VZCZCXRO5950
RR RUEHMA RUEHPA
DE RUEHDK #2717/01 3170829
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
R 130829Z NOV 06
FM AMEMBASSY DAKAR
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 6848
INFO RUEAWJA/DEPT OF JUSTICE WASHDC
RUEATRS/DEPT OF TREASURY WASHDC
RUEHZK/ECOWAS COLLECTIVE
UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 03 DAKAR 002717
SIPDIS
SIPDIS
STATE FOR INL, AF/RSA, AF/W AND INR/AA
JUSTICE FOR OIA, AFMLS AND NDDS
TREASURY FOR FINCEN
DEA FOR OILS AND OFFICE OF DIVERSION CONTROL
LAGOS FOR DEA
E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: SNAR SG
SUBJECT: SENEGAL: 2006 INTERNATIONAL NARCOTICS CONTROL
STRATEGY REPORT (INCSR), PART I, DRUGS AND CHEMICAL
CONTROL
REF: STATE 154898
Below is Part I, Drugs and Chemical Control, of the 2006
INSCR for Senegal. The text is keyed to the format
provided in reftel.
I. SUMMARY
-----------
1. Counter-narcotics elements of the Senegalese government remain
concerned about the production and trafficking of cannabis, and to a
lesser degree, hashish. Increasingly, quantities of cocaine are
being seized; heroin seizures are rare. Senegal's 2005 money
laundering statute and the establishment of a financial intelligence
unit has had a limited impact. Senegalese authorities have been
under pressure from European nations to curtail illegal immigration
to the EU and bilateral assistance to combat immigration may also
inhibit narcotics trafficking. Education and strict enforcement of
drug laws remain cornerstones of Senegal's counter-narcotics goals.
Senegal is a party to the 1988 UN Drug Convention.
II. STATUS OF COUNTRY
----------------------
2. While trafficking of all types of drugs, including heroin,
cocaine and psychotropic depressants, exists in Senegal, cannabis
production and trafficking continued to resist most enforcement
efforts. Southern Senegal's Casamance region is at the center of
the cannabis trade. It is generally acknowledged that a portion of
agricultural development is illicit cannabis cultivation. Police
are reluctant to undertake greater enforcement efforts against
cannabis cultivation in the Casamance for fear of hampering the
ongoing efforts to establish peace.
3. Senegal also serves as a transit country for traffickers due to
its location, infrastructure and porous borders. During 2006,
authorities interdicted a container of more than eight tons of
hashish en route from Pakistan to Europe. Additionally, there is
evidence that cocaine originating from South America is increasingly
transiting Senegal en route to Europe. Senegalese, European and UN
Office of Drugs and Crime (UNODC) efforts to tighten security at the
maritime port are still in the development phase. In general, drug
enforcement efforts remain under-funded and undermanned, allowing
the illegal cannabis trade and trafficking to continue unabated.
III. COUNTRY ACTIONS AGAINST DRUGS IN 2006
-------------------------------------------
4. Policy Initiatives: Senegal developed a national plan of action
against drug abuse and the trafficking of drugs in 1997.
Multidisciplinary in its approach, Senegal's national plan includes
programs to control the cultivation, production and traffic of
drugs; inform the population of the dangers of drug use; and
reintroduce former drug addicts into society. Full implementation
of this plan again remains stalled due to funding constraints.
Periodic efforts to improve coordination have been hampered because
of insufficient funding. The Senegalese National Assembly in recent
years passed a uniform common law and issued a decree against money
laundering.
5. Accomplishments: The amount of hard drugs seized by police in
Senegal is small by international standards. Due to weak
enforcement efforts and inadequate record keeping, it is difficult
to assess accurately the real drug problem in the country. Police
lack the training and equipment to detect drug smuggling.
Historically, Senegal has undertaken few cannabis eradication
efforts. As previously mentioned, police forces are constrained in
their efforts to eradicate cannabis cultivation in the southern part
of the country because of a long-term insurgency. Meetings have
been organized with island populations in the south in accordance
with the U.N. Program for International Control of Drugs to promote
substitution of cannabis cultivation with that of other crops.
6. Law Enforcement Efforts: Although no significant changes were
made to law enforcement strategies, "L'Office central de repression
du traffic-illicite de stupefiants" (OCRTIS) seized more that eight
tons of hashish destined for Europe from Pakistan in a single
seizure in mid-2006. Dakar's position on the west coast of Africa
and the presence of an international airport and seaport make it an
enticing transit point for drug dealers. The Port of Dakar and the
Leopold Sedar Senghor International Airport are the two primary
points of entry/exit of drugs in Senegal. An increasing amount of
narcotics, often cocaine, is being brought to Senegal by vehicle and
boat from Guinea Bissau.
7. Given limitations on funding, training and policy, there is only
DAKAR 00002717 002 OF 003
limited ability to guard Senegal's points of entry from the
transiting of drugs through Dakar. The international airport has
drug enforcement agents present, but they lack the training and
equipment to systematically detect illegal drugs. The airport
authority's efforts to attain Federal Aviation Administration (FAA)
Category One certification have resulted in the tightening of
security procedures and more thorough passenger luggage screening.
