VZCZCXYZ0006
PP RUEHWEB

DE RUEHAS #0982/01 3080647
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
P 040647Z NOV 09
FM AMEMBASSY ALGIERS
TO SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 8063

UNCLAS ALGIERS 000982 
 
SIPDIS 
 
STATE FOR INL: JLYLE 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: SNAR AG
SUBJECT: ALGERIA'S 2009-2010 INTERNATIONAL NARCOTICS 
CONTROL STRATEGY REPORT (INCSR), PART I, DRUGS AND CHEMICAL 
CONTROL 
 
REF: STATE 97309 
 
Summary 
------- 
 
¶1.    (U) Algeria is primarily a transit country for drugs, 
but both domestic production and consumption are rising. 
Drug seizures increased substantially in 2008 and the first 
half of 2009.  The Government of Algeria (GOA) is committed 
to addressing the problem and has begun several domestic 
programs to combat drug use and production, but Algeria faces 
significant difficulties in securing its borders against 
cross-border trafficking.  Algeria is a party to the 1988 UN 
Drug Convention. 
 
Status of Country 
----------------- 
 
¶2.    (U) Algeria currently is not a major center of drug 
production, money laundering, or production of precursor 
chemicals.  However, it remains a significant transit point 
for drug trafficking into Europe and is evolving from merely 
a transit point into a destination and producer of drugs as 
well.  There is a small but growing domestic market for 
harder drugs such as heroin and cocaine, but cannabis remains 
the most widely-used illicit drug in the country. 
 
¶3.    (U) The government takes the drug problem seriously, 
and efforts are underway to combat both distribution and use. 
 The GOA has introduced a public awareness program and has 
established treatment facilities to educate and treat those 
affected by drug use, and law enforcement and border security 
agencies are actively engaged in stopping the production in 
and flow of drugs through Algeria.  Trafficking arrests and 
drug seizures are frequently reported in the Algerian press. 
 
 
¶4.    (U) According to Algeria's National Office for the 
Fight Against Drugs and Addiction (ONLCDT), Algeria is a 
transit point for drugs smuggled from Morocco to Europe. 
Algerian officials assert that Morocco is the principal 
source of drugs such as cannabis entering Algeria.  The GOA 
at times also blames an increase in illegal immigration 
through Algeria for the increase in drug usage by Algerian 
youth.   Algeria faces serious problems with cross-border 
trafficking, particularly in the southern areas of the 
country, where the vast desert along Algeria's southern 
border is almost impossible to secure completely.  There was 
a significant increase in drug trafficking attempts in 2008 
due to the proliferation of drug networks throughout the 
country and the refinement of their methods, drawn from their 
collaboration with international drug networks and their use 
of improved communications equipment.  The National 
Gendarmerie reports that the bulk of drugs seized in Algeria 
is intended for export, while there is likely a large 
increase in domestic drug consumption as well.  Public 
statements by the National Gendarmerie indicate that the GOA 
is committed to combating drug trafficking, which it sees as 
a national threat. 
 
¶5.    (U) In addition to smuggling activities, Algeria in 
recent years has seen an increase in domestic drug 
production, particularly cannabis being cultivated in the 
southeast and in the area of the capital, Algiers.  In 2008, 
there also were several front-page press reports of domestic 
poppy production, noting that areas of Algeria's southern 
Sahel region were being used for poppy cultivation. 
Algeria's judicial police division indicated that drug 
seizures increased markedly from 2007 to 2008, and the amount 
of cannabis seized in the first half of 2009 exceeds that of 
the entire year of 2008. 
 
Country Actions Against Drugs 
----------------------------- 
 
¶6.    (U) Policy Initiatives:  Algeria's official national 
drug policy consists of five stated goals:  (1) revision of 
laws related to drugs and addiction; (2) education and 
information campaigns; (3) improved national coordination 
mechanisms; (4) improved law enforcement capacity; and (5) 
reinforcement of bilateral, regional, and international 
efforts on anti-narcotics and border control efforts. 
 
