VZCZCXRO5780
PP RUEHGR
DE RUEHGE #1042/01 3301831
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
P 261831Z NOV 07
FM AMEMBASSY GEORGETOWN
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 6026
INFO RUCNCOM/EC CARICOM COLLECTIVE
RUEAWJA/DEPT OF JUSTICE WASHINGTON DC

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 03 GEORGETOWN 001042 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SIPDIS 
 
STATE FOR INL/LP, WHA/CAR FOR JROSHOLT 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: SNAR GY
SUBJECT: INTERNATIONAL NARCOTICS CONTROL STRATEGY REPORT, PART I 
 
REF: STATE 136787 
 
¶1. (U) Post presents its 2008 International Narcotics Control 
Strategy Report, Part I, Drugs and Chemical Control 
 
Guyana: 
 
¶I. Summary 
 
Guyana is a transit point for cocaine destined for North America, 
Europe, and the Caribbean, but not in quantities sufficient to 
impact the U.S. market.  In 2007, domestic seizures of cocaine were 
considerably higher than the previous year due to improved 
counternarcotics measures at the working level, although all but one 
of these seizures were minor in scale.  The Government of Guyana 
(GOG) laid the groundwork for an enhanced security sector by 
agreeing to a reform program sponsored by the British government; it 
also arrested Terrence Sugrim, an accused drug trafficker wanted by 
the U.S., and initiated the extradition process. 
 
However, more than two years after launching its National Drug 
Strategy Master Plan (NDSMP) for 2005-2009, the GOG has not 
effectively implemented it.  Cooperation among law enforcement 
bodies is fragmented and minimally productive; weak border controls 
and limited resources for law enforcement allow drug traffickers to 
move shipments via river, air, and land without meaningful 
resistance.  Guyana is a party to the 1988 UN Drug Convention. 
 
II. Status of Country 
 
Guyana is a transit country for cocaine, and to a lesser degree 
marijuana.   Guyana's vast expanse of unpopulated forest and 
savannahs offers ample cover for drug traffickers and other 
smugglers.  Government counternarcotics efforts are undermined by 
inadequate resources for law enforcement, poor coordination among 
law enforcement agencies, an inefficient judiciary, and a 
colonial-era legal system badly in need of modernization. The 
Guyanese media regularly report murders, kidnappings, and other 
violent crimes commonly believed to be linked with narcotics 
trafficking. Guyana produces high-grade cannabis, but not coca leaf 
or cocaine.  Guyana is not known to produce, trade, or transit 
precursor chemicals on a large scale. 
 
III. Country Actions Against Drugs in 2007 
 
Policy Initiatives. In 2007, the GOG signed a Memorandum of 
Understanding (MOU) with Great Britain to implement a $5 million, 
multi-year program for reform of the security sector, which includes 
enhancing the investigative capacity of law enforcement agencies. 
The GOG requested and received $500,000 in U.S. Department of 
Defense funds to refurbish its only seaworthy Coast Guard vessel, to 
help secure its borders and interdict drug traffickers and other 
smugglers along its 285-mile coastline.  Guyana commenced issuance 
of machine-readable passports, in accordance with the International 
Civil Aviation Organization's (ICAO) standards, which will help 
thwart the use of identity fraud in cross-border criminal 
activities.  Additionally, the government has tabled legislation 
that would augment the tools currently available to it in fighting 
money laundering, including regulations to allow for the seizure of 
assets; the chances for its passage are unclear. 
 
The positive steps of 2007 notwithstanding, the GOG has accomplished 
few of the principal goals laid out in its ambitious NDSMP that was 
launched in June 2005.  The Joint Intelligence Coordination Center 
(JICC), the formation of which was a central element of the 2005 
NDSMP, is defunct.  In its place, a task force covering narcotics 
and illegal weapons has been assembled by the Minister for Home 
Affairs and meets monthly, but there remains limited productive 
interaction or intelligence sharing among the organizations 
involved. 
 
