Release of the 2007 International Narcotics Control Strategy Report
Anne W. Patterson, Assistant Secretary for International Narcotics and Law
Enforcement Affairs
On-The-Record Briefing
Washington, DC
March 1, 2007
ASSISTANT SECRETARY PATTERSON: Good afternoon. Before I begin, I'd like to
introduce my colleague James O'Gara from the White House Office of National
Drug Control Policy. He's the Deputy Director. Today, the Department of State
releases its 24th International Narcotics Control Strategy Report, or INCSR.
While the INCSR delves into substantial detail, I would like to focus on major
trends and accomplishments in these brief remarks. I also have a more detailed
statement available.
Many countries in the Western Hemisphere are confronting the drug trade head
on. In Mexico, the Fox and Calderon administrations have cracked down on
traffickers more than any previous Mexican governments. In cooperation with the
United States, they have seized drugs, eradicated illegal crops, and extradited
some of Mexico's most notorious traffickers. There is still much work to be
done in combating drugs in and through Mexico.
Mexico remains the primary corridor for drugs entering the United States. Over
the past year, methamphetamine production increased and drug-related violence
and homicides escalated.
In the Andes, Colombia continued to attack the drug trade and the terrorist
organizations which profit from it. Colombia today is starkly different from
the mid-1990s when the country was reeling from drug cartels and insurgent
violence. Since 2002, homicides in Colombia have declined by 40 percent,
kidnappings by 76 percent, and the number of terrorist attacks by 61 percent.
In January of this year, Colombian police also made the largest single seizure
of drug-related funds ever in the Western Hemisphere. Though coca cultivation
persists, aggressive eradication resulted in the destruction of what could have
become billions of dollars of cocaine on U.S streets. The number of cocaine
addicts in the United States has also dropped from 3.4 million in 1995 to
roughly 1.5 million today. Our joint efforts are helping reinforce the rule of
law and restoring order.
In contrast to the strong stands taken by the governments of Mexico and
Colombia, political will in Venezuela and Bolivia faltered last year. The
President determined last September that Venezuela, for the second year in a
row, demonstrably failed to adhere to its obligations under international
narcotics agreements.
Venezuela's permissive and corrupt environment led to more trafficking, fewer
seizures, and an increase in suspected drug flights over the past 12 months.
>From 2005 to 2006 there was a 167 percent increase in cocaine trafficked via
air to Hispaniola.
In Bolivia, President Evo Morales advocated for increased legal cultivation and
the industrialization of coca. While Bolivia met its goal of eradicating 5,000
hectares of coca, this represents the lowest amount of eradication in ten
years. Bolivia's interdiction efforts did improve, but this may be due, in
part, to increased cultivation and trafficking.
Making communities worldwide safe from drugs and criminal activity is a
daunting task. Nations and law-abiding citizens whose legal, economic, and
social institutions are undermined by this trade and its associated crime and
corruption deserve our support.
Thank you and I'd be happy to answer questions at this point.
......................................................................................................
Yes.
QUESTION: Madame Secretary, on Greece. Are you satisfied with your cooperation
with the Greek Government against the drugs since in your report you are saying
that Greece is a traditional "Balkan route" for drugs even headed to the United
States of America?
ASSISTANT SECRETARY PATTERSON: I'm sorry, I didn't fully understand. You asked
if we were satisfied with the Greece -- Greek cooperation?
QUESTION: No, I'm saying are you satisfied with your cooperation with the Greek
Government against the drugs since in your report you are saying, inter alia,
that Greece is a traditional "Balkan route" for drugs even headed to the United
States?
ASSISTANT SECRETARY PATTERSON: Yes, we're satisfied with the cooperation with
it. What we've seen in recent -- certainly in the last several years is an
increase basically Afghan -- Afghan heroin moving into Europe through Iran,
through Turkey, through Greece, up into Germany and into the United Kingdom. So
the supply is greater and we're satisfied with our Greek efforts.
QUESTION: But could you tell us in specific -- in areas in which the two
governments are cooperating?
ASSISTANT SECRETARY PATTERSON: Yes, we can get that for you and I'll have
someone follow up with you right after the conference. Thank you.
I think I had one back there. Yes.
2007/149
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