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RR RUEHWEB

DE RUEHFR #4695/01 3470959
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R 130959Z DEC 07
FM AMEMBASSY PARIS
TO SECSTATE WASHDC 1454

UNCLAS PARIS 004695 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SIPDIS 
SENSITIVE 
 
INL FOR JOHN LYLE 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: SNAR FR
SUBJECT: FRANCE INCSR 2007-2008 
 
REF: STATE 136780 
 
¶1. (U) Following is post's draft of the France INSCR for 
2007-2008. 
 
¶2. (SBU) Begin Text: 
 
¶I. SUMMARY 
 
France continues to be a major transshipment point for drugs 
moving through Europe. Given France's shared borders with 
trafficking conduits such as Spain, Italy and Belgium, France 
is a natural distribution point for drugs moving toward North 
America from Europe and the Middle East. France's presence in 
the Caribbean, its proximity to North Africa, and its 
participation in the Schengen open border system, contribute 
to its desirability as a transit point for drugs, including 
drugs originating in South America. France's own large 
domestic market of predominantly cannabis users is attractive 
to traffickers as well. Specifically, in descending order, 
cannabis originating in Morocco (and to a lesser extent, 
Algeria), cocaine from South America, heroin originating in 
southwest Asia, and Ecstasy (MDMA) originating in the 
Netherlands and Belgium, all find their way to France. 
Seizures of amphetamines and methamphetamine in France remain 
relatively inconsequential. Increasingly, traffickers are 
also using the Channel tunnel linking France to Great Britain 
as a conduit for drugs from Continental Europe to the UK and 
Ireland.  Although the total number of seizures reported in 
2006 (latest published figures) declined by 6.73 percent from 
2005 levels (to 78,287), the gross total of the quantity of 
seizures of cocaine (HCL), Heroin, Khat, AND MDMA all 
increased, whereas certain cannabis products, cocaine base 
("crack" form) and LSD all decreased. Drug trafficking and 
possession arrests decreased in 2006 by 8.16 percent to 
110,486. This represents a significant decrease from 2004 
when 121,526 arrests occurred since the peak year of 1974 
when the first statistics became available.  France is a 
party to the 1988 UN Drug Convention. 
 
II. Status of Country 
 
Cannabis users are the largest group of drug users in France, 
according to official French government statistics. By 
contrast, users of the next most popular drugs, heroin and 
cocaine, account for approximately 4 percent and 2 percent of 
users respectively. France's drug control agency, the Mission 
Interministerielle de la Lutte Contre la Drogue et la 
Toxicomanie (MIDLT, or the Interministerial Mission for the 
Fight Against Drugs and Drug Addiction), is the focal point 
for French national drug control policy. Created in 1990, the 
MILDT (which received its current name in 1996) coordinates 
the 19 ministerial departments that have direct roles in 
establishing, implementing, and enforcing France's domestic 
and international drug control strategy. The MILDT is 
primarily a policy organ, but cooperates closely with law 
enforcement officials. The French also participate in 
regional cooperation programs initiated and sponsored by the 
European Union. Since the mid-1990s, death by drug overdose 
has declined dramatically from 564 reported deaths in 1994 to 
57 deaths during 2005. Possession of drugs for personal use 
and possession of drugs for distribution both constitute 
crimes under French law and both are regularly enforced. 
Penalties for drug trafficking can include up to life 
imprisonment. French narcotics agencies are effective, 
technically capable and make heavy use of electronic 
surveillance capabilities. In France, the counterpart to the 
DEA is the Office Centrale pour la Repression du Traffic 
Illicite des Stupefiants (OCRTIS), also referred to as the 
Central Narcotics Office (CNO). French authorities report 
that France based drug rings appear to be decreasingly 
focused on a single product, and are increasingly involved in 
other criminal activities such as money laundering and 
clandestine gambling. 
 
