US embassy cable - 05CAIRO9167

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 03 CAIRO 009167 
 
SIPDIS 
 
JUSTICE FOR OIA, AFMLS, AND NDDS 
TREASURY FOR FINCEN 
DEA FOR OILS AND OFFICE OF DIVERSION CONTROL 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: SNAR, EG 
SUBJECT: EGYPT: 2006 INTERNATIONAL NARCOTICS CONTROL 
STRATEGY REPORT (INCSR), PART I 
 
REF: STATE 209558 
 
I.  Summary:  The Arab Republic of Egypt is not a major 
producer, supplier, or consumer of narcotics or precursor 
chemicals.  Heroin and cannabis are transported through 
Egypt, but presumed levels have not risen in four years.  The 
Anti-Narcotics General Administration (ANGA) is the main 
counter narcotics organization in Egypt.  It is competent and 
progressive, and cooperates fully with the Drug Enforcement 
Administration (DEA) office in Cairo.  In 2004, a joint 
DEA-ANGA investigation uncovered a significant MDMA (Ecstasy) 
laboratory in Alexandria, resulting in the arrest of four 
individuals, possible indictment of two U.S. citizens, and a 
secondary ongoing investigation which has already identified 
more than two million dollars of drug related proceeds. 
Egypt is party to the 1988 UN Drug Convention.  End summary. 
 
II.  Status of Country:  Egypt is not a significant producer 
or consumer of narcotics or precursor chemicals, despite the 
fact that opium and cannabis plants are grown here.  The 
substances that are most commonly abused are cannabis, which 
is known here as "bango," and legitimate pharmaceuticals. 
Narcotics do pass through Egypt.  Egypt's long and mostly 
uninhabited borders, combined with the high level of shipping 
passing through the Suez Canal Zone, have made Egypt prone to 
the transshipment of Asian heroin.  Other types of narcotics 
periodically pass through Cairo International Airport.  The 
narcotics are primarily destined for Western Europe, with 
only small amounts headed to the United States. 
Transshipment has diminished considerably in recent years due 
to the elevation of security in Egypt and the region as a 
whole. 
 
The ANGA is the oldest counter narcotics unit in the Arab 
world. It has jurisdiction over all criminal matters 
pertaining to narcotics and maintains offices in all major 
Egyptian cities and ports of entry.  The U.S. DEA office in 
Egypt has a superb relationship with ANGA, which is open, 
cooperative, and receptive to ideas and training.  DEA 
assists ANGA in interdiction operations in the Suez Canal 
Zone and at Cairo International Airport, and crop eradication 
operations in the Sinai Peninsula and Upper Egypt.  In the 
past, DEA also funded and conducted training for ANGA 
officers at regional counter narcotics courses in Nairobi, 
Kenya and provided in-country training on airport 
interdiction and chemical controls.  In July 2005, DEA hosted 
the Director of ANGA for a series of meetings in the United 
States regarding support for counter drug training and 
DEA-ANGA joint operations in the Suez Canal, Sinai, and Red 
Sea regions.  The meetings were held at DEA headquarters, 
Department of Justice, and Department of State's Bureau of 
International Narcotics and Law Enforcement Affairs (INL). 
Despite limited resources, ANGA has continually demonstrated 
improvements in its capabilities. 
 
III.  Country Actions Against Drugs in 2005:  The Government 
of Egypt (GOE) continues to aggressively pursue a 
comprehensive drug control strategy that was developed in 
1998.  ANGA, as the primary Egyptian drug enforcement agency, 
coordinates with the Egyptian Ministry of Interior, the Coast 
Guard, the Customs Service, and select military units on all 
aspects of drug law enforcement.  Government and private 
sector demand reduction efforts exist but are hampered by 
financial constraints and logistical challenges. 
 
--------------- 
Accomplishments 
--------------- 
 
Late in 2004, a joint DEA-ANGA investigation uncovered an 
MDMA laboratory located in a small apartment building in 
Alexandria, Egypt.  ANGA raided the laboratory, arresting 
four individuals and seizing chemicals, paste, and equipment. 
 Additionally, a secondary ANGA financial investigation 
conducted in 2005 with assistance from the DEA country office 
has identified over two million dollars in drug proceeds 
located in Egypt.  The investigation on this US-based 
international MDMA drug trafficking organization is ongoing 
in the United States, Australia, the Netherlands and Egypt. 
Since 2003, production of illicit pharmaceuticals and 
counterfeit narcotics are on the rise in Egypt, which may 
represent a new trend toward shifting artificial drug labs to 
the region due to the region's relatively lax regulation of 
commercial chemical products.  With the passage of the first 
anti-money laundering law in 2002, which criminalized the 
laundering of proceeds derived from trafficking in narcotics 
and numerous other crimes, seizures of currency in drug 
related cases has amounted to over 3,000,000 Egyptian Pounds 
($520,000).  In October 2005, ANGA seized two metric tons of 
marijuana that originated in the northern Sinai. 
 