Law Enforcement Efforts.  Despite the lack of adequate resources, 
poor inter-agency coordination, and allegations of corruption, 2007 
saw modest improvements in enforcement at the working level. 
Through October, Guyanese law enforcement agencies seized 167 kgs of 
cocaine, a nearly threefold increase over the amount seized in all 
of 2006.  In May, the Customs Anti-Narcotics Unit (CANU) seized 106 
kilograms of cocaine hidden in dried fish glue at a home near 
Georgetown, and arrested four men in connection with the operation; 
one of these individuals was sentenced in November to ten years in 
prison and fined $1.2 million.  In July, police arrested Terrence 
Sugrim, an accused drug trafficker who had been indicted in New York 
federal court a few weeks earlier; his possible extradition to the 
U.S. is under appeal by the defense. 
 
Guyana's counternarcotics activities are encumbered by the 
peculiarities of a British colonial-era legal system that has not 
been updated to reflect the needs of modern-day law enforcement. 
There are no laws that support plea bargaining, wiretapping, or the 
use of DNA evidence, nor are there laws against racketeering or 
 
GEORGETOWN 00001042  002 OF 003 
 
 
conspiracy.  Even when more contemporary crime fighting tools are 
available to one law enforcement body, they are not necessarily 
available to others.  At Guyana's international airport, for 
example, the Guyana Revenue Authority (GRA) operates surveillance 
cameras to help thwart tax fraud.  But the cameras are not 
well-placed to aid counternarcotics operations, video footage is not 
shared with narcotics authorities and it is not clear that it would 
be admissible in drug-related court proceedings.   In all cases, law 
enforcement agencies are hamstrung by meager personnel budgets. 
There are no routine patrols of the numerous land entry points on 
the 1,800 miles of border with Venezuela, Brazil, and Suriname. 
 
The GoG has not identified or confronted major drug traffickers and 
their organizations.  While the GPF Narcotics Branch and CANU 
arrested dozens of drug couriers at Guyana's international airport 
en route to the Caribbean, North America, and Europe, the arrests 
were limited to individuals with small amounts of marijuana, crack 
cocaine or powder cocaine, usually on charges of possession for the 
purpose of trafficking. 
 
Corruption.  There is no evidence that the GOG or senior GOG 
officials encourage or facilitate the illicit production, 
processing, shipment or distribution of narcotic or psychotropic 
drugs or other controlled substances, or the laundering of proceeds 
from illegal drug transactions.  News media routinely report on 
instances of corruption reaching to high levels of government that 
are not investigated and thus go unpunished, but no conclusive 
evidence is available to back up these claims.  It is widely 
believed that drug trafficking organizations in Guyana continue to 
elude law enforcement agencies through bribes and coercion, but 
substantiating information is anecdotal at best.  Guyana is party to 
the Inter-American Convention Against Corruption (IACAC), but has 
yet to fully implement its provisions, such as seizure of property 
obtained through corruption.  Guyana is not a party to the UN 
Convention against Corruption. 
 
Agreements and Treaties. Guyana is party to the 1988 UN Drug 
Convention, the 1961 UN Single Convention on Narcotic Drugs, as 
amended by the 1972 Protocol, and the 1971 UN Convention on 
Psychotropic Substances. Guyana also is a party to the UN Convention 
against Transnational Organized Crime and its protocol on 
trafficking in persons. The 1931 Extradition Treaty between the 
United States and the United Kingdom is applicable to the U.S. and 
Guyana, although there is no bilateral mutual legal assistance 
treaty between the U.S. and Guyana.  In March 2006, Guyana signed 
the OAS Mutual Legal Assistance Treaty, to which the US is a party; 
assistance has also been regularly provided on an informal basis. 
Guyana signed a bilateral agreement with the U.S. on maritime 
counternarcotics cooperation in 2001; however, it has not yet taken 
the necessary domestic actions to bring the agreement into force. 
Guyana has bilateral agreements to cooperate on drug trafficking 
issues with its neighbors and with the United Kingdom. Guyana is 
also a member of the Organization of American States' Inter-American 
Drug Abuse Control Commission (OAS/CICAD). 
 
