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Burma on Clinton's list of drug pro



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Date: Sun, 25 Feb 1996 14:17:09 -0800
Subject: Burma on Clinton's list of drug producing, transiting countries


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Date: Fri, 23 Feb 1996 18:11-0500
To: Public-Distribution@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Subject: 1996-02-22 Major Illicit Drug Producing and Transit Countries


                           THE WHITE HOUSE
  
                    Office of the Press Secretary
  
  _______________________________________________________________
  
  For Immediate Release                         February 23, 1996
  
  
                 TEXT OF A LETTER FROM THE PRESIDENT
              TO THE CHAIRMEN AND RANKING MEMBERS OF THE
                SENATE COMMITTEE ON FOREIGN RELATIONS,
               THE SENATE COMMITTEE ON APPROPRIATIONS,
                THE HOUSE COMMITTEE ON APPROPRIATIONS,
          AND THE HOUSE COMMITTEE ON INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS
  
  
  
  
  
                        February 22, 1996
  
  
  
  
  Dear Mr. Chairman:    (Dear Ranking Member:)
  
  In accordance with the provisions of section 490(h) of the 
  Foreign Assistance Act of 1961 (FAA), as amended, I have 
  determined that the following countries are major illicit drug 
  producing or drug transit countries:  Afghanistan, The Bahamas, 
  Belize, Bolivia, Brazil, Burma, Cambodia, China, Colombia, 
  Dominican Republic, Ecuador, Guatemala, Haiti, Hong Kong, India, 
  Iran, Jamaica, Laos, Lebanon, Malaysia, Mexico, Nigeria, 
  Pakistan, Panama, Paraguay, Peru, Syria, Taiwan, Thailand, 
  Venezuela, and Vietnam.  These countries have been selected on 
  the basis of information from the March 1, 1995, International 
  Narcotics Control Strategy Report and from other United States 
  Government sources.
  
  No countries on the 1995 list have been removed from the list 
  this year.  I have added Belize and Cambodia to the list for 
  the following reasons:
  
       Belize.  In my letter of February 2, 1995, which removed 
       Belize from last year's list of major drug-producing 
       countries, I stated, "We will be watching to determine 
       whether it becomes a major transit point for drugs 
       moving to the United States."  I did so because Belize's 
       geographical location south of Mexico's Yucatan peninsula 
       makes it an ideal strategic drug transshipment point for 
       U.S.-bound cocaine shipments.  The country's long, 
       unprotected coastline, large tracts of rain forest, many 
       inland waterways and large unpopulated areas make Belize 
       an inviting feeder site for moving drugs into the 
       mainstream Mexican trafficking routes that carry the bulk 
       of South American cocaine to U.S. markets.  Despite a 
       demonstrated commitment to cut off access to these routes, 
       the Government of Belize lacks the human and material 
       resources to control its borders adequately.  In earlier 
       years, the British Defense Forces stationed in Belize were 
       a partial deterrent to drug traffic, though cocaine 
       transited the country even then.  Their withdrawal in late 
       1994 cleared the way for new trafficking opportunities.
  
       There is little doubt that traffickers are exploiting 
       Belize's vulnerable antidrug infrastructure, particularly 
       as other countries have strengthened their counternarcotics 
       efforts.  The very factors that make Belize attractive as a 
       backdoor to the Mexican cocaine route to the United States 
       preclude a precise estimate of the volume of drugs 
       transiting Belize.  But it is clear from a number of 
       airdrops off Belize's coast and important seizures that 
       the trafficking organizations view it as a valuable transit 
       point.  Mexico's disruption of the large jets carrying 
       multi-ton loads of cocaine ("cargas") has made Belize even 
       more attractive as a feed-in point for U.S.-bound cocaine.
       
       While shipments transiting Belize are smaller than those 
       entering Mexico directly, they can still be sizable.  
       For example, in a single operation in 1995, Belizean 
       authorities seized more than half a ton (636 kilograms) 
       of U.S.-bound cocaine and arrested two Colombians and a 
       Belizean believed to be connected to the Cali cartel.  In 
       all of 1995, Belizean authorities seized a total of 840 
       kilograms of cocaine, which probably represents only a 
       small fraction of the cocaine actually finding its way to 
       the Mexican conduit to the United States.  Moreover, this 
       route is not new, since Belizean authorities reported 
       seizing 850 kilograms of cocaine in 1993, and 650 kilograms 
       in 1990.  Consequently, I am now adding Belize to the list 
       as a major drug transit country.
       
