VZCZCXYZ0015
OO RUEHWEB

DE RUEHQT #1163/01 3571237
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
O 221237Z DEC 08
FM AMEMBASSY QUITO
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC IMMEDIATE 9790
INFO RUEHAC/AMEMBASSY ASUNCION 0281
RUEHBO/AMEMBASSY BOGOTA 7892
RUEHBR/AMEMBASSY BRASILIA 4058
RUEHBU/AMEMBASSY BUENOS AIRES 0794
RUEHCV/AMEMBASSY CARACAS 3317
RUEHLP/AMEMBASSY LA PAZ DEC LIMA 2957
RUEHGL/AMCONSUL GUAYAQUIL 3992

UNCLAS QUITO 001163 
 
STATE FOR INL/LP 
STATE FOR WHA/PPC 
ONDCP FOR OCONNOR 
 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: SNAR EC
SUBJECT: NAS ECUADOR QUARTERLY ACTIVITIES REPORT - OCTOBER-DECEMBER 
 
¶1. (U) HIGHLIGHTS: 
 
-- Ambassador Inaugurates Two Canine Facilities 
 
-- NAS Judicial Team Helps Shape New Laws 
 
-- Large Maritime and Land Seizures 
 
-- New Equipment to Modernize Detection Capabilities 
 
-- Coca Plants Eradicated 
 
-- NAS Ecuador Desk Officer Visits 
 
AMBASSADOR INAUGURATES TWO CANINE FACILITIES 
 
¶2. (U) In late October, the Ambassador inaugurated a new building at 
the Narcotics Police National Canine Training Center in Quito.  NAS 
built the original facility in 2001 and has upgraded the facility 
over the years to accommodate growth of the canine program.  The new 
building, which cost USD 450k, includes veterinarian facilities, 
office space and dormitories to house the approximately 40 guides in 
residence at the training center.  This was the first NAS facility 
inaugurated by the Ambassador since her arrival in Ecuador in August 
and it generated good national press coverage. 
 
¶3. (U) In the third week of November, the Ambassador inaugurated 
another canine program project, a new building and refurbished areas 
of the Narcotics Police Guayaquil Airport Facility.  The new 
building includes office space and dormitories for male and female 
guides residing at the facility.  Refurbished areas included an 
expansion of kennels from 18 to 36 and upgrades to the veterinarian 
facilities.  Costs for the project totaled USD 600k.  As part of the 
ceremony, the Ambassador presented one of the guides and his dog an 
award for a recent 96 kilo cocaine bust.  A week later, dogs from 
the unit alerted to 126 kilos of cocaine on a KLM flight departing 
to Amsterdam.  Apparently they like their new home! 
 
NAS ASSISTANCE TO LEGAL REFORMS 
 
¶4. (U) Following the September national referendum approving a new 
Constitution, the NAS justice program has been staying involved and 
providing technical assistance to government entities grappling with 
implementation of the new Constitution.  The Constitution calls for 
sweeping changes in the structure of the judicial branch and the 
powers of these new entities.  With its excellent contacts in the 
judicial sector and the technical assistance available to it through 
an existing grant with the American Bar Association, the NAS justice 
team is providing assistance to councils created by the GOE to 
reform the criminal procedures code, the money laundering law and 
the anti-narcotics law.  Each of these laws has well known 
deficiencies that NAS has been working to change for years, and the 
implementation of the new Constitution provides an opportunity to 
make these changes a reality.  The restructuring of the judiciary 
and uncertainty regarding the processing of criminal and other cases 
creates an additional challenge but we are pleased to be providing 
information and technical assistance when appropriate to positively 
influence the outcome. 
LARGE MARITIME AND LAND SEIZURES 
 
¶5. (U) In late October, after boarding a suspicious Ecuadorian 
fishing vessel approximately 300 miles off the coast of Ecuador and 
finding only traces of cocaine, a U.S. asset interdicted two smaller 
boats that had earlier been attached to the larger vessel but were 
now in open water.  These smaller boats, the Dorado and Albacora, 
had a total of 1.48 metric tons of cocaine concealed in compartments 
near their sterns.  A search for three other smaller boats that were 
earlier also attached to the larger vessel was unsuccessful.  It is 
believed that the original load on the larger vessel was probably 
4-6 metric tons, which was broken down and dispersed on the smaller 
boats when the U.S. asset approached.  The incident may indicate at 
least one of the methods traffickers are using to avoid the 
multi-ton seizures that were occurring in 2005-2006 but which have 
fallen off significantly since. 
 
¶6. (U) In September, Ecuadorian Naval Infantry (Marines) forces 
stationed at the facility where NAS completed a pier last year were 
patrolling the estuaries in Esmeraldas province near the Colombian 
border when they encountered an Ecuadorian and two Colombians at a 
remote dwelling.  Upon inspection, the forces found 3.8 metric tons 
of cocaine wrapped in plastic bales, possibly in preparation for the 
loading of a Self-Propelled Semi-Submersible watercraft. 
 
NEW EQUIPMENT TO MODERNIZE DETECTION CAPABILITIES 
 
¶7. (U) In November, NAS received 11 infrared spectrometers (6 
IdentifierIR and 5 HazmatIDs) to enhance the narcotics detection 
capabilities of the narcotics police.  Until these purchases, the 
police relied on ion scanners in the field and gas chromatographers 
in the police laboratory to determine if substances contained 
illegal narcotics.  With these new pieces of equipment in strategic 
field locations and in police laboratories in Quito and Guayaquil, 
substance testing will be simpler, faster and more accurate. 
 
¶8. (U) Also in November, NAS received two backscatter vans, which 
are mobile x-ray platforms capable of "looking into" vehicles and 
containers that pass beside the vans.  The narcotics police have 
assigned teams to protect and operate the units, periodically moving 
them among strategic locations throughout the country.  This is a 
new capability for the narcotics police in Ecuador and we expect 
that it will provide excellent results. 
 
COCA PLANTS ERADICATED 
 
¶9. (U) In November, the Special Mobile Antinarcotics Police (GEMA) 
found and manually eradicated 40,000 coca plants in the Esmeraldas 
Province near the Colombian border. 
 
DESK OFFICER VISIT 
 
¶10. (U) INL/LP's Ecuador Desk Officer, Tamara Crouse, visited 
Ecuador the third week in November for an orientation with NAS 
programs in the country.  She travelled with NAS staff to Guayaquil, 
Manta, Tulcan and Quito and met with Embassy staff and host country 
counterparts to learn about projects within each of our three areas 
of emphasis; police, military and judicial programs.  Key issues 
included the possibility of providing assistance to the GOE in the 
area of prison reform and the development of a polygraph capability 
in the Narcotics Police.  HODGES