US embassy cable - 03COLOMBO1512

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 COLOMBO 001512 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SENSITIVE 
 
DEPARTMENT FOR SA/INS, INL/AAE 
 
E.O. 12958:  N/A 
TAGS: PGOV, SNAR, PREL, CE 
SUBJECT:  Counternarcotics Update:  Latest heroin 
seizures; New trend in smuggling; USG assistance enroute 
 
Refs:  (A) State 237943 
 
-      (B) Colombo 580, and previous (All Notal) 
 
1.  (U) This message is Sensitive but Unclassified -- 
Please handle accordingly. 
 
2.  (SBU) This update of the counternarcotics situation 
in Sri Lanka reviews the following: 
 
>> Latest heroin seizures 
 
>> Police report a new trend in drug smuggling 
 
>> USG assistance for Sri Lanka's counternarcotics 
efforts on the way 
 
3.  (U) LATEST HEROIN SEIZURES:  Sri Lanka's key anti- 
narcotics unit, the Police Narcotics Bureau (PNB), has 
made several recent large-scale seizures of heroin. 
Several of the key interdictions are listed below: 
 
-- In early July, PNB officials arrested two Colombo- 
based police officers who were carrying 350 grams of 
heroin, 
 
-- On August 5, police officers caught an individual 
with 500 grams of heroin -- valued at USD 120,000 -- in 
the northwestern town of Mannar, 
 
-- On August 25, police arrested a man with 314 grams of 
heroin, 
 
-- On August 26, PNB officers arrested a woman with 308 
grams of heroin in Colombo. 
 
4.  (SBU) NEW TRENDS IN DRUG SMUGGLING:  In other 
counternarcotics developments, Pujith Jayasundara, the 
PNB director, briefed emboffs on a new trend in drug 
trafficking during an August 28 meeting.  According to 
Jayasundara, the general relaxation in tensions sparked 
by the peace process between the GSL and the Liberation 
Tiger of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) has opened many new doors 
for Sri Lankan nationals and foreigners alike in 
traveling to Sri Lanka.  One of those newly opened doors 
has enabled easier trafficking of heroin into Sri Lanka. 
 
5.  (SBU) Elaborating, Jayasundara related that, 
although once closed to almost all commercial traffic 
during the pre-peace track period, the waters off Sri 
Lanka's northwestern coast are newly open to fishermen 
and other commercial vessels.  (Note:  A spit of land 
off the northwestern coastal town of Mannar is Sri 
Lanka's closest point to India, with the Sri Lankan town 
of Talaimannar only some 22 miles away from Tamil Nadu 
across a shallow body of water known as "Adam's 
Bridge.")  Jayasundara said drug traffickers have taken 
advantage of this close proximity and newfound access to 
ship narcotics into Mannar and other northwestern areas. 
If all goes well for the traffickers in crossing the 
"Adam's Bridge" area and landing in Sri Lanka's 
northwest, it is an easy drive south to Colombo and 
other southern destinations where the major illicit drug 
markets are located.  He further noted that 
transshipment of narcotics via airplane passengers 
arriving in Colombo, and drug boats landing along the 
western and southern coasts continue.  Given this, 
Jayasundara, the head of the PNB, lamented that:  "With 
the same amount of resources, we now have another 
trafficking route to patrol." 
 
6.  (SBU) USG-FUNDED ASISTANCE ON THE WAY:  The USG is 
avidly working to provide assistance to the PNB.  An 
April 2003 needs assessment of the PNB by the Department 
of Justice was so successful that Justice, in 
coordination with the State Department, has decided to 
provide USD 250,000 to fund a skills-enhancement project 
with the PNB (see Ref A).  Recognizing the PNB's 
potential for improvement as an organization, the 
project is focused on enhancing the investigative 
ability of PNB officers, and enhancing the bureau's 
cooperation with other GSL police and customs agencies. 
The project is also slated to provide enforcement and 
surveillance equipment.  Jayasundara told emboffs that 
the government appreciated the assistance and that he 
looked forward to working with USG officials on 
increasing his bureau's effectiveness. 
 
7.  (SBU) COMMENT:  Despite the latest seizures and the 
new Mannar route, there is no evidence that the amount 
of heroin being exported into Sri Lanka is skyrocketing. 
Based on what we are hearing, the overall amount of 
contraband getting into Sri Lanka is probably roughly 
the same as in past years.  The PNB feels, however, that 
it is doing a better job with interdiction and may 
attain a higher amount of seizures this year (the PNB 
feels that, in general, it intercepts roughly 10 percent 
of the contraband that is being shipped in).  Re the 
Mannar route, while there is little doubt that the peace 
process has brought many overwhelmingly positive changes 
in Sri Lankan life since it began in December 2001, the 
drawdown of Sri Lankan security forces appears to have 
provided traffickers increased openings to smuggle in 
contraband.  END COMMENT. 
 
8.  (U) Minimize considered. 
 
ENTWISTLE