VZCZCXYZ0000
PP RUEHWEB

DE RUEHSN #2228/01 3092236
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
P 052236Z NOV 07
FM AMEMBASSY SAN SALVADOR
TO SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 8501

UNCLAS SAN SALVADOR 002228 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SIPDIS 
 
INL/LP FOR AMARTIN; WHA/CEN FOR HTHOMPSON 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: ES SNAR
SUBJECT: EL SALVADOR: DRAFT 2007-2008 INTERNATIONAL 
NARCOTICS CONTROL STRATEGY REPORT (INCSR) PART ONE, DRUGS 
AND CHEMICAL CONTROL 
 
REF: SECSTATE 136787 
 
¶1. (U) The following is El Salvador's draft 2007-2008 
International Narcotics Control Strategy Report (INCSR), Part 
One, Drugs and Chemical control.  Draft INCSR is submitted in 
compliance with instructions contained in reftel. 
 
¶2. (U) Begin draft text: 
 
2007-2008 INCSR Part One:  Drugs and Chemical Control 
 
El Salvador 
 
¶I. Summary 
 
El Salvador is a transit country for cocaine and heroin. 
Illicit narcotics originating in South America are smuggled 
over land and by sea to the United States via Mexico. In 
2007, the National Police (PNC) seized 261 kg of marijuana 
and 4065 kg of cocaine.  While El Salvador is not a major 
financial center, in 2007 the government seized USD 1,437,448 
worth of assets stemming from drug-related crime.  El 
Salvador is party to the 1988 UN Drug Convention. 
 
II. Status of Country 
 
El Salvador sits astride Eastern Pacific smuggling routes for 
cocaine and heroin, and also serves as a transit point for 
narcotics moving over land and via maritime routes towards 
Mexico and the United States.  El Salvador hosts a Forward 
Operating Location crucial to regional narcotics trafficking 
detection and interception efforts.  Transnational street 
gangs, including MS-13 and M-18, are major threats to public 
security in El Salvador.  Although transnational street gangs 
are not thought to be major narcotics trafficking 
organizations, they are apparently involved in street level 
drug sales.  Neither precursor chemical production and 
transit nor illicit trading in bulk ephedrine and 
pseudoephedrine are significant problems in El Salvador, 
although indicators suggest that some diversion of these 
substances has been attempted. 
 
III. Country Actions Against Drugs in 2007 
 
Policy Initiatives.  In 2007 the government of El Salvador 
(GOES) targeted maritime trafficking along Central America's 
Pacific coastline and overland transit routes, as well as 
narcotics-related money laundering operations. The 
Anti-Narcotics Division (DAN) of the National Civilian Police 
(PNC) focused on overland transportation, commercial air, 
package delivery services, and maritime transportation in the 
Gulf of Fonseca.  The Financial Investigative Unit (FIU) of 
the Attorney General's office monitored suspicious financial 
activity and investigated suspected instances of money 
laundering and associated financial crime. 
 
Accomplishments. GOES accomplishments in 2007 illustrate El 
Salvador,s strong commitment to the objectives of the 1988 
UN Drug Convention.  Salvadoran customs and law enforcement 
entities stationed at El Amatillo border crossing used the 
USG-supported Containerized Freight Tracking System (CFTS) to 
inspect commercial and passenger vehicles arriving from 
Honduras.  Salvadoran police at El Amatillo used the CFTS to 
inspect 12,053 commercial freight trucks, 10,942 passenger 
buses, and 9,569 passenger vehicles.  These inspections 
yielded 1.3 kg of seized cocaine, as well as the arrests of 
26 individuals for trafficking offenses.  Overall in 2007, 
the National Civilian Police (PNC) seized a total of 261 kg 
of marijuana and 4065 kg of cocaine. 
 
