VZCZCXYZ0000
RR RUEHWEB

DE RUEHDR #0747/01 3071212
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
R 031212Z NOV 09
FM AMEMBASSY DAR ES SALAAM
TO SECSTATE WASHDC 8965

UNCLAS DAR ES SALAAM 000747 
 
SIPDIS 
 
DEPARTMENT FOR AF/E JTREADWELL, INR FOR JLYLE 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: SNAR PGOV PREL TZ
SUBJECT: TANZANIA INTERNATIONAL NARCOTICS CONTROL STRATEGY REPORT 
(INCSR) 2009-2010 
 
REF: STATE 97230 
 
¶I. Summary 
---------- 
Tanzania is located along drug trafficking routes linking Latin 
America, the Middle East, Asia, Africa, Europe, and, to a lesser 
extent, the United States. Drugs like cocaine, heroin, khat, and 
Mandrax, and opium pass through Tanzania's porous borders. In 
addition, the domestic production of cannabis is a significant 
problem, with active cultivation as well as natural growth in many 
regions. While domestic use of cannabis has plateaued, heroin and 
cocaine use continues to increase, particularly among the young, in 
affluent neighborhoods, and around tourist areas, like Zanzibar. 
While the Government of Tanzania is working to build the capacity of 
its law enforcement and health institutions to combat drug 
trafficking and abuse, they are constrained by the lack of financial 
as well as human capital.  Within the law enforcement sector, 
corruption continues to erode the efficacy of existing 
anti-narcotics efforts. Tanzania is a party to the 1988 UN Drug 
Convention. 
 
II. Status of Country 
--------------------- 
TanzaniaQs location, along trafficking routes with porous borders 
that offer numerous possible points of entry through its eight land 
borders and 1,424-kilometer coastline, provides opportunities for 
drug traffickers.  Drugs are believed to enter Tanzania by air, sea, 
roads and rail. Major points of entry include airports in Dar es 
Salaam, Zanzibar and Kilimanjaro, seaports at Dar es Salaam and 
Zanzibar, and smaller ocean and lake ports like Tanga, Mtwara, 
Mwanza, and Bagamoyo. Traffickers reportedly conduct a significant 
amount of narcotics smuggling offshore via dhows and small boats 
that avoid ports. Tanzanians are sometimes used as "drug mules". 
During the year, Tanzanians were arrested for drug trafficking 
elsewhere in East Africa. 
Domestic use of narcotics appears to be on the rise, although 
cannabis use appears to have stabilized. Because cocaine and heroin 
are not as affordable as cannabis or khat, they are used in smaller 
quantities and primarily within affluent urban areas. However, the 
growth of the tourism industry, particularly on Zanzibar and near 
Arusha, as well as increasing affluence have increased demand for 
these more expensive narcotics. 
 
III. Country Actions against Drugs in 2009 
------------------------------------------ 
Policy Initiatives: Efforts to amend the Anti-Drugs Control 
Commission Act of 1995, designed to strengthen the Drug Control 
Commission (DCC) and increase the penalty for drug trafficking, 
failed in 2007.  Currently, magistrates typically impose fines on 
offenders as opposed to seeking prison sentences.  The law 
stipulates that convicted drug traffickers be fined three times the 
market value of the drugs with which they are caught, but not less 
than Tsh 10 million (approximately $7700). 
 
According to the DCC, the government drafted a national drug control 
policy during the year. This policy is currently under review by 
various government stakeholders. 
 
In 2008, the DCC formed a task force, which includes representation 
from the DCC, Police Service, Customs, and Immigration. This body 
facilitates interagency collaboration on narcotics issues, operating 
at the national, regional, and district levels to maximize the 
benefits of collaboration between law enforcement organs.  Task 
force activities are funded out of the DCC's $700,000 budget. 
 
On Zanzibar, the proposed Illicit Drugs Bill was passed by the 
Zanzibar House of Representatives on October 23.  This bill enhances 
the powers of police officers to search and seize narcotics, while 
also allowing for "controlled delivery" of persons suspected of 
transporting illegal narcotics to facilitate international arrests. 
In addition, the bill provides for the formation of a narcotics 
secretariat and an anti-drug commission to coordinate 
counter-narcotics efforts. The new bill is currently awaiting the 
Zanzibar presidentQs signature. 
 
Law Enforcement Efforts: Tanzania has three counter-narcotics police 
teams, located in Dar es Salaam, Zanzibar, and Moshi. The 
Anti-Narcotics Unit (ANU) has roughly 150 officers nationwide, with 
50 in the capital city.  Law enforcement efforts are increasingly 
successful at arresting small-scale smugglers and "drug mules". 
This increase reflects the ANU's efforts to sensitize community 
members about drug issues and earn their confidence by demonstrating 
their commitment to combat drug trafficking.  Narcotics 
interdictions generally result from tip-offs from informants. 
Further, law enforcement officials have successfully built 
international relationships which allow for information sharing 
regarding the movement of narcotics from one continent to another. 
Officers from the National Park Service have broad powers to search 
and seize.  They have been helpful in seizing quantities of locally 
grown cannabis. 
 
