US embassy cable - 05WARSAW4025

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 03 WARSAW 004025 
 
SIPDIS 
 
DEPT FOR INL, EUR/NCE 
JUSTICE FOR OIA, AFMLS, NDDS 
TREASURY FOR FINCEN 
DEA FOR OILS AND OFFICE OF DIVERSION CONTROL 
 
E.O. 12958:  N/A 
TAGS: SNAR, PL, EUN 
SUBJECT:  POLAND'S 2005-2006 INTERNATIONAL NARCOTICS 
CONTROL STRATEGY REPORT (INCSR) 
 
REF:  STATE 209561 
 
Poland 
 
I. Summary 
 
Poland has traditionally been a transit country for 
drug trafficking. However, improving economic 
conditions and increased ease of travel to Western 
Europe have increased its significance as a consumer 
market and a producer of amphetamines. Illicit drug 
production and trafficking are closely tied to 
organized crime, and, while Polish law enforcement 
agencies have been successful in breaking up organized 
crime syndicates involved in drug trafficking, criminal 
activities continue to become more sophisticated and 
global in nature. Poland finalized a National Program 
for Counteracting Drug Addiction in July 2002, and 
again in 2005 allocated a budget for its 
implementation, though this year the budget was 
decreased. Cooperation between USG officials and Polish 
law enforcement has been consistent and outstanding, 
and Poland's EU accession has accelerated the process 
of GOP diligence on narcotics policy. Poland is a party 
to the 1988 UN Drug Convention. 
 
II. Status of Country 
 
Poland has traditionally been a transit country for 
drug trafficking. However, improving economic 
conditions and increased ease of travel to Western 
Europe have increased its significance as a consumer 
market and a producer of amphetamines. Illicit drug 
production and trafficking are closely tied to 
organized crime, and, while Polish law enforcement 
agencies have been successful in breaking up organized 
crime syndicates involved in drug trafficking, criminal 
activities continue to become more sophisticated and 
global in nature. Poland finalized a National Program 
for Counteracting Drug Addiction in July 2002, and this 
year allocated a budget for its implementation. 
Cooperation between USG officials and Polish law 
enforcement has been consistent and outstanding, and 
Poland's EU accession has accelerated the process of 
GOP diligence on narcotics policy. Poland is a party to 
the 1988 UN Drug Convention. 
 
III. Country Actions Against Drugs in 2004 
 
Policy Initiatives. The National Program for 
Counteracting Drug Addiction, which covers the period 
2002-2005, brought Poland into compliance with the 2000- 
2004 EU Drugs Strategy. The National Program is a 
comprehensive and realistic plan focusing on 
prevention, supply reduction, treatment, and 
monitoring. MONAR, a non-governmental organization, is 
the main actor in the implementation of the National 
Program. In 2005, the National Program budget was 
decreased slightly from $3.6 million in 2004 to $3.2 
million. In addition, individual ministries and local 
governments continue to finance Program activities out 
of existing counternarcotics budgets. 
 
Accomplishments. During 2005, Polish police shut down 
18 major amphetamine-producing laboratories. Many of 
these were in the Warsaw region, with two in Katowice 
and others scattered throughout Poland. To fight 
international crime, the use of informants, telephone 
taps, and controlled purchases are now all permitted by 
Polish law, and a witness protection program is in 
place. In 2005, the US International Criminal 
Investigative Training and Assistance Program (ICITAP) 
conducted a training of senior level police officials, 
such as regional commanders and deputy commanders, on 
Code of Ethics and Anti-Corruption Strategy. This 
training was part of a series of highly successful 
courses presented at the National Police Training 
Center under a Law Enforcement Assistance Letter of 
Agreement (LOA) signed in November 2002 by the US and 
Poland. 
 
Law Enforcement Efforts. DEA agents visit Poland 
regularly and in 2005, worked bilaterally with the 
Polish National Police in numerous narcotics 
investigations targeting drug trafficking organizations 
that import controlled substances into Poland as well 
as those that export controlled substances to the 
United States. The National Bureau for Drug Addiction 
is well-known for its openness and cooperation in 
discussing drug-related issues. 
Corruption. A comprehensive inter-ministerial 
anticorruption plan is in existence that contains 
strict timelines for legislative action and for the 
implementation of strict and transparent anticorruption 
procedures within each individual ministry.  Instances 
of small-scale corruption bribery, smuggling, etc., are 
prevalent at all levels within the customs service and 
among police, and in April and May, the Central Bureau 
of Investigation (CBS) offices in Lodz and Poznan were 
closed and the Director of the CBS, Janusz Golebiewski 
resigned. An inspection at the CBS in Lodz revealed 
that over the last several years over 120 kilograms of 
narcotics disappeared from CBS custody, while in Poznan 
an inspection revealed that CBS officers were trading 
top-secret operational information. The number of cases 
investigated and successfully prosecuted relative to 
the number of reported incidents, however, remains low. 
The U.S. Government has worked closely with the Polish 
National Police to improve police training on ethics 
and corruption, and has presented several training 
courses on the subject under the Law Enforcement LOA 
mentioned above. 
 
