13 March 2002
Efforts to Curb Drug Traffic Will Nab Terrorists, DEA Head Says
(Hutchison testifies on link before Senate terrorism panel (3260)
Though the Drug Enforcement Administration does not specifically
target terrorists, "the degree to which terrorist organizations
utilize drug profits to finance their horrific activities is of
paramount concern to the DEA," the agency's head told a Senate panel
March 13.
Thus, "We will target and track down drug traffickers and drug
trafficking organizations involved in terrorist acts," Administrator
Asa Hutchinson said in testimony before the Senate Judiciary
Subcommittee on Technology, Terrorism and Government Information.
Hutchinson told subcommittee members, looking into the nexus between
terrorism and the drug trade, that his agency -- part of the Justice
Department -- "will continue to work with our law enforcement partners
around the world to improve our cooperative enforcement efforts
against international drug organizations."
Following is the text of Hutchison's statement, as prepared for
delivery:
(begin text)
Statement of Asa Hutchinson, Administrator
Drug Enforcement Administration
before Senate Judiciary Committee
Subcommittee on Technology, Terrorism, and Government Information
March 13, 2002
Executive Summary
As the tragic events that occurred on September 11, 2001 so shockingly
demonstrated, terrorist organizations are a threat to the national
security of the United States. One of DEA's priorities is to target
the powerful international drug trafficking organizations. Some of
these groups have never hesitated to use violence and terror to
advance their interests, all to the detriment of law-abiding citizens.
While DEA does not specifically target terrorists, we will target and
track down drug traffickers and drug trafficking organizations
involved in terrorist acts.
DEA employs a global approach to attacking drug organizations that
fuel some terror networks. These drug organizations come from
locations as far away as Afghanistan and as close as Colombia, but all
utilize violence in order to achieve their goals.
Most recently, Colombian presidential candidate Ingrid Betancourt and
her chief of staff, Clara Rojas were kidnapped by the Revolutionary
Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC), and Colombian Congresswoman Martha
Catalina Daniels was kidnapped, tortured and assassinated. Colombia
continues to be plagued by complex crime and national security issues
that are, in part, fueled by the drug trade.
DEA maintains offices around the world; these offices are in a unique
position to direct human drug intelligence sources and contribute to
the formation of more effective cooperative law enforcement
relationships in that area. To improve the effectiveness of DEA,
several initiatives have been proposed. These initiatives include
Operation Containment, a proposed DEA initiative that includes opening
a DEA office in Kabul, Afghanistan and the expansion of existing
offices in Asian and European cities, as well as the growth of DEA's
communications intercept and intelligence capabilities in support of
agencies conducting counter-terrorism investigations in America.
Chairwoman Feinstein, Ranking Member Kyl, and distinguished members of
the Subcommittee, it is a pleasure for me to appear before you for the
first time in my capacity as the Administrator of the Drug Enforcement
Administration (DEA). The Subcommittee's leadership and support in our
fight against international drug trafficking and terrorism is deeply
appreciated by DEA and all Americans. I look forward to a successful,
productive, and cooperative relationship with the Subcommittee on this
most important issue.
I appear before you today to testify on the nexus between
international drug trafficking and terrorism, commonly referred to as
narco-terrorism. As the tragic events that occurred on September 11,
2001 so shockingly demonstrated, terrorist organizations and the
dependence on and relation of some of these organizations to
international drug trafficking poses a threat to the national security
of the United States. Consequently, the DEA has directed enforcement
and intelligence assets to identify, investigate, and dismantle all
organizations, including terrorist groups, engaged in the drug
trafficking trade. The degree to which terrorist organizations utilize
drug profits to finance their horrific activities is of paramount
concern to the DEA.
DEA defines narco-terrorism as a subset of terrorism, in which
terrorist groups, or associated individuals, participate directly or
indirectly in the cultivation, manufacture, transportation, or
distribution of controlled substances and the monies derived from
these activities. Further, narco-terrorism may be characterized by the
participation of groups or associated individuals in taxing, providing
security for, or otherwise aiding or abetting drug trafficking
endeavors in an effort to further, or fiend, terrorist activities.
One of DEA's priorities is to target the powerful international drug
trafficking organizations that operate around the world, which employ
thousands of individuals to transport and distribute drugs to American
communities. Some of these groups have never hesitated to use violence
and terror to advance their interests, all to the detriment of
law-abiding citizens. While DEA does not specifically target
terrorists, we will target and track down drug traffickers and drug
trafficking organizations involved in terrorist acts.
My testimony will focus on the connection between drug trafficking
organizations, terrorist groups and the illegal drug profits used to
support their activity.
