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UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 04 MINSK 000390 
 
SIPDIS 
 
DEPT PASS TO INL:  JOHN LYLE 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PGOV KCRM SNAR BO
SUBJECT: BELARUS: 2008-2009 INTERNATIONAL NARCOTICS CONTROL STRATEGY 
REPORT (INCSR) PART I, DRUGS AND CHEMICAL CONTROL 
 
MINSK 00000390  001.2 OF 004 
 
 
¶1. Summary.  Belarus remains a transit route for illicit drugs 
and drug precursors.  Reports of drug use and drug-related crime 
in Belarus increased in 2009, although there is no evidence of 
large-scale drug production in the country.  In October 2008 the 
government adopted a National Action Plan for 2009-2013 to 
coordinate government and NGO anti-drug efforts.  In early 2009 
the General Prosecutor's office drafted a bill on measures to 
prevent the drug use.  The bill is expected to strengthen 
Belarusian laws against drug related crimes and will be 
submitted for parliamentary hearings in 2010.  The government 
has taken regulatory steps to tighten control over precursors, 
smoking mixes and chewing tobacco.  In addition, the government 
facilitated UN technical assistance programs.  Some significant 
drug seizures were made during 2009, but the quantities involved 
may only hint at the true scale of trafficking.  Law enforcement 
efforts suffer from a lack of coordination as well as inadequate 
funding and equipment shortfalls.  The estimated number of drug 
users in Belarus increased from 2008, as well as the number of 
registered addicts.  Some non-governmental organizations 
concerned with narcotics treatment and mitigation which were 
denied registration in previous years resumed their operations 
in 2008 and continued their work in 2009; in short, availability 
and quality of drug treatment services have improved somewhat 
but a great deal of work still remains.  Belarus is a party to 
the 1988 UN Drug Convention.  End Summary. 
 
----------------- 
Status of Country 
----------------- 
 
¶2. Because of its geographical location, good transportation 
infrastructure, and the presence of corrupt in its law 
enforcement system, Belarus is an attractive transit route for 
illicit drugs.  The lack of border controls between Belarus and 
Russia between these two countries make drug transit easier. 
Belarus' law-enforcement officials expect this problem to become 
more exacerbated when members of the Eurasian Economic Community 
(Belarus, Russia, Kazakhstan) create a customs union in 2010. 
There is no evidence of large-scale drug production in, or 
export from Belarus, although synthetic and plant-based 
narcotics production seems to be growing. Indications are that 
although plant narcotics dominate the illicit drug market 
(approximately 75-85% plant-based to 15-25% synthetic) the ratio 
appears to be shifting toward synthetic drugs.  According to the 
data of Belarus' Health Ministry, while five years ago about 93% 
of drug addicts in Belarus consumed opium and its derivatives, 
at present these drugs are consumed by approximately 70%.  Most 
synthetic drugs found in Belarus are produced in Poland, with a 
lesser amount produced in the Baltic states.  Although law 
enforcement officials of neighboring countries maintain that 
Belarus is a source of precursor chemicals, senior officials of 
Belarus' Interior Ministry flatly deny this.  Whatever drug 
production and cultivation may exist in Belarus, they are not 
perceived in Belarus as the most pressing problem.  Drug abuse 
prevention, treatment, and transit issues must be addressed 
first, they believe, if the country is to reach full compliance 
with the 1988 UN Drug Convention. 
 
------------------------------------- 
Country Actions against Drugs in 2009 
------------------------------------- 
 