Agreements and Treaties. Through the National Program, 
Poland has fulfilled requirements to harmonize its laws 
with the European Union's Drug Policy. Poland is a 
party to the UN Convention on Organized Crime and its 
protocols against migrant smuggling and trafficking in 
persons, and is a signatory to the UN Convention 
Against Corruption. Poland is a party to the 1988 UN 
Drug Convention, the 1971 UN Convention on Psychotropic 
Substances, and the 1961 UN Single Convention, as 
amended by the 1972 Protocol. An extradition treaty and 
MLAT are in force between the U.S. and Poland. 
 
In May 2004, Poland became a full member of the Dublin 
Group, a consortium of 20 industrialized countries 
endeavoring to coordinate bilateral drug-related 
assistance policies. Poland, together with the European 
Commission, the Baltic States, Russia, Germany, and the 
Nordic states, comprise the Task Force on Organized 
Crime in the Baltic Sea Region. 
 
Drug Flow/Transit. While end-product synthetic drugs 
are manufactured in Poland (the precursors are usually 
imported from other countries), heroin, hashish, and 
cocaine frequently transit Poland en route to Western 
Europe. Ecstasy transits Poland en route to both 
Western Europe and the United States. There are also 
North-South routes transiting or leading to Poland. 
Polish police believe that most of the drugs transiting 
Poland are headed to Germany and the United Kingdom. 
Sea-based shipping routes are also utilized; some of 
the largest seizures in Poland have taken place at the 
Baltic port of Gdansk. Police, however, report that 
they lack a basis to estimate with any precision the 
amount of illegal drugs transiting through Poland. 
 
Domestic Programs (Demand Reduction). Demand reduction 
objectives of the National Program include reducing the 
spread of drug use, limiting the spread of HIV 
infections connected with drug use, and improving the 
quality and effectiveness of treatment. On the supply 
side, the Program seeks to improve training and 
coordination between various Polish law enforcement 
authorities including the CBS and the border guards. 
Because of the high level of market activity in cheap 
precursors, the CBS has made the controlling and 
monitoring of precursors the Bureau's top priority. 
 
In addition to the programs mentioned above, the Law on 
Counteracting Drug Addiction requires the Ministry of 
Education to provide a drug prevention curriculum for 
schools and to provide support for demand reduction 
projects based on a community approach. The Ministry of 
Education requires all schools to incorporate drug 
prevention curriculum in their programs, however, 
schools are able to modify and tailor their drug 
prevention curriculum to meet individual school needs. 
To assist teachers with this task, the Ministry has a 
Center for Psychological and Didactic Assistance which 
offers professional training and programs to develop 
drug prevention curriculum. 
 
IV. U.S. Policy Initiatives and Programs 
 
Policy Initiatives. The USG believes that targeting 
training to assist the Polish law enforcement community 
with more effective investigation and detection 
techniques continues to be the best way to serve U.S. 
interests. DEA-conducted seminars and train-the-trainer 
programs will continue and will be part of the 2005 
bilateral activities. Enhancing operational cooperation 
through joint investigations and travel assistance to 
Polish law enforcement officers will also continue. 
 
Bilateral Cooperation. The DEA maintains close contact 
and holds numerous operational liaison meetings with 
Polish law enforcement officials, and cooperates with 
two full-time agents from the Federal Bureau of 
Investigation posted in Warsaw.  In 2006, DEA plans to 
have two full time agents posted to Warsaw. 
 
The Road Ahead. Poland's accession to EU membership on 
May 1, 2004 played a key role in sharpening the 
Government of Poland's (GOP) attention to narcotics 
policy. The EU is by far the largest donor to Poland's 
counternarcotics activities, which serves as a 
motivating force for even closer collaboration between 
Poland and its neighbors to the East and the West. GOP 
priorities for 2005 include better educational 
campaigns addressed to specific target groups 
(including media campaigns, and a `peer campaign' for 
children and students) and a new pilot program for the 
assessment of the quality of medical, rehabilitation, 
and health damage reduction treatments provided by 
various institutions. Authorities will also focus on 
the creation of strategy for counteracting drug 
addiction at the local (township) level.  The U.S. 
fully supports these targets. 
 
ASHE