----------------------- 
Law Enforcement Efforts 
----------------------- 
 
Internal security and combating terrorism are the major foci 
of Egyptian law enforcement efforts.  Despite these 
priorities, ANGA is able to operate an effective program 
against narcotics trafficking.  Egypt is a transit country 
for narcotics.  ANGA investigates and targets significant 
drug traffickers, intercepts narcotics shipments, and detects 
and eradicates illegal crops. Large-scale seizures and 
arrests are rare, primarily because Egypt does not have a 
significant narcotics market or narcotics abuse culture. ANGA 
operates its own drug awareness campaign in addition to other 
government and private sector demand reduction programs. 
ANGA's Eradication Unit conducts monthly operations against 
cannabis and opium crops in the Sinai.  Continuing a trend 
over the past several years, the amount of narcotics seized 
during 2004 was again higher than that of the previous year. 
Drug seizures in 2004 included cannabis (80,249 kilograms), 
hashish (1,868 kilograms), and smaller amounts of heroin, 
opium, psychotropic drugs, and cocaine.  Significant amounts 
of prescription and "designer" drugs such as Ecstasy (6,194 
tablets), amphetamines, and codeine were also seized.  During 
the course of 2004, Egyptian law enforcement officials 
eradicated 171 hectares of cannabis and 65 hectares of opium 
poppy plants.  (Note. Post expects to receive preliminary 
2005 data on seizures and arrests from ANGA by end-December. 
Post will transmit that data upon receipt.  End note.) 
 
---------- 
Corruption 
---------- 
 
As a matter of government policy, the Government of Egypt 
does not encourage or facilitate illicit production or 
distribution of narcotic or psychotropic drugs or other 
controlled substances, or the laundering of proceeds from 
illegal transactions.  The GOE has strict laws and harsh 
penalties for government officials convicted of involvement 
in narcotics trafficking or related activities.  However, 
low-level local police officials involved in 
narcotics-related activity or corruption have been identified 
and arrested. 
 
----------------------- 
Agreements and Treaties 
----------------------- 
 
Egypt and the United States have had an extradition treaty in 
place since the 1860's.  Egypt has been a party to the 1988 
UN Drug Convention since 1991.  Egypt also is a party to the 
1971 UN Convention on Psychotropic Substances, the 1961 UN 
Single Convention on Narcotic Drugs, and the 1972 protocol 
amending the Single Convention.  The U.S.-Egypt Mutual Legal 
Assistance Treaty entered into force on November 29, 2001. 
Egypt is a party to the UN Convention against Transnational 
Organized Crime and its protocol on trafficking in women and 
children. 
 
-------------------------- 
Cultivation and Production 
-------------------------- 
 
Cannabis is grown year round in the northern and southern 
Sinai and in Upper Egypt, while opium poppy is grown in the 
southern Sinai only from November through March.  Rugged 
terrain means that plots of illegal crops are small and 
irregularly shaped. ANGA combats this production by using 
aerial observation and confidential informants to identify 
illegal plots.  Once the crops are located, ANGA conducts 
daylight eradication operations that consist of cutting and 
burning the plants.  ANGA has yet to implement a planned 
herbicide eradication program.  No heroin processing 
laboratories have been discovered in Egypt in the last 14 
years and no evidence is available indicating that opiates or 
cannabis grown in Egypt reach the United States in sufficient 
quantities to have a significant impact.  In an ongoing 
investigation that started in 2004, a joint DEA-ANGA 
operation uncovered the first ever MDMA laboratory in Egypt 
and eliminated it before it reached significant production. 
 
------------------------------------ 
Domestic Programs (Demand Reduction) 
------------------------------------ 
 
In 2005, the National Council for Combating and Treating 
Addiction continued to be the GOE's focal point for domestic 
demand reduction programs.  The Council is an 
inter-ministerial group chaired by the Prime Minister and has 
the participation of ten ministries.  The group espouses a 
three-pronged strategy to counter the demand for narcotics: 
awareness, treatment (including detoxification and 
social/psychological treatment), and rehabilitation.  The 
group's efforts over the past year included a range of 
activities, for example, a media advertising campaign with 
participation from First Lady Suzanne Mubarak, annual 
seminars at Al-Azhar University on "Islam and Narcotics," and 
the establishment of a drug treatment hotline and website. 
Additionally, the Council sponsors four rehabilitation 
centers, mostly located in the Cairo metropolitan area. 
These centers annually receive thousands of requests from 
addicts for help. 
 
IV.  U.S. Policy Initiatives and Programs:  The U.S. counter 
narcotics policy in Egypt is to engage the GOE in a bilateral 
program to reduce narcotics transshipments and decrease opium 
poppy and cannabis cultivation.  The policy includes the 
following specific objectives: increase training to ANGA and 
other government offices responsible for narcotics 
enforcement; assist with the identification of illegal crop 
eradication targets; improve narcotics interdiction 
methodology; improve intelligence collection and analysis. 
 
-------------- 
The Road Ahead 
-------------- 
 
In fiscal year 2006, the U.S. Government plans to increase 
its joint operations with ANGA, moving beyond a previously 
predominant focus on monitoring the problem.  This will 
involve the DEA country office continuing to work closely 
with ANGA on joint investigations, as well as improving 
interdiction and eradication techniques and developing 
additional sources of information on trafficking and 
production.  In 2005, the DEA country office initiated 
Operation Sphinx, a joint DEA-ANGA operation to collect 
actionable intelligence for enforcement/interdiction action 
in the Suez Canal and the Gulf of Aqaba.  The operation 
targets sources of information in the maritime industry 
throughout the region.  In 2005, ANGA requested additional 
support and financial assistance from DEA and INL to provide 
training in financial investigations, drug interdiction, 
clandestine drug laboratory investigations, internet-based 
drug crimes and chemical identification and control. 
 
 
RICCIARDONE