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RR RUEHWEB

DE RUEHTV #2377/01 3011452
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
R 281452Z OCT 09
FM AMEMBASSY TEL AVIV
TO SECSTATE WASHDC 4017

UNCLAS TEL AVIV 002377 
 
SIPDIS 
 
STATE FOR NEA/IPA AND INL 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: SNAR IS
SUBJECT: ISRAEL INCSR 2009 PART I 
 
REF: STATE 97309 
 
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Summary 
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¶1. (U) Israel is not a significant producer of or trafficking point 
for illicit narcotics.  However, domestic demand fuels a diverse 
local drug market that relies on smuggling from both neighboring and 
more distant countries.  Imported marijuana, hashish, ecstasy, 
heroin, cocaine, and LSD are all prevalent, as are a growing number 
of domestically produced "designer" drugs and higher-quality 
hydroponic marijuana.  Israeli officials noted with concern that 
some of these "designer" drugs are being marketed and exported to 
the U.S., Europe, and Australasia via the internet.  Israel has also 
become a transit country for the smuggling of heroin from Jordan to 
Egypt in return for money or hashish.  Unlike the U.S., Israel does 
not have an analog drug law.  This has facilitated the phenomenon of 
"pitzutziot," or, 24-hour convenience stores, selling "designer" 
drugs--only some of which are prohibited by existing ordinances. 
Oftentimes, these stores also sell illicit narcotics, large 
quantities of common household products used as inhalants, such as 
glue, and alcohol-especially near popular clubs and bars.  Israel is 
a party to the 1988 UN Drug Convention. 
 
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Status of Country 
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¶2. (U) Over the past year, Israeli authorities noticed that many 
segments of the population moved away from abusing traditional 
illicit narcotics.  Instead, the use of "designer" drugs--many of 
which are manufactured to fall within the bounds of technically 
"legal highs" due to their chemical composition--and counterfeit 
pharmaceutical prescriptions became more common.  Officials seized 
several large quantities of active pharmaceutical ingredients (API) 
diverted for use in the manufacture of illicit narcotics and 
"designer" drugs over the past year.  These included Paracetamol 
(used to dilute heroin), Mannitol (a sugar used as an adulterant or 
cutting agent in various illicit narcotics), pseudoephedrine, 
Cathinone, amphetamines, as well as large quantities of empty pill 
capsules found in make-shift drug laboratories.  Israel has no law 
requiring pharmaceutical machinery to be registered, which 
facilitates their use in the manufacture of illicit narcotics. 
 
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Country Actions against Drugs in 2009 
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¶3. (U) Policy Initiatives: Since Israel is not a major producing or 
manufacturing country, most efforts were targeted to counter illicit 
drug trafficking, supply and the small-scale manufacture and use of 
new "designer" drugs.  The Israeli National Police (INP) continued 
its general policy of interdiction at Israel's borders and ports of 
entry. 
 
¶4. (U) Israel focused legislative measures to promote the rapid 
inclusion of new substances into its Dangerous Drugs Ordinance. 
Over the past year, almost 50 new substances were added.  This 
year's additions set a new precedent since some of the substances 
have not yet been detected in Israel, nor determined in practice to 
be dangerous.  Instead these substances were assumed to be dangerous 
due to their chemical composition.  A recent amendment to this 
Ordinance forbids the manufacturing, importing, exporting, 
displaying, possessing or selling, without permission, of any 
drug-related paraphernalia. 
 
¶5. (U) Israel also recognized the danger inherent in the diversion 
of precursors and subtances used in the manufacture of illicit 
narcotis.  To prevent and control the diversion of precursors, a 
competent national authority was appointed, national legislation 
requiring permits for import and export of precursors is now being 
enforced, and good cooperation exists with the industrial sector to 
prevent diversion. 
 
¶6. (U) Law Enforcement Efforts: The police concentrated their 
efforts on interdicting smuggling from both neighboring and overseas 
countries.  Marijuana and hashish remain the most common drugs 
smuggled into Israel.  With the entrance of Moroccan and Afghan 
hashish into the Israeli market, the Egyptian border has become the 
main hashish source in the country.  The 230-KM peaceful border with 
Egypt makes it an attractive entry for smuggling.  In the first 
three-quarters of 2009, INP seized 930kg of hashish and 186 kg of 
marijuana by the Egyptian border. 
 
¶7. (U) In the past year, Israeli law enforcement officials opened 
31,419 total drug offence files-a 7.1% increase from the previous 
year.  Around three-quarters of these cases (23,259) were for drug 
use (a 9.5% increase on the previous year).  There were 4,532 
trafficking cases-a 38.3% increase, demonstrating the Israeli 
National Police's focus on trafficking offenses.  Cultivation and 
production cases (206) fell by 38.5%.  There was no significant 
change in possession cases (5,849). 
 