¶7.    (U) The GOA's internal anti-narcotics legislative 
policies strive to adapt Algerian drug and trafficking laws 
to address the increased trafficking and consumption levels, 
and to bring Algerian legislation into conformity with 
international conventions, particularly the 1988 UN Drug 
Convention.  Other plans include drafting regulations 
governing incineration of narcotics and reviewing control 
 
 
mechanisms for the legal production, marketing, and storage 
of drugs and psychotropic substances. 
 
¶8.    (U) The ONLCDT is charged with developing national 
policies in the realms of drug prevention, treatment, and 
suppression, and with coordinating and ensuring 
follow-through.  The office is the government's center for 
the collection and analysis of data on trafficking, use, and 
treatment in the country.  ONLCDT in 2008 held four regional 
seminars on the creation, enactment, and evaluation of 
anti-drug programs and participated in several conferences 
hosted by the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime and 
European anti-narcotics organizations. 
 
¶9.    (U) Law Enforcement Efforts:  The following table is a 
summary of Algeria's drug seizures since 2007, based on 
statistics provided by the ONLCDT. 
 
2009 (January-June): 
Cannabis:  44,600 Kg; 1618 plants 
Cocaine (including crack):  537 gr 
Heroin and Opium:  372 gr; 977 plants 
Other psychotropic substances:  42,164 tablets; 990 Ml 
solutions 
 
2008: 
Cannabis: 38,041 Kg; 10,712 plants 
Cocaine (including crack):  784 gr 
Heroin and Opium:  1 10 gr; 77,612 plants 
Other psychotropic substances:  924,398 tablets; 2,050 Ml 
solutions 
 
2007: 
Cannabis:  16,641 Kg; 20,987 plants 
Cocaine (including crack):  22,055 gr 
Heroin and Opium:  382 gr; 74,817 plants 
Other psychotropic substances:  233,950 tablets; 5,960 Ml 
solutions 
 
¶10. (U) Algerian security agencies are expanding their 
capabilities to respond to crime by adding personnel and 
attempting to engage in more training.  Increased interagency 
intelligence sharing and interdiction efforts improved the 
effectiveness of government responses, increasing seizures in 
2008; seizures to date in 2009 are far exceeding those of 
¶2008. 
 
¶11.  (U) In the first half of 2009, Algeria arrested 6,163 
individuals on drug-related offenses, comprising 2,021 
arrested for drug trafficking, 4,128 arrested for drug use, 
and 14 arrested for cultivating cannabis and opium.  Of those 
arrested, 46 were foreigners, including 8 Nigerians, 5 
Malians, 5 Nigeriens, 3 Moroccans, 3 Liberians, 2 French, 1 
Spanish, 1 Tunisian, and 18 of unspecified nationality.  In 
2008, Algeria arrested 10,954 individuals on drug-related 
offenses, comprising 3,520 arrested for drug trafficking, 
7,365 arrested for drug use, and 69 arrested for cultivating 
cannabis or opium.  Of those arrested, 118 were foreigners, 
including 23 Nigerians, 15 Malians, 12 Nigeriens, 11 
Moroccans, 9 Gambians, 5 Cameroonians, 5 French, 3 Spanish, 3 
Ghanaians, 2 Ugandans, 1 Congolese, 1 Ivorian, 1 Liberian, 1 
Sierra Leonean, 1 Chadian, 1 Tunisian, 1 Turk, and 23 of 
unspecified nationality. 
 
¶12. (U) Algerian law provides for a prison sentence of 2 
months to 2 years and a fine of roughly USD 70 to USD 750 for 
personal consumption of narcotics or psychotropic substances 
and a term of 10 to 20 years and a fine of roughly USD 70,000 
to USD 700,000 for production or distribution. 
 
¶13. (U) Corruption:  The Algerian government does not as a 
matter of government policy encourage or facilitate illicit 
production or distribution of narcotic or psychotropic drugs 
or other controlled substances, or the laundering of proceeds 
from illegal drug transactions.  However, some cases of 
narcotics-related corruption among governmental, judicial, 
military, or law enforcement officials almost certainly 
 
occur; the Algerian press periodically includes reports of 
arrests of low-level police or military officers for drug 
offenses.   Algerian law provides a maximum prison sentence 
of ten years and fines ranging from USD 2,500 to USD 150,000 
for public officials convicted of any form of corruption. 
 
