04 March 2008
U.S. Calls for Global Partnership To Combat Narcotrafficking
2008 International Narcotics Control Strategy Report released
Washington -- The world is growing more aware that no country or society is immune from the social, economic and political damage caused by international drug trafficking, a U.S. government representative said during the release of the 2008 International Narcotics Control Strategy Report.
Assistant Secretary of State for International Narcotics and Law Enforcement Affairs David Johnson said February 29 that drug trafficking is no longer viewed as largely a problem for consumer states in North America and Europe.
"We estimate that over 530 metric tons of cocaine are smuggled from South America to the United States each year, with more than 90 percent passing through Mexico. Mexico also is a major supplier of heroin, methamphetamines and marijuana destined for U.S. markets, and Mexican drug trafficking organizations now control many of the drug distribution networks within the United States," Johnson said.
Singling out Mexican President Felipe Calderon for taking "decisive action to fight trafficking and criminal organizations that affect both sides of our shared border," Johnson said the U.S. government is working with Mexico and Central American countries to stanch the flow of drugs into the United States.
The assistant secretary said Colombia continues to lead the world in coca cultivation and is the source of 90 percent of the cocaine entering the United States.
He added that Colombia has made "notable progress in combating the drug traffickers and narcoterrorists that only recently posed serious threats to the stability of that country."
In 2007, Colombia, with U.S. assistance, eliminated 219,000 hectares of coca cultivation, he said. During the same year, Peru and Bolivia increased coca cultivation as coca growers’ associations asserted that the plant is linked to their countries' cultural identity and national pride, according to Johnson. "Traffickers exploit these unions for their own benefit," he said.
Johnson raised a red flag of concern about the "rapid growth of cocaine trafficking to Europe from Latin America through transit states in West Africa." He said the issue deserves greater attention, especially from European states that are the markets for these products.
Venezuela plays a growing role in the cocaine shipments both to North America and Europe, Johnson noted.
"A permissive and corrupt environment in Venezuela, coupled with counternarcotics successes in Colombia, has made Venezuela one of the preferred routes for trafficking illicit narcotics out of Colombia. While the majority of narcotics transiting Venezuela continue to be destined for the U.S., a rapidly increasing percentage has started to flow towards western Africa and onward to Europe. The movement of drugs has compounded Venezuela's corruption problem, and increased the level of crime and violence throughout the country," the report says.
Afghanistan, which accounts for 93 percent of the world's opium poppies, saw production soar in 2007 in the southwestern provinces of Kandahar and Helmand, where the insurgency is strong, Johnson said. He said there is a growing nexus between the insurgency and narcotics production. In the poorer but more secure provinces of central and northern Afghanistan, poppy production is down, and 13 provinces were poppy free in 2007, he noted.
The United Nations predicts that poppy production likely will decrease by small amount in 2008, "a welcome development after years of double-digit growth," Johnson said.
The assistant secretary said that success in combating narcotics trade is dependent on international partners.
"They must take often the difficult step of standing up to politically influential lobbies that view illegal drug crops as cultural patrimony, and they sometimes must arrest highly influential, corrupt officials that threaten the integrity of their governing institutions. As we have in the past, the United States will provide strong support to those governments that demonstrate real commitment to confronting these very difficult challenges," he said.
The 2008 International Narcotics Control Strategy Report can be found on the State Department Web site.