Policy Initiatives 
------------------ 
 
¶3. In October 2008, the Belarusian government adopted the 
National Action Plan to counteract drug abuse and illicit drug 
trafficking and related crimes in Belarus.  From 2009 through 
2013, this Plan will consolidate the counter-drug efforts of all 
government agencies and NGOs under Interior Ministry 
coordination.  Drug trafficking is routinely addressed at the 
regular meetings of the Domestic Belarus National Security 
Council's Interagency Committee on crime, corruption and drugs. 
Belarus' Health Ministry passed a resolution in July 2009, which 
expanded the National List of Narcotics, Psychotropic Substances 
and Their Precursors Subject to Government Control in Belarus to 
include 3,4 metilendioxifenil-2 and red phosphorus as well as 
synthetic cannabinoids (JWH-018 and CP-47, 497).  The resolution 
will come into effect on January 1, 2010.  A Presidential decree 
signed in September 2009 banned the production and trafficking 
of Nasvai, Snus and other non-smoking tobaccos.  It will also 
come into effect on January 1, 2010.  In an effort to prevent 
mailings of Cannabis seeds for their subsequent planting the 
government is contemplating introducing a ban on such mailings. 
No decision had been made as of late November 2009. 
 
 
MINSK 00000390  002.2 OF 004 
 
 
Law Enforcement Efforts 
----------------------- 
 
¶4. Media reports reflect more instances of local drug use and 
drug-related crimes in Belarus in 2009 than in 2008.  Belarusian 
law enforcement authorities attribute this increase to improved 
detection but acknowledge that the actual underlying crime rate 
is also higher than a year ago.  Police discovered four labs in 
the country that produced drugs. 
 
¶5. Between January 1 and October 1, 2009, authorities seized 
approximately 17.3 kg of psychotropic substances and 586 kg of 
other drugs.  Drugs seized (in kg) are as follows: Poppy Straw 
(353.2); Marijuana (213.4); Raw Opium (0.826); Heroin (3.144); 
Amphetamine (2.692); Methamphetamine (8.249); Ecstasy (MDMA) 
(0.069); Acetylated Opium (0.381); Hashish (4.420); Hashish oil 
(0.004); Cocaine (0.122); Extracted opium (8.715); Methadone 
(1.481); Morphine (0.006); Tetrahydrocannabinol (1.458).  In the 
first six months of 2009, 1,021 people were convicted for drug 
related crimes in Belarus.  In June through August within the 
framework of "Poppy" program police discovered 3,635 illegal 
plantations, and destroyed 75.8 tons of poppy straw and other 
drug containing plants from a total planting area which exceeded 
390 square kilometers.  Poppy straw is converted into acetylated 
opium, an injectable opiate that is cheaper and easier to 
produce than heroin and is widely abused throughout the region. 
The Interior and other government agencies conducted routine 
checks of legal manufacturers of narcotic and psychotropic 
substances within the framework of "Doping" program to ensure 
their compliance with production, storage and sales regulations, 
and to avoid the leak of such substances to the illicit drug 
market. 
 
¶6. According to official statistics, 3,533 drug-related crimes 
were recorded in the first nine months of 2008.  These comprised 
of: thefts of narcotics substances - 27, instances of illicit 
trafficking in controlled substances - 3,257, cultivation of 
narcotic plants - 32, street drug sales - 23, and the organizing 
of illicit drug consumption rooms - 95.  In September 2009, 
officers of Belarus' Interior Ministry, Customs Committee, KGB 
and Border Guard Committee actively participated in CANAL - 
2009, a joint operation with Collective Security Treaty 
Organization (CSTO) members aimed at the prevention and 
interdiction of illicit drug deliveries from Afghanistan and 
precursor deliveries to this country.  During this operation, 
104 drug-related crimes were recorded, criminal charges were 
brought against 92 persons, and more than 118.5 kilograms of 
narcotics were seized.  The Interior Ministry officials conceded 
that official seizure figures do not reflect the true scale of 
the problem.  In June 2009 presidents of the CSTO member states 
decided to make CANAL operation a permanent project.  This is 
expected to help intensify their anti-drug efforts and improve 
results. 
 
Corruption 
---------- 
 
¶7. As a matter of government policy, Belarus does not 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.  No 
senior officials of the government are known to engage in, 
encourage, or facilitate the illicit production or distribution 
of such drugs, or the laundering of proceeds from illegal drug 
transactions.  A few high-level personnel within the Interior 
Ministry were charged for corruption in 2009, but none of the 
charges were drug-related.  Nevertheless, the perception that 
corruption remains a serious problem was supported by the 
General Prosecutor Grigory Vasilevich in his November 2009 
remark that through-September corruption has grown 20 percent 
year-on-year. 
 