III. Country Actions Against Drugs in 2007 
 
Policy Initiatives. In late 2004, France launched a five year 
action plan called "programme drogue et toxicomanie" (Drug 
and Addiction Program) to reduce drug use among the 
population and lessen social health damage caused by the use 
and trafficking of narcotics. A full assessment of the 
program is expected to be published during 2008, when it 
reaches the end of its cycle, upon which a new program will 
be introduced. The 2004 program's successes include launching 
a 38 million euro (approx. $50.5 million) national 
information campaign on cannabis use in 2005 as well as an 
increase in France's medical treatment for cannabis and 
heroin users/addicts. The program also provided funding (up 
to 1.2 million euros (approx. $1.6 million)) for France's 
contributions to EU and UN counternarcotics programs in four 
priority areas: Central and Eastern Europe, Africa, Central 
Asia and Latin America/Caribbean. While France's bilateral 
counternarcotics programs focus on the Caribbean basin, 
special technical bilateral assistance has also been provided 
to Afghanistan through France's Development Agency (AFD). Ten 
million euros went to training Afghan counternarcotics police 
and to fund a crop substitution program that will boost 
cotton cultivation in the provinces of Konduz and Balkh. 
 
Law Enforcement Efforts. In 2007, French authorities made 
several important narcotics seizures. On January 18, 2007 
French customs officials at the port in the northern city of 
Dunkerque seized 356 kg of heroin, a record for the largest 
seizure of this drug in France. The heroin, which was valued 
at approximately 10 million euros (approx. 13 million), was 
being transported in a truck originating from Turkey and 
bound for Great Britain. On March 9, 2007 French customs 
authorities seized 490,000 ecstasy pills from the car trunk 
of a British national near Dunkerque. The suspect was 
reportedly working with drug traffickers in Brussels, and 
agreed to transport the drugs from Belgium to Great Britain. 
The estimated resale value of the ecstasy seized was reported 
to be 735,000 euros (appox. $967,157). With the help of the 
OCRTIS and French and British customs authorities, on August 
7, 2007, French maritime authorities conducted an important 
operation which led to the seizure of approximately 600 kg of 
cocaine from a sailing boat in the English Channel. The boat 
which originated in the Caribbean was headed to a port in 
northern Europe. The value of the cocaine seized is estimated 
to be between 16 and 18 million euros (approx. $22-24.85 
million). During 2007, French authorities also conducted 
frequent operations involving the seizure of cannabis. On 
September 10, 2007, French customs agents in the southern 
city of Montpellier seized 618 kg of resin of cannabis. The 
cannabis which is estimated to be worth around 1.2 million 
euros (approx. $1.65 million) was packaged in 20 sacks that 
were covered by several barrels of hay. Another operation, on 
October 13, 2007, led to the seizure of over 2 tons of resin 
of cannabis by French customs agents in the northern city of 
Arras. The cannabis with an estimated resale value of over 
4.3 million euros (approx. $6.1 million) was found concealed 
in several canvas sacs inside a truck en route from Spain to 
Germany. 
 
Corruption.  As a matter of government policy, France is 
firmly committed to the fight against drug trafficking 
domestically and internationally. The government does not 
encourage or facilitate illicit production or distribution of 
narcotic or psychotropic drugs or other controlled 
substances, or the proceeds from illegal drug transactions. 
Similarly, no senior government official is alleged to have 
participated in such activities. 
 
Agreements and Treaties. France is a party to the 1988 UN 
Drug Convention, the 1971 UN Convention on Psychotropic 
Substances, and the 1961 UN Single Convention as amended by 
its place, including a 1971 agreement on coordinating action 
against illegal trafficking. France and the U.S. have an 
extradition treaty and an MLAT, which provides for assistance 
in the prevention, investigation, and the prosecution of 
crime, including drug offenses. The U.S. also has a Customs 
Mutual Assistance Agreement (CMAA) with France. France is a 
party to the UN Convention against Corruption and the UN 
Transnational Organized Crime and its protocols against 
 
migrant smuggling and trafficking in persons. 
 
Cultivation/Production. French authorities believe that the 
cultivation and production of illicit drugs is not a 
significant problem in France. France cultivates opium 
poppies under strict legal controls for medical use, and 
produces amphetamines as pharmaceuticals. The government 
reports its production of both products to the International 
Narcotics Control Board (INCB) and cooperates with the DEA to 
monitor and control these products. According to authorities, 
the majority of illicit drugs produced in France come from 
smaller home laboratories. 
 