¶14. (U) Agreements and Treaties:  Algeria is a party to the 
1988 UN Drug Convention, the 1971 UN Convention on 
Psychotropic Substances, the 1961 UN Single Convention on 
Narcotic Drugs as amended by the 1972 Protocol, and the UN 
Convention against Corruption.  Algeria also is a party to 
the UN Convention against Transnational Organized Crime and 
its protocols.  Algeria and the United States currently are 
 
 
finalizing terms of a Mutual Legal Assistance Treaty that 
will govern cooperation on law enforcement matters. 
 
¶15. (U) Cultivation/Production: The GOA has stated its 
commitment to the total eradication of domestic cannabis and 
opium poppy production.  In the cannabis-producing southern 
and western regions of the country, the government is 
implementing an eradication program linked to a development 
strategy involving reform of local government and a highly 
subsidized crop substitution program.  Nevertheless, Algerian 
drug officials have indicated that crop substitution programs 
have made little headway in providing economic alternatives 
to cannabis production.  The government in 2008 reported that 
as a result of intensified law enforcement and interdiction 
measures it eradicated illicitly cultivated opium poppy in 
small areas in the north of the country.  Over 74,000 poppy 
seedlings were eradicated in 2007 and almost 80,000 were 
eradicated in the first nine months of 2008. 
 
¶16. (U) Drug Flow/Transit:  Algeria is a source of hashish 
for Europe.  Shipments include hashish produced domestically 
and in Morocco.  Spain, Italy, and France are all transfer 
points for Europe-bound Algerian drug flows.  Most large 
shipments of illicit drugs bound for Europe 
reportedly travel via fishing vessels or private yachts. 
 
¶17. (U) Algeria's vast desert and ocean borders make 
smuggling of all kinds a significant challenge for the 
country's police, border security, customs, and immigration 
forces.  Algeria's long and often poorly demarcated borders 
with Tunisia, Libya, Niger, Mali, Mauritania, and Morocco 
lend themselves to cross-border trafficking.  The large 
expanse of desert along Algeria's southern border is almost 
impossible to secure in its entirety, but public statements 
by the National Gendarmerie indicate that the government is 
keen to combat drug traffickers. 
 
¶18. (U) Algerian officials frequently comment on the large 
amounts of illegal drugs that enter Algeria from Morocco, and 
the GOA recognizes the need for better regional cooperation 
on border security and drug trafficking.  Security force 
sources say that more than 13 tons of drugs were seized near 
the Algerian/Moroccan border during 2008.  Algerian officials 
also have suggested that drug smuggling networks in the south 
are coordinating with terrorist groups, which engage in 
extortion and money laundering. 
 
¶19. (U) Domestic Programs (Demand Reduction):  To address 
prevention and treatment, the GOA's national drug policy 
includes the introduction of lessons on the dangers of drugs 
into mosque sermons, the expansion of education programs to 
increase public awareness, and efforts to coordinate better 
actions taken by different ministerial departments, 
particularly Health, Education, and Justice.  The ONLCDT also 
conducts anti-drug use campaigns in schools and local 
communities. 
 
¶20. (U) Algerian officials have increasingly voiced their 
concern about signs of growing domestic heroin and cocaine 
use.  In 2008, the GOA launched a public campaign to reduce 
domestic demand for those drugs as well as for cannabis.  The 
Ministry of Health has established a program to train the 
staffs of psychiatric hospitals in the treatment of drug 
addiction and launched a program to establish drug centers 
countrywide.  Algeria's national drug policy also includes 
the support and expansion of drug treatment facilities and 
the creation of post-rehabilitation centers to provide 
extended treatment and to help reintroduce drug addicts into 
society in an effort to prevent recidivism. 
 
U.S. Policy Initiatives 
----------------------- 
 
¶21. (U) The USG supports Algeria's efforts to improve its 
counternarcotics capabilities and plans to begin training 
with Algerian police and customs officials in FY 2010, 
particularly in regard to trafficking. 
PEARCE