Law Enforcement Efforts. In 2007, GOES anti-narcotics efforts 
focused on priority law enforcement targets of mutual 
interest to both the United States and El Salvador. 
Salvadoran police investigators and prosecutors shared law 
enforcement intelligence and coordinated operations with USG 
counterparts.  The GOES fielded a special organized crime 
unit featuring embedded prosecutors and police investigators, 
and also undertook measures to increase cooperation between 
prosecutors and the police.  The National Civilian Police 
(PNC) Anti-Narcotics Division (DAN), while competent and 
proactive, is nonetheless hampered by funding shortfalls and 
legal impediments against wiretapping.  In cooperation with 
the FBI and the State Department Bureau of International 
Narcotics and Law Enforcement (INL), in October 2007 the PNC 
stood up the Transnational Anti-gang Unit (TAG), a major 
initiative which promises to focus Salvadoran and U.S. law 
enforcement resources, expertise, and operational capacity 
against a wide range of gang activity, to include 
street-level narcotics distribution and related violence. 
 
 
Corruption.  The GOES does not as a matter of policy 
encourage or facilitate illicit production or distribution of 
narcotics, psychotropic drugs, or other controlled 
substances, nor does it launder proceeds from illegal drug 
transactions.  No senior Salvadoran government officials are 
known to engage in, encourage, or facilitate the illicit 
production or distribution of drugs, nor the laundering of 
proceeds from illicit drug transactions.  Salvadoran law 
severely penalizes abuse of an official position in relation 
to the commission of a drug offense, including accepting or 
receiving money or other benefits in exchange for an act of 
commission or omission relating to official duties. The 
PNC,s Internal Affairs Unit and the Attorney General's 
Office investigate and prosecute GOES officials for 
corruption and abuse of authority.  El Salvador is a party to 
the Inter-American Convention against Corruption.  Consistent 
with the country's obligations under that Convention, the law 
criminalizes soliciting, receiving, offering, promising, and 
giving bribes, as well as the illicit use and concealment of 
property derived from such activity. El Salvador is also a 
party to the UN Convention against Corruption. 
 
Agreements and Treaties. El Salvador is a party to the 1971 
UN Convention on Psychotropic Substances; the 1961 UN Single 
Convention as amended by the 1972 Protocol; the Central 
American convention for the Prevention of Money Laundering 
Related to Drug-Trafficking and Similar Crimes; the UN 
Convention against Transnational Organized Crime and its 
three protocols, and the 1988 UN Drug Convention. The current 
extradition treaty between the United States and El Salvador, 
which dates back to 1911, does not provide a workable 
extradition regime.  El Salvador,s constitutional 
prohibition of life imprisonment has proven to be an obstacle 
to successfully negotiating a new bilateral extradition 
treaty.  Narcotics offenses are, however, included as 
extraditable crimes by virtue of El Salvador,s ratification 
of the 1988 UN Drug Convention. 
 
Cultivation/Production.  Local growers cultivate small 
quantities of marijuana in the mountainous regions along the 
border with Guatemala and Honduras.  The marijuana crops, 
reportedly of very low quality, are intended exclusively for 
domestic consumption. There is no evidence of coca or poppy 
cultivation. 
 
Drug Flow/Transit.  Heroin and cocaine are smuggled through 
the Eastern Pacific approaches along El Salvador,s 
coastline.  Traffickers using go-fast boats and commercial 
vessels smuggle narcotics through adjacent international and 
Salvadoran waters.  Cocaine and heroin from Colombia are 
typically smuggled over land through El Salvador on the 
Pan-American Highway.  Most drugs transiting over land are 
carried in the luggage of commercial bus passengers and in 
hidden compartments inside commercial tractor-trailers 
traveling north to Guatemala. 
 
Domestic Programs (Demand Reduction). Several government 
agencies implement GOES demand reduction programs.  The 
Ministry of Education provides lifestyle and drug prevention 
courses in public schools, and also sponsors after-school 
activities. The PNC operates a D.A.R.E. (Drug Abuse 
Resistance Education) program modeled on the U.S. program. 
The Ministries of Governance and Transportation have units 
that advocate drug-free lifestyles. The Public Security 
Council (Consejo Nacional de Seguridad Publica) promotes gang 
member demobilization, and actively sponsors substance abuse 
prevention outreach towards El Salvador,s gang population. 
The USG-supported Salvadoran NGO FundaSalva works with the 
GOES to provide substance abuse awareness, counseling, 
rehabilitation, and reinsertion services to the public.   In 
2007, FundaSalva provided demand reduction outreach to 3,450 
individuals, as well as addiction treatment to 367 patients. 
EL Salvador also has numerous local faith-based demand 
reduction programs, as well as counseling programs 
administered by recovering addicts. 
 