Law enforcement, however, has been less successful at apprehending 
QkingpinsQ of narcotics activities.  There are suspicions that 
"kingpins" may be able to infiltrate investigations and elude 
capture.  Low salaries for law enforcement personnel in some cases 
encourage corrupt behavior.  However, the police have put in place a 
system of incentives to reward police for their efforts to arrest 
drug offenders, which they hope will help reduce corruption. 
 
While Tanzanian narcotics officials acknowledge their efforts are 
hampered by a lack of resources, such as modern patrol boats, they 
have used community outreach and interagency coordination to help 
mitigate the impact of such resource shortages.  Nevertheless, while 
capability for land interdiction at established borders is 
reasonable, marine interdiction remains a problem. Furthermore, 
Tanzanian officers and police staff are not able to effectively 
implement profiling techniques to seize larger amounts of narcotics. 
 
 
Formal cooperation between counter-narcotics police in Kenya, 
Uganda, Burundi, Rwanda and Tanzania is well established. This 
cooperation has resulted in significant increases in effectiveness 
in each nation's narcotics control efforts. Tanzania also cooperates 
formally with countries from the Southern African Development 
Community, including Zambia and South Africa. Officers attended 
various international training events held in Botswana, Japan, and 
Russia. During the year, the DCC coordinated training and encouraged 
working relationships between law enforcement in various neighboring 
countries.  The DCC provided drug test kits to officials along the 
Malawian and Zambian borders with Tanzania to assist with the 
identification of illegal narcotics. 
 
Between January and October 2009, police arrested approximately 
4,000 individuals for drug possession, of which 112 related to 
heroin, 107 related to cocaine, 363 related to khat, and over 3,000 
related to cannabis.  Roughly 15 people were arrested for possession 
of Mandrax.  To date in 2009, police seized over 45,000 kilograms of 
drugs.  More than 70 percent of this total was cannabis.  Police 
seized 32,000 kilograms of cannabis, eight kilograms of heroin, and 
4 kilograms of cocaine.  There were no convictions for drug 
trafficking in Zanzibar during the year, however by June there were 
123 cases pending in the High Court. 
 
Corruption: The Government of Tanzania does not, as a matter of 
government policy, encourage or facilitate illicit drug production 
or distribution, nor is it involved in laundering the proceeds of 
the sale of illicit drugs; however, corruption continued to be a 
serious concern within the Tanzanian police force.  It is widely 
believed that corrupt police officials at ports facilitate the 
transshipment of narcotics through Tanzania.  There is no specific 
provision of the anticorruption laws regarding narcotics-related 
corruption cases. 
 
Many believe that corruption in the courts often leads to case 
dismissals or light sentencing of convicted narcotics offenders. 
Some prosecutors have complained that they suspect many arrested 
suspects plead Qnot guiltyQ until the magistrate hearing the case 
can be bribed.  Once confident of the magistrate's complicity, the 
suspects change their plea to guilty, thereby forgoing a lengthy 
trial process, and the magistrate issues a judgment of only a minor 
fine. 
 
Agreements and Treaties: Tanzania is a party to the 1988 UN Drug 
Convention, the 1961 Single Convention as amended by the 1972 
Protocol, and the 1971 Convention on Psychotropic Substances. 
Tanzania is also a party to the UN Convention against Corruption, 
and the UN Convention against Transnational Organized Crime, and its 
three protocols.  The 1931 U.S.-U.K. Extradition Treaty is 
applicable to Tanzania. 
 
Cultivation and Production: Traditional cultivation of cannabis 
takes place in remote parts of the country, mainly for domestic use. 
Although cannabis is produced in almost all regions, DCC and ANU 
officials identified the following regions as the primary production 
areas for cannabis: Morogoro, Iringa, Tabora, Mara, Arusha, Rukwa, 
Rumuva, and Tanga. During the year, production spread to Lindi and 
Mtwara due to increased demand from Mozambique.  In conjunction with 
the seizure of 357 kilograms of cannabis in the Tarime district of 
the Mara region, police destroyed 50 acres of cannabis in 2009.  In 
total, police destroyed seventy acres of cannabis during the year. 
No figures on total production exist. However, the DCC plans to 
conduct research to determine the extent of cannabis cultivation. 
Khat is also grown locally, primarily in Arusha and Tanga.  However, 
most of the khat found in Tanzania is smuggled in from Kenya, where 
it is legal to produce. 
 
Drug Flow/Transit: Due to its location and porous borders, its 
weakly controlled seaports and airports, Tanzania has become a 
transit country for narcotics moving in sub-Saharan Africa. 
Traffickers from landlocked countries of Southern Africa, including 
Zambia and Malawi, and island nations, like Comoros, use Tanzania 
for transit. Control at the ports, especially on Zanzibar, is 
 
difficult.  Internal waterways, such as Lake Victoria, also provide 
convenient transit routes for drug smugglers.  While controls at 
established ports of entry on the mainland are effective, 
traffickers often cross the border at points without established 
posts.  There were reports of "rampant" drug smuggling from 
neighboring countries through uncontrolled areas near the Kasumulu 
and Tunduma border posts with Malawi and Zambia respectively. 
Traffickers using forged documents and various methods of 
concealment face poor controls and untrained and corrupt officials. 
Smugglers often travel via South Africa to obtain fraudulent 
documents which are used to hide travel to the Middle East and South 
America.  In an effort to elude drug sniffing dogs, drugs are often 
concealed with local goods such as tea and coffee or swallowed by 
drug traffickers. 
 