¶8. (U) Law enforcement officials engaged in a special initiative to 
combat the sale of "designer drugs" sold in 24-hour convenience 
stores, or "pitzutziot."   Israeli police and customs officials 
conducted over 30 raids on such kiosks this year, each yielding 
between 10-5,000 capsules.  The Pharmaceutical Crimes Unit, in 
coordination with the police, executed three major raids on capsule 
producers and suppliers, seizing over one million empty capsules. 
However, the lack of an analog drug law or law requiring the 
registration of pharmaceutical processing machinery continues to 
cause complications.  Customs, Police and Pharmaceutical Crimes Unit 
(PCU) officials worked together to intercept and investigate 
shipments of active pharmaceutical ingredients (API) diverted for 
use in the production of illicit narcotics. 
 
¶9. (U) Police and customs officials increased efforts to combat the 
importation of "Yaba" (a combination of methamphetamine and 
caffeine) from Thailand and Laos, as well as its use among the local 
Thai population.  They conducted over 40 seizures in the second half 
of 2009. 
 
¶10. (U) Operation North Star, a joint effort among local and 
national police authorities and international partners, broke up a 
cocaine smuggling ring operating from Panama to Israel and Europe. 
In all, over 100 kgs of cocaine were seized during this operation. 
 
¶11. (U) Police also broke up a major ring of narcotic addicts and 
psychiatrists in the major cities that was stealing and forging 
Ritalin prescriptions, recording over 100 incidents of counterfeit 
Ritalin prescriptions.  Efforts are also underway to interdict the 
smuggling of anabolic steroids, another chief concern. 
 
Drug Seizures* 
 
Cocaine (kg) 
2009-57 
2008-135 
2007-36 
2006-42 
2005-169 
 
Heroin (kg) 
2009-253 
2008-303 
2007-136 
2006-70.3 
2005-140 
 
Marijuana (kg) 
2009-544 
2008-852 
2007-1,920 
2006-5,032 
2005-10,000 
 
Hashish (kg) 
2009-1,378 
2008-1,325 
2007-1,009 
2006-898 
2005-1,022 
 
MDMA (Ecstasy tablets) 
2009-6, 625 
2008-112,905+2 kg powder 
2007**-939,741 
2006-112,985 
2005-266,996 
 
Amphetamines 
2009-3,682 tablets 
2008***-88,937 tablets 
2007-6,114 tablets 
2006****-8.7(kg) 
2005****-7.2(kg) 
 
Source of data: Israel National Police, Research Department. 
 
*2009 data represents seizures from January through September. 
** Of the 939,741 Ecstasy tablets seized in 2007, 777,000 were 
seized from one container in the port of Haifa arriving from 
Europe. 
***80,000 of this number were tablets of Captagon seized in the Dead 
Sea region. 
****Seizures of Cathinone only. Availability of Cathinone diminished 
after it was banned under Israeli law, but authorities continue to 
pursue analogs of the drugs. 
 
¶12. (U) Corruption: As a matter of government policy, Israel does 
not encourage or facilitate the illicit production or distribution 
of narcotic or psychotropic drugs or other controlled substances, or 
the laundering of proceeds from illegal drug transactions. 
Corruption is treated as a serious matter by the government. In 
2009, a number of public officials, including a former prime 
minister, were under investigation for corruption-related offenses. 
Israel has signed, but not ratified, the UN Convention against 
Corruption. Israel does not have specific legislation for public 
corruption related to narcotics, but narcotics-related corruption is 
covered under its generic anticorruption legislation. 
 
¶13. (U) Agreements and Treaties: Israel is a party to the 1988 UN 
Drug Convention, the 1971 UN Convention on Psychotropic Substances, 
and the 1961 UN Single Convention on Narcotic Drugs as amended by 
the 1972 Protocol. Israel and the U.S. have a customs mutual 
assistance agreement and a mutual legal assistance treaty.  Israel 
ratified the UN Convention against Transnational Organized Crime in 
December 2006 and has been a member of the Commission on Narcotic 
Drugs in the UN Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) since 2003. Israel 
has signed but not yet ratified the UN Convention against 
Corruption. Israeli companies participate in UN operations Topaz and 
Purple to restrict the abuse of precursor chemical substances. 
Israel is one of 36 parties to the COE European Treaty on 
Extradition and has separate extradition treaties with several other 
countries, including the U.S. Under the umbrella of the UNODC, 
Israel has restarted bilateral cooperation with the Palestinian 
Authority on reducing demand and supply of narcotics. Israel also 
cooperates on a regular basis with the Anti-Narcotics Department in 
Jordan. This has resulted in increasingly effective control of the 
Israel-Jordan border area, as reflected in interdiction figures. 
 
¶14. (U) In 2007, a new Protocol to the Convention on Extradition 
between the United States and Israel entered into force. 
Significantly updating the 1962 convention, the Protocol replaces 
the outdated list of extraditable offenses with a modern dual 
criminality approach and permits temporary surrender for trial in 
the requesting state of fugitives serving a prison sentence in the 
requested state. In combination with Israeli domestic extradition 
law, the Protocol also provides for service of a U.S. sentence in 
Israel for fugitives determined to be Israeli citizens and residents 
at the time of the commission of the offenses and allows limited 
inclusion of hearsay evidence in U.S. extradition documents. Israeli 
domestic statute of limitations in certain circumstances, however, 
may prohibit extradition of fugitives whose cases are more than ten 
years old. 
 