IV. U.S. Policy Initiatives and Programs 
 
Policy Initiatives. The primary focus of U.S. assistance is 
increasing the operational capacity of Salvadoran law 
enforcement agencies to interdict illicit narcotics 
shipments, and to combat narcotics-related money laundering, 
financial crime, and public corruption.  Promoting 
transparency, efficiency, and institutional respect for human 
and civil rights within both Salvadoran law enforcement 
organizations and the criminal justice system are also at the 
forefront of the U.S. assistance agenda.  U.S. efforts to 
combat transnational gangs also help to mitigate the 
corrosive impact of street-level drug sales, narcotics 
consumption, and related violence.  Cooperative ventures by 
 
 
the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) and INL to provide 
the GOES with an automated fingerprint identification system 
(AFIS), as well as the placement of an INL-funded Regional 
Gang Advisor in San Salvador, will significantly enhance 
Salvadoran investigative and prosecutorial capacity. 
 
Bilateral Cooperation.  The Drug Enforcement Administration 
(DEA) San Salvador Country Office works closely with the PNC 
Anti-narcotics Division (DAN).  The U.S. provided funding for 
operational support to the joint DEA and PNC DAN high profile 
crimes unit (GEAN), as well as training and logistical 
assistance to various DAN entities.  The DEA and INL country 
office also regularly coordinate with the PNC financial crime 
unit and the federal prosecutor's Financial Investigation 
Unit (FIU), and are working to establish stronger ties to 
federal banking regulators and the local banking association 
regarding issues relating to drug trafficking and money 
laundering.  The United States also funded training and 
travel related to airport security, money laundering, 
maritime boarding operations, and anti-gang measures.  Other 
regional and in-country USG assets, to include the 
International Law Enforcement Academy (ILEA), and, where 
appropriate, U.S. military and Coast Guard personnel, provide 
training, assistance, and logistical support to Salvadoran 
counterparts.  The Transnational Anti-gang Unit (TAG), a 
joint unit operated by the U.S. Federal Bureau of 
Investigation (FBI) and the PNC, focuses bilateral and 
regional resources against a wide range of criminal offenses 
committed by transnational street gangs.  The TAG, in cloe 
coordination with DEA, monitors transnational treet gang 
activity related to illicit narcotics 
 
Road Ahead. The United States will continue toprovide 
training and support to Salvadoran law eforcement 
institutions.  Increasing the capacity of Salvadoran law 
enforcement entities to gather,analyze, and disseminate 
intelligence will in tun enhance operational and 
investigative capacity and, in conjunction with increased 
prosecutorial capacity, result in a greater number of 
criminal convictions.  Further integration of police and 
prosecutorial activity, assisted by automated fingerprint 
analysis and computerized database sharing (i.e. AFIS), will 
significantly increase GOES ability to solve crimes and, most 
importantly, try, convict, and incarcerate dangerous 
criminals.  Additional information sharing information 
amongst law enforcement and financial institutions will also 
facilitate more effective trafficking, money laundering, and 
financial crime investigations.  The recent establishment of 
the joint FBI-PNC Transnational Anti-gang Unit (TAG), as well 
as the pending arrival of an INL Regional Gang Advisor, will 
enable El Salvador to stand at the forefront of regional 
anti-crime efforts. 
 
¶3. (U) End draft text. 
 
¶4. (U) Mission point of contact for the 2007-2008 INCSR 
report is INL Program Officer Anthony K. Stapleton, 
stapletonak@state.gov, (503) 2501-2040. 
Glazer