Cultivation and Production.  A very high-grade form of cannabis is 
grown in Guyana, primarily in the intermediate savannahs, and its 
cultivation is reportedly increasing.  Guyana is not a producer of 
cocaine or opium poppy. 
 
Drug Flow/Transit.  There are no reliable estimates regarding the 
amount of cocaine or cannabis that transits Guyana.  According to 
USG law enforcement authorities, Guyanese narcotics traffickers 
regularly move shipments of cocaine through the country.  Some 
cannabis cultivated in Guyana is also smuggled out of the country, 
although in more modest quantities.  In 2007, a shipment of heroin 
was seized in Guyana for the first time in recent memory. 
 
Drugs flow easily through Guyana's uncontrolled borders and 
coastline.  Light aircraft land at numerous isolated airstrips or 
make airdrops where operatives on the ground retrieve the drugs. 
Smugglers use small boats and freighters to enter Guyana's many 
remote but navigable rivers.  Smugglers also take direct routes, 
such as driving or boating across the borders with Brazil, Suriname, 
and Venezuela.  Inside the country, narcotics are transported to 
Georgetown by road, water, or air and then sent on to the Caribbean, 
North America, or Europe via commercial air carriers or cargo ships. 
 Authorities have arrested drug mules attempting to smuggle small 
amounts of cocaine on virtually every northbound route out of the 
international airport; in 2007 there was a surge in law enforcement 
seizures at the airport of suitcases carrying drugs that had been 
added to the baggage queue after check-in, and tagged in the names 
of unsuspecting passengers.  Police officials also witnessed a 
notable upward trend in the use of the Guyana Post Office as an 
avenue for the trafficking of cocaine in small quantities, further 
demonstrating the malleable tactics of trafficking organizations. 
 
Demand Reduction (Domestic Programs). Marijuana is sold and consumed 
openly in Guyana, despite frequent arrests for possessing small 
amounts of cannabis. Sources within the GOG and a local NGO note 
 
GEORGETOWN 00001042  003 OF 003 
 
 
that consumption of all psychotropic substances in Guyana is 
increasing, with a particularly dramatic rise in the use of ecstasy. 
 Marijuana use has been seen among children as young as eleven years 
old.  Guyana's ability to deal with drug abusers is hampered by the 
modest financial resources to support rehabilitation programs. 
Guyana only has two facilities that treat substance abuse -- the 
Salvation Army and the Phoenix Recovery Center.    There are no 
programs to deal with substance abuse in the prisons. 
 
IV. U.S. Policy Initiatives and Programs 
 
U.S. Policy Initiatives. U.S. policy focuses on cooperating with 
Guyana's law enforcement agencies, promoting good governance, and 
facilitating demand reduction programs.    In 2007, the USG 
continued to encourage Guyanese participation in bilateral and 
multilateral counternarcotics initiatives, and funded a substance 
abuse treatment program for women (the two previously existing 
programs in Guyana only funded treatment for men).  The U.S. Agency 
for International Development (USAID) is funding projects to improve 
governance in Guyana, which includes parliamentary and judicial 
reform. 
 
Bilateral Cooperation. The DEA works with Guyana's government and 
law enforcement agencies to provide training and develop initiatives 
that will enhance their counternarcotics activities.  The GOG 
routinely grants diplomatic credentials to DEA officers who cover 
Guyana from the U.S. Embassy in Trinidad, and working level 
collaboration is generally positive. 
 
The Road Ahead. Neither the GoG nor the various drug enforcement 
bodies of the U.S. have dedicated the resources to determine the 
quantity of illegal drugs flowing through Guyana.  All projections 
are speculative based on the few seizures made.  In the absence of 
both sound data and more robust DEA/INL involvement, the U.S. will 
not augment resources for investigation and interdiction in Guyana. 
Instead it will continue to channel any future assistance to 
initiatives that demonstrate success in treating substance abusers. 
The U.S. will also continue to use its diplomatic tools to encourage 
the GoG to organize an effective counternarcotics program, 
especially within the context of the British-funded overhaul of the 
security sector. 
 
ROBINSON