¶15. (U) This year, Israel was accepted as a member of the Permanent 
Forum on International Pharmaceutical Crime (PFIPC), which consists 
of 15 member countries from around the world, including the United 
States.  In 2010, Israel will host the annual PFIPC Conference. 
 
¶16. (U) Cultivation/Production:  The majority of illicit narcotics 
consumed in Israel are produced elsewhere.  A small amount of 
high-quality hydroponic marijuana ("hydro") is grown domestically. 
¶17. (U) Drug Flow/Transit: The Israeli National Police (INP) 
believes that Israel has become a transit country for the smuggling 
of heroin from Jordan to Egypt in return for money or hashish. 
Robust routes used to smuggle weaponry, people and tobacco are also 
utilized for drug smuggling.  Much of the smuggling is carried out 
by Israeli Bedouin drug smugglers who have connections with Egyptian 
cultivators.  In 2009, the INP seized over 150 kg and 36.5 kg of 
heroin by the Jordanian and Egyptian borders, respectively. 
¶18. (U) The importation of precursor chemicals and production of 
"designer" drugs is becoming increasingly prevalent in Israel.  The 
Pharmaceutical Crime Unit (PCU) reports that some of these drugs 
have been marketed and exported to the U.S., Europe, and Australasia 
via the internet.  Israeli officials have noted the proliferation of 
an entire network whereby precursor chemicals are smuggled into or 
diverted once in Israel, immediately used to produce various 
"designer" drugs, which are in turn shipped for sale in kiosks 
domestically and small quantities for export.  Law enforcement 
intelligence shows that these domestic drug manufacturing and 
distribution networks are functioning extremely effectively so as to 
not keep large quantities of any finished product in any one place. 
¶19. (U) Domestic Programs/Demand Reduction: The Israel Anti-Drug 
Authority (IADA) is the primary agency responsible for designing and 
implementing domestic programs to reduce the demand for drugs. 
National efforts to counter the abuse of illicit drugs focus on 
cultural and gender sensitive policies aimed to prevent drug use 
among the general, target and high-risk populations.  Treatment and 
rehabilitation of drug abuse victims and their families is a key 
goal.  Israel offers myriad treatment methods, ranging from drug 
detoxification, therapeutic communities, drug substitution and 
needle exchange programs, with the overall aim to provide unique 
solutions for different individuals and minimize the adverse 
consequences of drug abuse on society.  Credible and accurate 
information on the harmful consequences of amphetamine-type 
stimulants (ATS) is provided to the public as part of general 
national public awareness campaigns.  The IADA stresses the 
importance of community-wide participatory approach to countering 
drug abuse, and has developed regional and local programs addressing 
the unique needs of each community.  An amendment to Israel's 
Municipality Law has made it compulsory for local municipalities to 
establish treatment services for drug abuse victims, and to offer 
education and prevention activities in their jurisdiction, as well 
as establish local committees for combating drugs.  In the last 
year, IADA has worked intensively on the issue of alcohol, 
especially as it relates to drug abuse. 
 
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U.S. Policy Initiatives and Programs 
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¶20. (U) Bilateral Cooperation: There is robust collaboration between 
Israel and the United States on illicit narcotics.  The DEA Country 
Office in Nicosia, Cyprus and Israeli officials characterize their 
cooperation as outstanding. The Israeli Tax Authority also maintains 
direct cooperation with Immigration and Customs Enforcement offices 
in Rome, and continues to conduct joint anti-smuggling operations. 
There is a monthly bilateral exchange on major drug seizures in both 
countries. The Pharmaceutical Crime Unit also works directly with 
the DEA. 
¶21. (U) Road Ahead: Officials from both the Israeli and U.S. 
government wish to continue strengthening an already excellent 
partnership in the area of illicit drug enforcement and 
rehabilitation efforts. The DEA Country Office in Nicosia, Cyprus 
will continue its cooperation and coordination with counterparts in 
the Israeli law enforcement community. The Israeli National Police 
continues to strengthen relationships with law enforcement agencies 
in other countries, and works through the Office of International 
Relations within the IADA to pursue this objective. The IADA has 
begun to establish relationships with the National Institute on Drug 
Abuse and the Office of National Drug Control Policy in the U.S. 
The Pharmaceutical Crimes Unit hopes to engage with U.S. 
governmental and private researchers on the effects of several 
"designer" drugs made with Cathinone and amphetamine derivates as it 
prepares for an Israeli analog drug law.  The Israeli Tax Authority 
would like to bolster collaboration with the U.S. on investigations 
of narcotics smuggling. 
CUNNINGHAM