ACCESSION NUMBER:00000
FILE ID:95110101.tgi
DATE:11/01/95
TITLE:01-11-95 U.S. DRUG STRATEGY DEMONSTRATES IMPRESSIVE RESULTS
TEXT:
(Emphasis shifted to stopping drugs at the source) (670)
By Patricia Gipple
USIA Staff Writer
A U.S. official reports that attacking the drug problem at the source
of production has caused significant damage to drug trafficking
organizations.
Lee Brown, director of the Office of National Drug Control Policy,
told a House subcommittee October 31 that the international strategy
is directed at disrupting drug smuggling operations by forcing
traffickers to abandon activities and shift to more costly or
ineffective smuggling regimens.
Brown, who recently returned from the coca cultivation, processing and
trafficking areas of South America, said he is convinced that the
strategy is sound, adding that it has allowed the United States and
its allies to make better use of limited interdiction resources.
"This is where our intelligence is best and the traffickers most
vulnerable," he said.
Brown said that eradication efforts in Colombia have resulted in a 50
percent reduction in both coca and poppy under cultivation in that
country, causing drug organizations to move cocaine production to more
remote, less preferable areas.
Brown said that the administration's strategy stresses both prevention
and treatment efforts, while continuing aggressive enforcement,
interdiction and international programs. He commented that domestic
law enforcement efforts, greatly expanded in recent years, comprise
the largest segment of the drug control budget.
Subcommittee chairman Benjamin Gilman pointed out that between 1985
and 1992 the number of cocaine users in the United States decreased
from 5.8 million to 1.3 million, a nearly 80 percent reduction in
monthly use.
The United States and its South American allies have also made
significant progress in attacking the major drug kingpins, according
to Brown.
In January, 20 members of the Peruvian-based Lopez-Paredes
organization were arrested following the seizure of about three metric
tons of cocaine. A week later, two top Bolivian traffickers, Carlos
Ali Bravo and Pedro Ramirez Correa, were arrested by Bolivian police.
Close cooperation between the governments of Peru and Colombia
resulted in the capture and arrest of Cachique Rivera, the top
Peruvian supplier of cocaine.
In June, the Colombian national police arrested Gilberto Rodriguez
Orejuela, one of the top Cali Cartel kingpins. This arrest was the
result of extensive collaboration between the United States and
Colombia.
On August 6, Miguel Rodriguez Orejuela, the world's top cocaine
kingpin, was arrested. Six of the seven leaders of the Cali Cartel
have been arrested by the Colombian national police with the help of
the U.S. government.
Brown has asked the U.S. Department of Defense to develop a
multilateral effort to increase the pressure against trafficker
smuggling operations. He explained that the role of U.S. forces is to
increase detection and monitoring, gather intelligence and support the
interdiction operations of the host nation.
President Clinton, in his speech before the United Nations last week,
announced major new counternarcotics initiatives.
The president, using his authority under the International Economic
Emergency Act, signed an executive order that blocks the assets of and
prohibits transactions with four of the leaders of the Cali Cartel as
well as a number of individuals and companies associated with them.
The president said that the administration would consider imposing
economic sanctions against nations that assist with money laundering
and called for the negotiation of an international declaration that
would deny sanctuary to international criminals and provide mutual
assistance in investigations of international crimes.
Brown said that the administration's strategy is comprehensive but
cannot be implemented without resources. He said, "We need to keep up
the pressure. We need to put more resources in place at this timely
point in history."
Brown pointed out that Congress has cut the budget of the Office for
International Narcotics and Law Enforcement, providing only $105
million of the $228 million requested for fiscal year 1995.
Brown said that despite these cuts, the United States has fielded a
credible effort against the cocaine threat by increased cooperation
with its allies, the use of better technology and a realignment of
declining resources.
NNNN
|
NEWSLETTER
|
|
Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list
|
|
|