According to the U.S. Department of State, between 1996 and 2000, over
600 terrorist incidents occurred against the United States of America.
Starting in October 1997 and continuing every two years thereafter,
the U.S. Department of State designated approximately two dozen
foreign terrorist organizations, or FTOs. As a result of the most
recent round of designations, there are currently 28 FTOs. DEA has
identified several of these terrorist groups that are associated with
or directly engaged in drug trafficking. The events of September 11,
2001 graphically illustrate the need to starve the infrastructure of
every global terrorist organization and deprive them of the drug
proceeds that might otherwise be used to fund acts of terror.
Southwest Asia
Afghanistan, The Taliban, and Osama Bin Laden
The DEA has not maintained a presence in Afghanistan since January
1980, when the office was closed for security reasons, as a result of
the Soviet invasion in December 1979. Following the withdrawal of
Soviet troops 10 years later, civil strife has ensued in Afghanistan.
The Islamic State of Afghanistan is a major source country for the
cultivation, processing and trafficking of opiate and cannabis
products. Afghanistan produced over 70 percent of the world's supply
of illicit opium in 2000. Morphine base, heroin and hashish produced
in Afghanistan are trafficked worldwide. Due to the warfare-induced
decimation of the country's economic infrastructure, narcotics are a
major source of income in Afghanistan. Afghanistan is a party to the
1988 UN Drug Convention but lacks the governmental resources to
implement the country's obligations.
U.S. intelligence confirmed a connection between Afghanistan's former
ruling Taliban and international terrorist Osama Bin Laden and the
al-Qa'ida organization. DEA has received multi-source information that
Bin Laden has been involved in the financing and facilitation of
heroin trafficking activities. While the activities of the two
entities do not always follow the same course, we know that drugs and
terror frequently share the common ground of geography, money, and
violence. In this respect, the very sanctuary previously enjoyed by
gin Laden was based on the existence of the Taliban's drug state,
whose economy was exceptionally dependent on opium.
According to the official U.S. Government estimates for 2001,
Afghanistan produced an estimated 74 metric tons of opium from 1,685
hectares of land under opium poppy cultivation. This is a significant
decrease from the 3,656 metric tons of opium produced from 64,510
hectares of land under opium poppy cultivation in 2000.
ESTIMATED AFGHAN OPIUM PRODUCTION: METRIC TONS
2001 2000 1999 1998 1987 1996
USG 74 3,656 2,861 2,340 2,184 2,099
UNDCP 185 3,276 4,581 2,102 2,804 2,248
Opium prices in Afghanistan currently range from nine to eleven (9-11)
times higher than in 2000 (February 2000: $30-43/kilogram, March 2002:
$333/kilogram). Cultivation and production estimates for the spring
2002 opium crop differ widely, but even under the most conservative
estimate, Afghanistan has the capability to return as one of the
largest opium producers in the world.
The head of Afghanistan's provisional government, Hamid Karzai,
supports the eradication of opium poppy cultivation. Interim president
Karzai renewed the Taliban's ban on poppy cultivation and drug
production in January 2002, and called upon the international
community to support his efforts.
In 2001, the United States Government estimated that 74 tons of opium
was produced, down from over 3,600 metric tons (75% of world
production) in 2000. The U.S. Government and the UNDCP estimate that
the area currently under cultivation could reach up to 65,000
hectares, potentially producing up to 2,700 metric tons of opium.
Harvesting of the first poppy crop will begin in late April and early
May 2002.
DEA sources have reported the observation of numerous inactive
laboratory sites in Afghanistan and Pakistan, a number of significant
opium dealers, large stockpiles of opium, and active opium markets in
Jalalabad and Ghani Khel. The laboratories known to this point are
concentrated in the regions bordering the Northwest Border Province of
Pakistan, especially in Nangarhar, Laghman, and Konar Provinces in the
Konduz and Badakhshan Provinces. As outlined below, the nexus between
drugs and terrorism extends to other areas of Central and Southeast
Asia as well.
Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK)
DEA information indicates that the PKK is involved in the taxation of
drug shipments and the protection of drug traffickers throughout the
Southeastern Region of Turkey.
The United Wa State Army
Methamphetamine and heroin trafficking finances the efforts of the
16,000-strong United Wa State Army (UWSA). The UWSA exists primarily
as a separatist organization, seeking autonomy from the central
government in Burma. It funds its separatist activities by being the
major international drug trafficking organization in the region.
