted 4,069 people on drug-related charges.  Brazil 
is a growing consumer market for amphetamines and ecstasy, the 
so-called synthetic drugs.  In February 2007, after a six-month 
investigation, Brazilian State Police dismantled an Ecstasy lab -- 
believed to be the first in Brazil -- in the State of Goias, and 
seized approximately 30,000 tablets estimated to be worth 
US$450,000.  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 the GOB seized one airplane, 11,923 
motor vehicles, 237 motorcycles, 8 boats, 379 firearms, and 1,865 
cell phones in 2007. 
 
9.  In conjunction with Operation Topaz the DPF agreed to work with 
the USG to perform a study on the use within Brazil and the 
exportation of Acetic Anhydride from Brazil. 
 
CORRUPTION 
 
10.  As a matter of government policy, neither the GOB nor any of 
its senior officials condone, encourage, or facilitate production, 
shipment, or distribution of illicit drugs or laundering of drug 
money, although corruption remains a problem.  The Federal Police 
have carried out a number of high profile investigations of public 
officials and State Police involved in money laundering and/or 
narcotics trafficking.  The fight against corruption remains a high 
priority for Brazilian law enforcement.    In September 2007, the 
BFP arrested 52 Military Police Officers from a single battalion in 
Rio de Janeiro after a seven-month long investigation ("Operation 
Two Faces") into their involvement in a police corruption ring 
whereby they were on the payroll of drug traffickers. 
 
AGREEMENTS AND TREATIES 
 
11.  Brazil became a party to the 1988 UN Drug Convention in 1991. 
Bilateral agreements based on the 1988 convention form the basis for 
counter-narcotics cooperation between the United States and Brazil. 
The United States and Brazil are parties to a bilateral mutual legal 
assistance treaty that entered into force in 2001, which is actively 
used in a wide array of cases.  In 2002, the U.S. Customs and Border 
Protection signed a Customs Mutual Assistance Agreement with the 
government of Brazil, which provides a basis for the exchange of 
information to prevent, investigate and redress any offense against 
the customs laws of the United States or Brazil.  Brazil also has a 
number of narcotics control agreements with its South American 
neighbors, several European countries, and South Africa.  These 
agreements have given rise to further cooperation, such as 
"Operation Six Borders (Seis Fronteras)", which also strengthen 
relations among the various law enforcement agencies.  Brazil 
 
BRASILIA 00002091  003 OF 005 
 
 
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). 
 
EXTRADITION 
 
12.  The Brazilian constitution prohibits the extradition of 
natural-born Brazilian citizens.  It allows for the extradition of 
naturalized Brazilian citizens for any crime committed prior to 
naturalization.  The constitution also allows for the extradition of 
naturalized Brazilian citizens specifically for narcotics-related 
crimes committed after naturalization, however no such extraditions 
have occurred, because the Brazilian congress has not passed 
implementing legislation.  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 and protocol thereto, both of which 
entered into force in 1964. 
 
ILLICIT CULTIVATION/PRODUCTION 
 
13.  Although some cannabis is grown in the interior of the 
northeast region, primarily for domestic consumption, there is no 
evidence of significant cultivation or production of illicit drugs 
in Brazil.  Other drugs for domestic consumption or transshipment 
originate mainly in Colombia, Peru, Paraguay, or Bolivia. 
 
DRUG FLOW/TRANSIT 
 
14.  Cocaine arriving from Bolivia and marijuana from Paraguay are 
mainly destined for domestic consumption within Brazil.  Higher 
quality cocaine from Colombia for export to Europe, the Middle East, 
and Africa enters by boat and is placed in ships departing from 
Brazil's northeastern ports.  Organized groups based in Sao Paulo 
and Rio de Janeiro arrange for the transport of the contraband -- 
increasingly smuggled by international couriers (mules) aboard 
trans-Atlantic flights -- through contacts in the border areas.  The 
drugs are purchased from criminal organizations that operate outside 
of Brazil's borders. Traffickers have reduced the number of long 
flights over Brazilian territory due to Brazil's introduction of a 
lethal-force air interdiction program in 2004.  However, traffickers 
still make the short flight over Brazil en route to Venezuela and 
Suriname.  Proceeds from the sale of narcotics are used to purchase 
weapons and to strengthen the groups' control over the slums 
(favelas) of Rio and Sao Paulo.  Domestic networks that operate in 
the major urban areas of the country carry out the distribution of 
drugs in Brazilian cities. 
 
DEMAND REDUCTION 
 
15.  The National Anti-Drug Secretariat (SENAD) is charged with 
oversight of demand reduction and treatment programs.  Some of the 
larger USG-supported programs include a nationwide toll-free number 
for drug-abuse counseling, a nationwide DARE program (Brazil has the 
largest DARE program outside of the United States), and a national 
household survey of drug use among teens.  In early 2007, SENAD 
released the results of the 2005-2006 national household drug 
consumption survey, partially funded by the USG, which indicated 
that that since the last survey was done in 2001, marijuana 
consumption had increased from 6.9% to 8.8% and cocaine consumption 
had increased from 2.3% to 2.9%.  SENAD also supports drug councils 
that are located in each of the state capitals.  These councils 
coordinate treatment and demand reduction programs throughout their 
respective states. 
 