Drug Flow/Transit. France is a transshipment point for 
illicit drug to other European countries. France is a transit 
point for Moroccan Cannabis (hashish) and South American 
cocaine destined for European markets. Most of the heroin 
consumed in, or transiting France, originates in southwest 
Asia (Afghanistan) and enters France via the Balkans after 
passing through Iran and Turkey. New routes for transporting 
heroin from southwest Asia to Europe are developing through 
Central Asia and Russia and into Belgium and the Netherlands. 
West African drug traffickers (mostly Nigerian) are also 
using France as a transshipment point for heroin and cocaine. 
These traffickers move heroin from both Southwest and 
Southeast Asia (primarily Burma) to the United States through 
West Africa and France, with a back-haul of cocaine from 
South America to France through the United States and West 
Africa. Law enforcement officials believe these West African 
and South American traffickers are stockpiling heroin and 
cocaine in Africa before shipping it to final destinations. 
There is no evidence that significant amounts of heroin or 
cocaine enter the United States from France. Most of the 
South American cocaine entering France comes through Spain 
and Portugal. However, officials are seeing an increase in 
cocaine coming directly to France from the French Caribbean, 
giving impetus to the creation of the Martinique Task Force: 
a joint effort with Spain, Colombia and the UK. Most of the 
Ecstasy in or transiting France is produced in the 
Netherlands or Belgium. 
 
Domestic Programs/Demand Reduction. MILDT is responsible for 
coordinating France's demand reduction programs. Drug 
education efforts target government officials, counselors, 
teachers, and medical personnel, with the objective of giving 
these opinion leaders the information they need to assist 
those endangered by drug abuse in the community. In an effort 
to combat the consumption of cannabis in France, which has 
consistently increased over the past 20 years, in October of 
2007, Etienne Apaire, the President of MIDLT (since September 
2007) announced a new government policy aimed at cannabis 
users.  Beginning in 2008, the state will force those 
arrested for cannabis use to take a two day class on the 
dangers of cannabis consumption. The cost of the class, 450 
euros (approx. $660.00), will be paid by the drug user. 
France's current law (dating from 1970) includes stiff 
penalties for cannabis use including up to a year prison 
sentence and a 3750 euro (approx. $5,515) fine though it is 
rarely, if ever, enforced. This new measure is intended to be 
a more effective approach towards the prevention of cannabis 
use. 
 
IV. U.S. Policy Initiatives and Programs 
 
Policy Initiatives/Bilateral Cooperation. U.S. and GOF 
counternarcotics law enforcement cooperation remains 
excellent. During 2007 the DEA's Paris Country Office and the 
French Office Central Pour la Repression Du Trafic Illicite 
Des Stupefiants (OCRTIS), continued to routinely share 
operational intelligence and support one another's 
investigations.  The DEA and the OCRTIS shared intelligence 
was developed from a program which identifies orders for 
precursor chemicals placed from French companies for 
exportation outside of France.  This program resulted in the 
identification and seizure of dozens of illicit MDMA and 
Methamphetamine laboratories located both within the United 
States and France as well as many other countries around the 
world.  Additionally, during 2007, the OCRTIS and the DEA 
cooperatively conducted a controlled delivery of over two 
tons of pseudoephedrine to the Democratic Republic of the 
Congo.  The subsequent investigation of this shipment 
confirmed that the shipment was intended for illegal 
reshipment to Mexico for suspected use in the clandestine 
manufacture of methamphetamine.  Further investigation, 
resulted in the seizure of additional shipments of ephedrine 
products in the DRC, totaling nearly 10 tons, and in the 
identification of Mexican nationals involved in coordinating 
the diversion of these shipments from Africa to Mexico. In 
March of 2007, the OCRTIS seized the equivalent of over 1.3 
million dollars US in cash drug proceeds.  Information 
developed from the French investigation was shared with the 
DEA and several other countries' law enforcement services, 
which has led to a number of valuable investigative links. 
The DEA and the OCRTIS regularly exchange information 
relating to suspected airline internal drug couriers 
traveling internationally, and other routine law enforcement 
information that leads to arrests and drug seizures. 
 
The Road Ahead. The United States will continue its 
cooperation with France on all counternarcotics fronts, 
including through multilateral efforts such as the Dublin 
Group of countries coordinating narcotics assistance and the 
UNODC. 
 
END OF TEXT 
 
Please visit Paris' Classified Website at: 
http://www.state.sgov.gov/p/eur/paris/index.c fm 
 
 
STAPLETON