Agreements and Treaties 
----------------------- 
 
¶8. Belarus is a party to the 1988 UN Drug Convention, the 1961 
UN Single Convention as amended by the 1972 Protocol, and the 
1971 UN Convention on Psychotropic Substances.  Belarus is also 
a party to the UN Convention against Corruption, and the UN 
Convention against Transnational Organized Crime and its 
protocols against migrant smuggling, trafficking in persons and 
manufacturing and trafficking in illegal firearms.  Belarus is a 
member of the Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO) 
with Armenia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan and Russia and 
conducts joint counter-narcotics operations with those 
countries.  Russia and Belarus planned to complete before the 
 
MINSK 00000390  003.2 OF 004 
 
 
end of 2008 a unified list of narcotics, psychotropic substances 
and their precursors subject to state control, in order to avoid 
criminal liability in one country for drugs which are legal in 
the other.  According to Belarus' Interior Ministry, this job 
has not been completed as of mid-November 2009.  No 
bilateral/multilateral agreements were reportedly concluded by 
Belarus in 2009. 
 
Cultivation/Production 
---------------------- 
 
¶9. Some cultivation and production exists, but the scale is hard 
to estimate.  Official government figures are unreliable. 
Precursor chemicals continue to be imported in volume, but the 
current legal structure makes it difficult to prevent their 
diversion to illicit uses.  In 2007, 1,990 entities had licenses 
for manufacturing and storage of precursors and 15,000 employees 
have access to the substances.  No up-to-date data are available 
but there is no indication that these numbers have significantly 
changed.  Reported increases in demand for poppy-seed, and 
subsequent tenfold increase in price, prompted a December 2007 
ban on retail sale of poppy at grocery markets.  According to 
Belarus' Interior Ministry, domestic producers of illicit drugs 
sell them inside the country but also take every effort to sell 
them abroad, primarily in Russia, as prices on drugs there are 
generally higher than in Belarus.  According to Belarus' Health 
Ministry, such manufacturers work hard to invent new chemical 
substances, which possess drug effect and which as yet have not 
put on the National List of Narcotics, Psychotropic Substances 
and Their Precursors Subject to Government Control. 
 
Drug Flow/Transit 
----------------- 
 
¶10. Heroin enters and transits Belarus from Afghanistan via 
Central Asia and Russia.  Poppy straw, opium, and marijuana 
enter through Ukraine; ecstasy, amphetamines, hashish and 
marijuana come from Poland and Lithuania; cocaine comes from 
Latin America and precursor chemicals for the preparation of 
drugs from Russia.  Heroin and methadone from Russia transit 
Belarus en route to Lithuania and other European countries. 
East-bound marijuana, hashish and cocaine transit Belarus and 
Lithuania as well.  Press reports and anecdotal evidence 
continue to indicate that the control infrastructure along the 
border with Ukraine is particularly weak.  In accordance with 
their bilateral customs union agreement, Belarusian border 
guards are not deployed on the border with Russia, which is 
policed by Russian forces.   Apparently, customs officers 
currently inspect only five percent of all inbound freight 
nationally, and border guards often lack the training and 
equipment to conduct effective searches. 
 
¶11. The Interior Ministry conducted routine checks of 
businesses, which export, import and transit chemical substances 
via Belarus.  Through September 2009 the Interior Ministry 
officers discovered 36 channels of drug delivery and transit and 
seized 27 kg of hashish, 5 kg of amphetamine-type stimulants, 
4000 tablets of ephedrine, more than 1.4 kg of heroine, about 1 
kg of cocaine and other psychotropic substances. 
 