--------------------------- 
IV. U.S. POLICY INITIATIVES 
--------------------------- 
 
POLICY INICIATIVES 
 
16.  U.S. counter-narcotics policy in Brazil focuses on 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, 
SENAD, and the Ministry of Justice. 
 
BILATERAL COOPERATION 
 
17.  U.S.-Brazilian bilateral programs include support of 
intelligence-driven operations such as the joint intelligence 
centers located in Tabatinga and on the Bolivian border; and 
training courses in airport interdiction and container security. 
Prevention and treatment assistance included support for D.A.R.E. 
 
BRASILIA 00002091  004 OF 005 
 
 
and the toll free drug counseling/information hotline, as well as 
completing a national household survey of drug usage. 
 
18.  In 2007, various operations, such as the annual "Operation 
Alianza" (Brazil, Paraguay) that involved marijuana 
eradication/interdiction, and "Operation Seis Fronteras" were 
supported with USG funds.  During 2007, the USG provided training 
throughout Brazil in combating money laundering, airport 
interdiction, community policing, container security, counter-drug 
SWAT operations, maritime law enforcement, and demand reduction 
programs.  Brazilian Law Enforcement attended training programs in 
the United States, such as money laundering prevention seminars and 
the Federal Bureau of Investigation academy.  Seminars and courses 
for State police representatives also assisted the Brazilian 
authorities with security preparations for the 2007 Pan American 
games.  In 2007, the GOB and USG agreed to expand the Container 
Security Initiative in Santos, Brazil to promote secure 
containerized cargo to the United States. 
 
THE ROAD AHEAD 
 
19.  Despite improved cooperation with its neighbors, Brazil's 
expansive territory and borders make effective border control and 
narcotics enforcement in the vast Amazonian region -- more than half 
its national territory -- a serious challenge.  While 2007 proved to 
be a productive year for Brazilian Federal Police in their fight 
against narcotics trafficking organizations, Brazil remains a major 
drug transit country.  In early 2007, the USG conducted a 
comprehensive review of USG counter-drug and law-enforcement 
assistance to Brazil, to ensure that the changing policy priorities 
of both countries are being properly addressed.  The GOB and USG 
subsequently agreed to implement programs designed to control the 
movement of drugs, illegal currency, and other narcotics-related 
contraband through Brazil's sea ports and major airports.  Moreover, 
increased support for intelligence-driven bilateral and regional 
operations, implementing a new strategy for combating money 
laundering, as well as fostering a closer working relationship with 
state and local officials in high crime areas should show positive 
results over the next year. 
 
---------------------- 
V.  STATISTICAL TABLES 
---------------------- 
 
20.  Calendar year         2007        2006         2005 
 
Coca 
   Eradication (mt)          -           -            - 
   Cocaine seizures (mt)   13.1        11.5         15.8 
   Crack cocaine (mt)        .49         .14          .13 
 
Cannabis 
   Eradication*              .37         .92         1.54 
   Marijuana seizures (mt) 153.1      135.0        146.6 
 
* .37 million plants destroyed.  Conversion to metric tons not 
given. 
 
Heroin (kg)                 16          57 
 
Arrests                  4,069**     2,042         2,298 
 
** The Federal Police indicted 4,069 people on drug-related charges; 
arrest figures forthcoming. 
 
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. 
 
------------------------------ 
VI. PRECURSOR CHEMICAL CONTROL 
------------------------------ 
 
21.  The GOB's Justice Ministry issued a decree, Portaria 
Ministerial No 1.274-MJ, in August 2004 to prevent the manufacture 
of illegal drugs; this regulation made Brazil's law pertaining to 
chemical control arguably the most stringent in South America.  The 
decree established the control of 146 chemical substances that can 
be utilized in the production of drugs; Brazil previously controlled 
12 chemical substances.  All companies that handle, import, export, 
manufacture, or distribute any of these 146 substances must be 
registered with the Brazilian Federal Police.  There are 
approximately 25,000 such companies registered with the Brazilian 
Federal Police.  These registered companies are required to send a 
monthly report to the Brazilian Federal Police of their usage, 
purchases, sales, and inventory of any of these 146 substances that 
they handle.  Any person or company that is involved in the 
 
BRASILIA 00002091  005 OF 005 
 
 
purchase, transportation, or use of these products must have a 
certificate of approval of operation, real estate registry, 
certificate, or special license; which are issued 
by the Brazilian Federal Police.  Companies that handle the 22 
substances in List I, commonly referred to as precursors, of the 
aforementioned decree are also regulated by Brazil's National 
Sanitary Vigilance Agency (ANVISA). 
 
22.  The GOB has fulfilled the 1988 UN drug convention goals 
relating to chemicals and is a party to international agreements on 
a method for maintaining records of transactions of an established 
list of precursor and essential chemicals.  The GOB participates in 
and supports multilateral chemical control initiatives.  The 
Brazilian Federal Police have agreed to work with the DEA to perform 
a study on the use within Brazil and the exportation of Acetic 
Anhydride from Brazil; this is in conjunction with Operation Topaz. 
The Brazilian Federal Police respond to the DEA's Multilateral 
Chemical Reporting Notifications (Pre-notifications of exports of 
controlled chemicals) in a timely fashion.  In summary, the GOB is 
interested and proactive in chemical control. 
 
SOBEL