       Cambodia.  Over the past year we have seen numerous 
       indicators that the heroin trafficking problem in Cambodia 
       is severe.  Newly formed and undertrained drug enforcement 
       units have made large seizures of heroin.  Cambodian police 
       and customs sources have uncovered narcotics cases that 
       involve the Cambodian military and police.  
       Narcotics-related corruption also seems to be a problem in 
       government and business circles.  Cambodia shares borders 
       with Thailand, Laos, and Vietnam -- all countries on the 
       list of major drug producing and drug transit countries.
       
       The Cambodian government formally acknowledged that drug 
       transshipment was a significant problem in a royal decree 
       establishing an interministerial committee against 
       narcotics signed by the King on September 7.  The head of 
       the Phnom Penh Municipal Counternarcotics Bureau has stated 
       to the press that as much as 600 kilograms of heroin is 
       smuggled through Cambodia each week.  While we have no 
       evidence to corroborate this figure, which seems high, 
       seizures in Cambodia give us reason to believe there is 
       a significant volume of heroin transiting the country.  
       On August 11, the Cambodian Customs Service seized 71 
       kilograms of heroin hidden in a speedboat in Koh Kong 
       province.  This is the largest seizure ever made in 
       Cambodia and one of the largest made in Southeast Asia 
       this year.  Two west African traffickers apprehended by 
       the Cambodian authorities in July have admitted smuggling 
       heroin to the United States and other destinations.
       
       The extent of narcotics-related corruption suggests that 
       the overall drug transshipment problem in Cambodia may be 
       even greater than recent seizures suggest.  There have been 
       investigations and arrests involving both police and 
       military suspects.  Local police were arrested in the 
       71-kilogram heroin seizure in Koh Kong province.  In 
       August, Thai police arrested several Cambodians including 
       members of the Cambodian military for attempted marijuana 
       smuggling.  For all the reasons listed above, I believe 
       it is appropriate for Cambodia to be added to the list as 
       a transit country.
  
  Major Cannabis Producers.  While Kazakstan, Kyrgyzstan, 
  Morocco, the Philippines, and South Africa are important 
  cannabis producers, they do not appear on this list since I 
  have determined that in all cases the illicit cannabis is either 
  consumed locally or exported to countries other than the United 
  States, and thus such illicit cannabis production does not 
  significantly affect the United States.  (FAA 481(e)(2) 
  states that a country that cultivates and harvests more than 
  5,000 hectares per year of illicit cannabis falls within the 
  definition of a "major illicit drug producing country," unless 
  I determine that such illicit cannabis production does not 
  significantly affect the United States.)
  
  Turkey and Other Balkan Route Countries.  Turkey and its 
  neighboring countries play a key role as a major transit route 
  for much of the Southwest Asian heroin moving to Western and 
  Central Europe along the so-called Balkan Route.  We know that 
  some of this heroin also flows to the United States, but thus 
  far our information has been limited and we have traced only 
  relatively small quantities.  We will be looking further into 
  this issue over the next year.  Insofar as we determine that 
  heroin transiting Turkey, Bulgaria, Greece, the Former Republic 
  of Yugoslavia, Bosnia, Croatia, the Former Yugoslavian Republic 
  of Macedonia, or other European countries on the Balkan Route 
  significantly affects the United States, I will add such 
  countries to the list.
  
  Cuba.  We still do not have sufficient evidence that Cuba plays 
  an active role in the drug trade affecting the United States to 
  add it to the list at this time.  However, Cuba's geographic 
  location and evidence of some movement of drugs around the 
  island indicate it could become a target for greater trafficking 
  activity in the future.
  
  Central Asia.  During 1995, we conducted probe efforts in 
  Tajikistan and Uzbekistan, traditional opium poppy growing 
  areas of the former Soviet Union.  These probes did not show 
  significant opium poppy cultivation.  If ongoing analysis 
  reveals cultivation of 1,000 hectares or more of poppy, I 
  will add the relevant countries to the list.
  
                                  Sincerely,
  
  
  
       	    	      	   	  WILLIAM J. CLINTON
  
  
  
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