Domestic Programs/Demand Reduction 
---------------------------------- 
 
¶12. Belarusian authorities have begun to recognize the growing 
domestic demand problem, particularly among young people. 
Ministry of Health chief addiction officer Vladimir Maksimchuk 
announced that the number of registered drug users in the 
country has increased to nearly 12,000  registered drug abusers 
(as of October 27, 2009), but acknowledged that the actual 
number of users was approximately seven times higher.  According 
to the Health Ministry official, approximately 120 drug addicts 
die in Belarus annually because of overdoses.  The largest 
number of drug users is between 20 and 30 years old, and 
prevention programs in schools remain under-funded. News reports 
indicate that the ratio of consumers of oral (vs. injected) 
drugs is growing due to the relative ease of concealment of oral 
drug use.  The government generally treats drug addicts in 
psychiatric hospitals or at outpatient narcotics clinics (of 
which there are 21 in Belarus), either as a result of court 
remand or self-enrollment, or in prisons.  On the whole, 
treatment emphasizes detoxification over stabilization and 
rehabilitation.  In April 2009, the Ministries of Health and 
Interior, the  General Prosecutor's office, the Belarusian State 
University and a number of anti-drug NGO's conducted a seminar 
to review the possibility of mandatory treatment in lieu of 
criminal liability for first-time users, unless guilty of a 
 
MINSK 00000390  004.2 OF 004 
 
 
serious crime.  To date no decision has been taken but seminar 
participants established a working group to examine the 
practices of foreign states and decide on the relevance of their 
practices to Belarus.  The methadone substitution clinic opened 
by the Ministry of Health in Minsk in July 2009 was the second 
such clinic in operation.  Another clinic is scheduled to be 
built in the city of Soligorsk in the Minsk region before the 
end of 2009.  Both clinics are expected to serve approximately 
100 people this year. 
 
¶13. There are at least twelve small-scale NGO-run rehabilitation 
centers in various areas of Belarus.  On the whole, availability 
and quality of services have improved somewhat.  NGO-run centers 
provide for a fee rehabilitation services to both registered and 
anonymous drug addicts, while government-run centers provide 
similar services for free but only to registered addicts.  Since 
drug use remains highly stigmatized in Belarusian society, and 
because the official drug addict registry is readily available 
to Belarusian law enforcement and other government agencies, 
drug addicts still often avoid seeking treatment, fearing 
adverse consequences at work, at school, or in society writ 
large if their addiction becomes known. 
 
¶14. There are at least twelve small-scale NGO-run rehabilitation 
centers in various areas of Belarus.  On the whole, availability 
and quality of services have improved somewhat.  NGO-run centers 
provide for-fee rehabilitation services to both registered and 
anonymous drug addicts, while government-run centers provide 
similar services free but only to registered addicts.  Since 
drug use remains highly stigmatized in Belarusian society, and 
because the official drug addict registry is readily available 
to Belarusian law enforcement and other government agencies, 
drug addicts still often avoid seeking treatment, fearing 
adverse consequences at work, school, or in society writ large 
if their addiction becomes known. 
 
------------------------------------ 
U.S. Policy Initiatives and Programs 
------------------------------------ 
 
Bilateral Cooperation 
--------------------- 
 
¶15. The USG has not provided counter-narcotics assistance to the 
GOB since February 1997.  Although some working-level assistance 
and contacts have existed in the area of law enforcement, these 
ceased in early 2008, when the GOB forced a drawdown of the 
official American presence in Belarus from 35 to 5 Americans and 
began denying visas to U.S. law enforcement personnel for 
visits.  The imposition of restrictions in 2005 by the 
Government of Belarus on technical assistance including the 
taxation of humanitarian aid pose additional hurdles to 
cooperation.  Moreover, the USG is currently prohibited from 
providing direct assistance to the government of Belarus, 
including in this sphere.  Although the USG hopes for 
improvement in the bilateral relationship, present conditions do 
not permit closer cooperation. 
 
The Road Ahead 
-------------- 
 
¶16. The USG will continue to encourage Belarusian authorities to 
enforce their counter-narcotics laws and cooperate on cases as 
appropriate. 
SCANLAN