South America
The Colombian Narco-Terrorist Threat
On February 23, 2002, Colombian presidential candidate Ingrid
Betancourt and her chief of staff, Clara Rojas were kidnapped by the
Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC). Other acts of terrorism
include Colombian Congresswoman Martha Catalina Daniels' torture and
assassination. Colombia continues to be plagued by complex crime and
national security issues that are, in part, fueled by the drug trade.
In Colombia, drug traffickers, terrorist groups, and illegal
self-defense groups all carry out attacks of the most extreme violence
on society. Colombia's two major insurgent groups are the
Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (Fuerzas Armadas
Revolucionarias de Colombia or FARC) and the National Liberation Army
(Ejercito de Liberacion or ELN). The FARC controls large areas of
Colombia's eastern lowlands and rain forest, which are the primary
coca cultivation and cocaine processing regions in the country. The
ELN operates primarily along Colombia's northeastern border with
Venezuela and in central and northwestern Colombia, including
Colombia's cannabis and opium poppy growing areas.
Right wing "self-defense groups" emerged in Colombia during the 1980s
in response to insurgent violence. Hundreds of illegal self-defense
groups -- financed by wealthy cattle ranchers, emerald miners, coffee
plantation owners, drug traffickers, etc. -- conduct paramilitary
operations throughout Colombia. The loose coalition known as the AUC
(Autodefensas Unidas de Colombia), is the best known of these
self-defense groups. Carlos Castano is the most well recognized leader
of the AUC.
What DEA can show about the links between these terrorist groups and
drug trafficking is identified below:
-- Some groups raise funds through extortion or by protecting
laboratory operations. In return for cash payments, or possibly in
exchange for weapons, the groups protect cocaine laboratories in
southern Colombia. They also encourage coca planting and discourage
licit alternative development.
-- In 2001, three members of the Irish Republican Army (IRA) were
arrested in Colombia for collaborating with the FARC. The three men
were charged with traveling on false passports and providing the FARC
with weapons instruction.
-- Some terrorist groups apparently have assisted drug trafficking
groups in transporting and storing cocaine and marijuana within
Colombia. In particular, some groups protect clandestine airstrips in
southern Colombia.
-- Elements of some FARC units in southern Colombia are directly
involved in drug trafficking activities, such as controlling local
cocaine base markets. At least one FARC front has served as a cocaine
source of supply for one international drug trafficking organization.
-- Although there is no evidence that the FARC or ELN have elements
established in the United States, their drug trafficking activity
impacts the United States and Europe.
-- Several self-defense groups also raise funds through extortion, or
by protecting laboratory operations in northern and central Colombia.
There is deep concern in DEA about the role that profits from the drug
trade plays in financing the terrorist activities of the FARC and
other armed groups in Colombia. The Colombian government is now
engaged in responding to this armed challenge with its military and
law enforcement assets.
The violent activities of the FARC and other groups have not been
limited to the country of Colombia. DEA information indicates the FARC
has become a destabilizing force along the northern border of Ecuador,
where violence and coca processing activities have increased.
Similarly, the FARC's violence and coca processing activities have
also spread to Panama. Venezuela, too, is experiencing increased
violence, causing cattle ranchers to hire additional security
personnel to counter the FARC's efforts.
Peru's Sendero Luminoso: The Shining Path
Sendero Luminoso is an extremely violent armed group that sought to
overthrow the Peruvian government and establish a communist agrarian
state from the 1980's to the mid 1990's. Sendero Luminoso operated
from bases in remote regions of Peru that also held the main coca
growing areas. DEA reporting indicates that the group probably
extracted a revolutionary tax from the cocaine base operators.
Drug-Related Money Laundering:
Money laundering is the process used by drug traffickers, terrorist
organizations and others to convert bulk amounts of illicit profits
into legitimate money. In Afghanistan, the unsophisticated banking
system that previously existed has been damaged by years of war. Money
laundering activity is completely unregulated. The DEA has received
credible information indicating drug traffickers also use the informal
banking system used extensively in the region, referred to as the
hawala or hundi system. This system is an underground, informal
network that has been used for centuries by businesses and families
throughout Asia. The hawala or hundi system leaves no "paper trail"
for investigators to follow.
In South America, efforts to legitimize or "launder" drug proceeds by
Colombian trafficking organizations are also subject to detection
because of intense scrutiny by U.S. law enforcement and our financial
system. Colombian drug trafficking organizations have also developed a
number of money laundering systems that subvert financial transaction
reporting requirements. One such form of money laundering is known as
the Black Market Peso Exchange (BMPE). The BMPE is a complex system
currently used by drug trafficking organizations to launder billions
of dollars of drug money each year.