According to the Anti-Narcotics Unit, heroin entering Tanzania from 
Afghanistan, Iran, and Pakistan via Dubai and other locations, often 
by boat, is being smuggled to China and Europe in small quantities. 
Cocaine enters Tanzania from Brazil, Colombia, Peru, Venezuela, and 
Curacao in transit to South Africa, Europe, Australia and North 
America. The port of Dar es Salaam is also a point of entry for 
Mandrax from India, Nepal and Kenya headed toward South Africa. 
Tanzanians continue to be recruited as Qdrug mulesQ for 
trafficking. 
 
In Zanzibar, enforcement officials said that local smugglers usually 
travel to Dubai where they are given drugs by contacts coming from 
Brazil.  These smugglers then transport the drugs to China via 
Nairobi, returning with goods to sell on the local market. 
 
While the traffickers are primarily from Tanzania, particularly the 
Tanga region, foreign nationals have also been arrested for drug 
trafficking in Tanzania.  In August, a Kenyan woman was arrested 
with three kilograms of heroin en route to South Africa and in 
Zanzibar; an Italian national is currently under investigation for 
possession of illegal narcotics. 
 
Domestic Programs/Demand Reduction: Cannabis is the most commonly 
used narcotic.  Although its use has not declined, it has begun to 
stabilize.  Local use of Mandrax is limited.  Since the introduction 
of powdered heroin in 2000, however, use of this drug has increased. 
 Intravenous drug use is more common in Zanzibar than on the 
mainland.  With direct flights connecting South America and Africa, 
cocaine use has also increased in recent years, particularly among 
the youth and tourists. 
 
Through its community outreach activities, the police have been 
involved in efforts to educate the public about the dangers of 
narcotics. In 2009, DCC launched a drug awareness campaign, 
participating in state sponsored trade fairs, national celebrations, 
and youth-centered events to create greater awareness about drug 
trafficking. In Zanzibar, narcotics officials worked with the 
Department of Substance Abuse Prevention and Rehabilitation of the 
Zanzibar Ministry of Health, conducting seminars for local leaders, 
media outlets, and the public on the importance of providing the 
police with information.  On October 25, the Zanzibar Anti Narcotics 
Squad of Zanzibar aired a television program on narcotics as part of 
its media outreach program. 
 
The DCC, under the Prime Minister's Office, oversees treatment and 
prevention activities, coordinating with NGOs and other medical 
facilities.  It managed a small demand reduction program, which 
included training courses for nurses, counselors, and teachers in 
urban centers across the country. Limited government resources 
existed for specialized care for drug addiction and rehabilitation. 
Most treatment is provided at the local level by NGOs or at 
community health facilities.  However, these organizations lack 
trained personnel to identify, assess, and assist drug addicts, 
particularly those in need of psycho-social interventions.  Because 
resources are stretched so thin, quality of care is an issue and 
relapse is common among drug users.  Although Tanzania has adopted 
the UNODC guidelines on treatment, these have not been disseminated 
to local NGOs. 
 
During the year, DCC's Technical Working Group developed three 
manuals for service provision, including a guide for the management 
of drugs at primary health care centers, an outreach service guide, 
and a strategic framework for the prevention of HIV among IV drug 
users.  The DCC received a grant from the UNODC and WHO to support 
training activities in Dar es Salaam and Zanzibar. 
 
Any required in-patient care was typically provided by psychiatric 
hospitals. Drug addicts were often hesitant to seek in-patient 
treatment due to the stigma associated with psychiatric facilities. 
There are six psychiatric units in the country, 20 trained 
psychiatrists, and fewer than five psychologists. 
 
IV. U.S. Policy Initiatives and Programs 
---------------------------------------- 
Bilateral Cooperation: U.S. policy initiatives and programs for 
addressing narcotics problems in Tanzania are focused on training 
 
workshops and seminars for law enforcement officials. During the 
year, Tanzanian officers participated in a USG sponsored workshop on 
investigation techniques, held in Tanzania. The Department of State 
also sent officers from the Tanzania National Police to the 
International Law Enforcement Academy (ILEA) in Gaborone, Botswana 
for training. 
 
The Road Ahead: According to police, fighting corruption will be a 
priority in 2010 in order to improve the efficacy of 
counter-narcotics efforts.  In addition, DCC will seek the approval 
of the national drug control policy and step up cannabis eradication 
efforts by promoting alternative crop production. Finally, DCC hopes 
to establish a methadone treatment program in Tanzania as well as a 
national drug precursor monitoring program.  U.S.-Tanzanian 
cooperation will continue, with a focus on improving Tanzania's 
capacity to enforce its counter-narcotics laws. 
 
ANDRE