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OPEN SOURCE INTELLIGENCE (OSINT) Briefing Brazil and Bolivia UAV agreement against Narcotraffic December 18, 2012
Open Source Report Latin America: Brazil & Bolivia
Unclassified/For Official Use Only By Gustavo Nascimento Contingent Security Services, Ltd. Open Source Intelligence Analyst South American Desk. gustavo@contingentsecurity.com
For InterPort Police under the supervision of Joel Vargas, Assistant Director for Law Enforcement Operations joel.vargas@interportpolice.org Cell: 847-875-4990 (USA) Page 1 of 6 Unclassified/For Official Use Only
www.interportpolice.org Brazil and Bolivia UAV agreement against Narcotraffic
The VANTS (Portuguese for UAV) manufactured by the Brazilian Military Engineering Institute with Israeli technology are now being flown over the borders of Brazil and Bolivia as one of measures that will help deter the smuggling and transporting of drugs across the border between both countries. The area covers a 16,000-kilometer (9,942-mile) border, which is five times longer than the border between the U.S. and Mexico.
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www.interportpolice.org Even though Brazil is currently the world's second largest cocaine consumer, many of the drugs entering the country are then smuggled beyond Brazil. According to the “2012 World Drug Report” by the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, drugs from Brazil are usually moved on to Africa (mostly western and southern Africa) and shipped to Europe and most recently to countries in the Middle East and Australia.
The major Trafficking Routes. This week, the Brazilian Minister of Justice Jose Eduardo Cardoso and Bolivia’s Minister of Government Carlos Romero signed an agreement as a partnership to control the flow of drugs, tighten security, and conduct joint operations between both countries to crackdown on narcotic production and trafficking activities. Bolivia is known for being too lenient with its anti-narcotic policies. A report from the Council on Hemispheric Affairs published a research that described Foreign Minister of Colombia María Angela Holguín announcing the presence of Colombian drug cartels in Bolivia, to which Bolivian President Evo Morales pleaded ignorance and downplayed the issue and facts presented. This year an intelligence report that linked Bolivian Presidency Minister Juan Ramon Quintana with Brazilian drug lord Maximiliano Dorado Munhoz, a man accused of shipping up to 500 kilos per month of Bolivian cocaine to Brazil was brought to President Morales’s attention who ended up dismissing the intelligence report as false and corrupted. Page 3 of 6 Unclassified/For Official Use Only
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In 2008 the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration(DEA) was expelled by the president. Also in 2008 Bolivia’s “cocaleros” (coca farmer)forced USAID out of their areas, a move applauded by Bolivia’s Government. The increasing pressure from international drug cartels across Bolivia has elicited concern among several local leaders, such as Ruben Costas, governor of the district of Santa Cruz, who fears that Bolivia will become another “Ciudad Juárez.” Bolivia remains the world's third-largest cultivator of coca (after Colombia and Peru) with an estimated 35,000 hectares under cultivation in 2009, an increase of ten percent over 2008; third largest producer of cocaine, estimated at 195 metric tons potential pure cocaine in 2009, a 70 percent increase over 2006; transit country for Peruvian and Colombian cocaine destined for Brazil, Argentina, Chile, Paraguay, and Europe; weak border controls; some money-laundering activity related to narcotics trade; major cocaine consumption. Brazil is currently using a controversial U.S. tactic of reaching across borders to stop cocaine at the source. Brazil is crossing a threshold that it hasn't even come close to in the past, according to Douglas Farah, a national security consultant who advises the U.S. Department of Defense on Latin America and drug issues. Latin America is moving away from the U.S -backed war on drugs. This year, longtime U.S. drug allies such as Colombian President Juan Manuel Santos used the annual Summit of the Americas to call the U.S.'s 40-year Latin American drug war a failure and called for a debate on alternatives such as decriminalization. But the case of Brazil’s investment in UAV technology to fight Narcoterrorism in its borders suggests Latin America's drug war is expanding, not shrinking. Brazil’s president Dilma Rousseff is deploying up to 10,000 soldiers at a time to drug smuggling hot spots. Brazil also agreed to buy 14 Israelimade drone aircraft to search for traffickers. The Federal Police are hiring 30% more agents and equipping them with 1,000 new assault rifles, Page 4 of 6 Unclassified/For Official Use Only
www.interportpolice.org plus river launches and aircrafts. Brazil's turnabout shows the globalization of the cocaine business as U.S. cocaine use dropped 40% over the past 10 years. Drug traffickers in turn responded by starting new markets in Europe and in developing nations such as Brazil, Argentina and South Africa.
Analysis The Narcotic production and trafficking issues in South America are far from over with this agreement. The drug problem in Latin America is tied to government and law enforcement corruption in some places, which makes the monitoring and crackdown a lot more challenging. Latin American countries have been for years using the cash flow from the production, transportation and sale of these illegal narcotics. Drug consumption in Latin America remains relatively low, but cocaine in particular has increased in recent years in countries along the major smuggling routes. The United States is the primary destination, but around 25 to 30% of global cocaine production travels from Latin America to Europe, via the West African corridor. Australia has also surfaced as one of the top connections from Brazil, as high levels of corruption in African countries continue to aid drug trafficking organizations (DTO’s) in their quest for more market opportunities.
African Trafficking Routes. Page 5 of 6 Unclassified/For Official Use Only
www.interportpolice.org While Mexico is continuing to dominate in the synthetic drug production and trafficking, Brazil and Bolivia have continued to enjoy a unique position in the illicit market place as point for production of the plants and the manufacturing of the cocaine. Countries such as Brazil, Colombia and now Bolivia, are entering law enforcement agreements in order to reduce production of the plants and manufacturing of the drug that ultimately gets to be shipped out of these countries. Because of the globalization of narcotics many countries now are embracing the need for cooperation. In places such as Colombia Narco-Terrorism still is a situation the Colombian government will watch closely, as Colombia is still the nation that tops the list in Cocaine production. Brazil’s challenge to stop cocaine is a difficult one. One of the biggest challenges is its geography. It shares a 10,000-mile border with the world's three main cocaine producers, Colombia, Peru and Bolivia, as well as the smuggling hub of Paraguay. Brazil has recently signed police cooperation agreements with its neighbors to share intelligence, conduct joint investigations and fund foreign operations. Brazilian officials emphasize that Brazilian police are prohibited from crossing the border armed, however sources in the area report that acrossthe-border-operations are happening and leading to successful arrests and intelligence gathering on regional drug lords. The agreement is a step in the right direction. Agência Brasil DECEA.gov Los Tiempos
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