The International Role of DEA:
DEA maintains offices around the world; these offices are in a unique
position to direct human drug intelligence sources and contribute to
the formation of more effective cooperative law enforcement
relationships in that area. In Pakistan, for example, DEA has
established a Sensitive Investigative Unit (SILT) composed of officers
from the country's Anti-Narcotics Force (ANF). These well-trained and
highly motivated individuals are the bedrock of DEA's overseas
initiatives and are painstakingly vetted through a stringent selection
and review process that includes periodic polygraph examinations to
ensure sustained integrity. The existence of a trusted cadre of
counterparts such as Pakistan's SIU is an invaluable asset for DEA in
any arena of operations, and the concept appears to be one that is
well suited for expansion in the region. These operations are best
presented within the framework of DEA's overseas role.
With the support of the Congress, DEA has implemented its SIU program
in nine countries to include Mexico, Colombia, Ecuador Peru, Bolivia,
Brazil, Pakistan, Thailand, and the Dominican Republic. The SIU
program has effectively enhanced international cooperation and
institution building within the host government's infrastructure.
DEA Program Initiatives:
DEA has requested substantial increases to strengthen resources for
drug related financial investigations to enhance assets of domestic
field offices, with emphasis on the financial hubs of New York, Miami,
and Los Angeles. Money laundering is becoming more sophisticated. DEA
has been successful in investigating and dismantling money laundering
organizations, but we are limited in our resources. DEA must improve
its ability to monitor and track the financial holdings and
transactions of drug trafficking organizations, especially with the
demonstrated nexus between the profits from drug trafficking,
terrorist activities, and violence.
The President's FY 2003 Budget Proposal also includes $35 million and
73 positions (including 12 Special Agents and 33 Intelligence
Analysts) requested in the Attorney General's Counter-Terrorism Fund
to enhance DEA's communications intercept and intelligence
capabilities in support of agencies conducting counter-terrorism in
America and overseas. An additional $7.7 million and 45 positions is
also included in the FY 2003 Federal Bureau of Investigations' (FBI)
Budget to reimburse DEA for its counter-terrorism support.
In the course of conducting daily investigations against international
drug trafficking organizations, the DEA often uncovers information of
other related crimes, including money laundering and the financing of
terrorist activities, The DEA will continue to expand its efforts to
target the telecommunications infrastructure of transnational
narco-terrorist organizations; rigorously pursue Title III
investigations; and provide intelligence in support of
counter-terrorism efforts to other agencies, including the FBI and the
Department of Defense (DoD).
The DEA Financial Investigations Section has personnel assigned as DEA
liaisons to both the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) and
to the Federal Bureau of Investigation's Financial Review Group,
responsible for tracing terrorist-related monies.
The DEA Intelligence Division has temporarily created a six-person
Intelligence Response Team that can deploy worldwide to provide
intelligence support related to narco-traffickers and other
trafficking groups. This intelligence support includes but is not
limited to, source debriefings, document exploitation, and site
analysis. Efforts are underway to fully fund this unit.
Operation Containment is a proposed DEA initiative which includes
opening a DEA office in Kabul, Afghanistan and the expansion of
existing offices in Asian and European cities, as well as the growth
of DEA's communications intercept and intelligence capabilities in
support of agencies conducting counter-terrorism investigations in
America. The collection of intelligence, examination of regional
trafficking trends and the identification of host nation requirements
will be paramount, as will the development of a Confidential Source
program and the creation of a chemical control program.
The DEA Islamabad Country Office (ICO) has established a program to
identify opium-to-heroin processing laboratories in Afghanistan and in
the Northwest Frontier Province of Pakistan. The objective of the ICO
program is the identification of laboratories and operators while they
are reorganizing, following the cessation of hostilities. DEA is
pursuing regional initiatives jointly with other countries to combat
the heroin trade initiating in Afghanistan.
DEA is working with the governments of Russia, Germany, and Romania to
connect three regional law enforcement networks and databases based in
those countries, in order to create a region-wide communication and
information-sharing network. When these are linked, the net effect
will be to link all of Europe, Central Asia, and the states of the
Former Soviet Union into a law enforcement information sharing network
focused on combating drug trafficking in the regions surrounding
Afghanistan.
Conclusions:
The new breed of narco-terrorist will challenge the resilience of all
law enforcement agencies, including DEA. The Drug Enforcement
Administration will continue to identify; investigate, and build cases
against criminal and terrorist groups involved in drug trafficking
wherever they may be found. DEA will continue to work with our law
enforcement partners around the world to improve our cooperative
enforcement efforts against international drug organizations.
Thank you for the opportunity to testify before the Subcommittee
today. I will be happy to respond to any questions you may have at the
appropriate time.
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