Presumably, this has had the positive outcome of discouraging drug
trafficking through the airport. UNODC is developing a multi-agency
program (Customs, Gendarmes and Ministry of Interior Police) for
screening and controlling container shipments. Although the USG
sponsored the establishment of a Financial Intelligence Unit, with
an in-country U.S. Treasury Department advisor, the unit has not
been directed against traffickers. European efforts to combat
illegal immigration, particularly to Spain, which has provided
maritime patrol capabilities, may also serve to inhibit the
trafficking of narcotics.
8. Corruption: Corruption is a problem for narcotics law
enforcement all over Africa, but the USG is unaware of any
narcotics-related corruption at senior levels of the Senegalese
government. In 2004, the National Commission against
Non-Transparency, Corruption and Misappropriation of Funds, an
autonomous investigative panel, was created. The efficiency of the
commission's efforts remains to be seen. The GOS 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. No senior GOS officials engage in,
encourage or facilitate the illicit production or distribution of
such drugs or substances, or the laundering of proceeds from illegal
drug transactions.
9. Agreements and Treaties: Senegal has several bilateral
agreements with neighboring countries to combat narcotics
trafficking, and has signed mutual legal assistance agreements with
the United Kingdom and France in efforts to combat narcotics
trafficking. Through cooperation with other members of the West
African Economic and Monetary Union (WAEMU or UEMOA), a uniform
common law against money laundering exists. Senegal is also a party
to the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) protocol
agreement, which includes an extradition provision. Traffickers and
their organizations are subject to asset seizures, imprisonment and
permanent exclusion from Senegal if convicted. Senegal 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.
10. Cultivation/Production: Although cannabis cultivation in
Senegal is not a large problem in relation to global rates of
cultivation, it could become a serious internal drug problem for
Senegal. Efforts to eradicate cannabis cultivation in the Casamance
region have improved slightly as military forces increased their
presence and activities during the year.
11. Drug Flow/Transit: According to the Chief of the Office
Central de Repression du Trafic Illicite (OCRTIS), the trend in the
amount of illicit drugs transiting through Senegal continues to
increase. OCRTIS is monitoring the transshipment of hashish and
cocaine through Senegal. The U.S. is not a destination point for
these drugs.
12. Domestic Programs: There is no comprehensive GOS policy for
systematic destruction of domestic cannabis or prevention of
transshipment of harder drugs. Enforcement efforts are sporadic and
uncoordinated. NGOs, such as the Observatoire Geostrategique des
Drogues et de la Deviance (OGDD), have taken the lead in public
education efforts. OGDD continued a program that began in 2001. The
first phase involved a campaign of information targeted at cannabis
cultivators, arguing that the land had greater potential if it were
used for purposes other than drugs, that drugs were bad for the
environment and health, and that drugs were degrading the economy.
Village committees have been established to convey the above
information to sensitize people to the problems associated with drug
use. The focus of the second phase of the program is to encourage
farmers to substitute alternative crops for drugs on their land.
Due to funding constraints, however, implementation of this part of
the program has been impeded. Other associations for the prevention
of drug abuse are in the process of elaborating a program of drug
prevention under the auspices of the International Committee for the
Fight against Drugs, which is managed by the Ministry of the
Interior.
DAKAR 00002717 003 OF 003
IV. U.S. POLICY INITIATIVES AND PROGRAMS
-----------------------------------------
13. USG goals and objectives in Senegal are to strengthen law
enforcement capabilities in counter-narcotics efforts. In 2002, the
USG started a program to train counter-narcotics agents in drug
investigation and interdiction methods under the State Department's
Bureau of International Narcotics and Law Enforcement Affairs (INL).
The program provided USD 220,000 for several law enforcement
programs that will aid the police in all aspects of narcotics
investigatins and prosecutions. Additionally, the USG is in the
sixth year of continued training to the technicians at the National
Drug Laboratory that was founded with basic drug analysis equipment
and training provided by INL. There were no new legal agreements
against drug use or trafficking concluded between the USG and GOS in
the past year.
14. The Road Ahead. The USG will continue to work closely with the
Senegalese government to improve the capacity of its narcotics law
enforcement officers to investigate and prosecute narcotics crimes.
V. STATISTICAL TABLES
----------------------
DRUG 2003 2004 2005
---- ------------------------
Opium None on record
Cannabis 3751 kg 2787 kg 335 kg
Cocaine 355 g 1657 g 5505 g
Methamph. None on record
MDMA 4187 doses N/A N/A
VI. COMMENT
------------
15. Figures for Senegal's drug seizures are compiled from separate
reports generated by the Ministry of the Interior and the Ministry
of Defense. Final statistics for 2006 will not be available until
early January 2007 and will be reported septel when received. END
COMMENT.
VI. CHEMICAL CONTROL
---------------------
16. There are no grounds for adding Senegal to the list of chemical
control countries at this time.
Jacobs