Presidential Determination on Major Illicit Drug Transit or Major Illicit Drug Producing Countries for Fiscal Year 2012, 59495-59497 [2011-24887]

Agencies

• Executive Office of the President

[Federal Register Volume 76, Number 186 (Monday, September 26, 2011)]
[Presidential Documents]
[Pages 59495-59497]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Printing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2011-24887]




                        Presidential Documents 



Federal Register / Vol. 76, No. 186 / Monday, September 26, 2011 / 
Presidential Documents

[[Page 59495]]


                Presidential Determination No. 2011-16 of September 15, 
                2011

                
 Presidential Determination on Major Illicit Drug 
                Transit or Major Illicit Drug Producing Countries for 
                Fiscal Year 2012

                Memorandum for the Secretary of State

                Pursuant to section 706(1) of the Foreign Relations 
                Authorization Act, Fiscal Year 2003 (Public Law 107-
                228)(FRAA), I hereby identify the following countries 
                as major drug transit or major illicit drug producing 
                countries: Afghanistan, The Bahamas, Belize, Bolivia, 
                Burma, Colombia, Costa Rica, Dominican Republic, 
                Ecuador, El Salvador, Guatemala, Haiti, Honduras, 
                India, Jamaica, Laos, Mexico, Nicaragua, Pakistan, 
                Panama, Peru, and Venezuela.

                A country's presence on the Majors List is not 
                necessarily an adverse reflection of its government's 
                counternarcotics efforts or level of cooperation with 
                the United States. Consistent with the statutory 
                definition of a major drug transit or drug producing 
                country set forth in section 481(e)(2) and (5) of the 
                Foreign Assistance Act of 1961, as amended (FAA), one 
                of the reasons that major drug transit or illicit drug 
                producing countries are placed on the list is the 
                combination of geographic, commercial, and economic 
                factors that allow drugs to transit or be produced 
                despite the concerned government's most assiduous 
                narcotics control law enforcement measures.

                Pursuant to section 706(2)(A) of the FRAA, I hereby 
                designate Bolivia, Burma, and Venezuela as countries 
                that have failed demonstrably during the previous 12 
                months to make substantial efforts to adhere to their 
                obligations under international counternarcotics 
                agreements and take the measures set forth in section 
                489(a)(1) of the FAA. Accompanying this report are 
                justifications for the determinations on Bolivia, 
                Burma, and Venezuela, as required by section 706(2)(B).

                I have also determined, in accordance with provisions 
                of section 706(3)(A) of the FRAA, that support for 
                programs to aid Bolivia and Venezuela are vital to the 
                national interests of the United States.

                Afghanistan remains the world's largest producer of 
                opium poppy and a major source of heroin. Primary 
                trafficking routes from Afghanistan, where poppy 
                cultivation is still mostly confined to the southern 
                and western provinces, are through Iran to Turkey and 
                Western Europe; through Pakistan to Africa, Asia, and 
                the Middle East; and through Central Asia to the 
                Russian Federation.

                Helmand Province remains the largest grower of opium 
                poppy in Afghanistan, but the Provincial Government's 
                innovative Food Zone program, which provides farmers 
                with wheat seed and fertilizer in exchange for a pledge 
                not to grow poppy, coupled with credible law 
                enforcement, has reduced Helmand's poppy cultivation by 
                a third, to 69,883 hectares in 2009 and even further to 
                65,043 hectares in 2010. The U.S.-funded Governor Led 
                Eradication (GLE) program has demonstrated progress in 
                Helmand with 2,111 hectares eradicated by the end of 
                May 2011. To date during 2011, a total of 3,827 
                hectares of GLE has been verified in 17 provinces 
                throughout the country, an increase of more than 45 
                percent in eradication over the same time last year.

                Although the amount of opium poppy cultivated in 
                Pakistan is much less than Afghanistan, the country 
                continues to qualify as a major drug producing

[[Page 59496]]

                country, with an estimated 1,700 hectares of opium 
                poppy under cultivation. The country also remains a 
                major transit country for opiates and hashish for 
                markets around the world and is a transit country for 
                precursor chemicals illegally smuggled to Afghanistan, 
                where they are used to process heroin. Bilateral 
                cooperation between Pakistan and the United States 
                continues to support Pakistan's goal of returning to 
                poppy-free status. United States Government support 
                focuses especially on upgrading the institutional 
                capacity of Pakistan's law enforcement agencies.

                A number of indicators qualify the addition of El 
                Salvador and Belize to the Majors List along with the 
                remainder of Central American countries on the isthmus 
                connecting South America to North America.

                El Salvador, located between Guatemala and Nicaragua 
                along the Pacific coastline and sharing an eastern 
                border with Honduras, is subject to a number of factors 
                making it vulnerable to the drug trade flowing to the 
                United States from South America. The International 
                Narcotics Control Board describes El Salvador as part 
                of the so-called ``northern triangle'' with Guatemala 
                and Honduras where ``national gangs are forming 
                alliances with international criminal syndicates.'' 
                According to the most recent U.S. interagency 
                assessment of cocaine flows, the amount of this illicit 
                substance passing through El Salvador destined directly 
                for the United States was estimated at 4 metric tons in 
                2009.

                The most recent U.S. assessment for Belize estimates 
                the flow of drugs destined for the United States 
                through this Central American country on the Caribbean 
                coast at about 10 metric tons. Belize's vulnerability 
                as a south-north avenue for the illegal narcotics trade 
                is also demonstrated by recent drug and weapons 
                seizures in Mexico along the border it shares with 
                Belize. United States officials also report that drug 
                control observers in Belize are increasingly concerned 
                about the presence of drug trafficking organizations, 
                including Los Zetas of Mexico, in the country's border 
                areas and in coastal ports.

                Considering the Central American region as a whole, the 
                United States Government estimates that as much as 90 
                percent of some 700 metric tons of cocaine shipped 
                annually from Colombia and other producing nations 
                intended for the U.S. markets passes through the 
                countries of Central America. This situation is an 
                important element prompting the Central American 
                Citizen Security Partnership, which I announced in 
                March 2011. Through this partnership, the United States 
                is working to refocus the impact of assistance through 
                the Central American Regional Security Initiative 
                (CARSI) and enhance the impact of complementary United 
                States Government non-CARSI citizen safety and rule of 
                law programs. Countries in the region are increasing 
                coordination through the Central American Integration 
                System, a combined effort to promote citizen security 
                and economic prosperity, including programs aimed at 
                thwarting the drug trade.

                International documentation shows continued 
                strengthening of illegal drug trafficking ties between 
                South America and West Africa. West Africa is the 
                closest point to South America for transatlantic 
                purposes, and its close proximity to southern Europe 
                provides a natural gateway to European drug markets. 
                Porous borders, inadequate law enforcement, and 
                corruption create a permissive environment for the 
                illegal drug trade. West African linguistic connections 
                among Brazil, Portugal, and Cape Verde may also 
                contribute to narcotics trafficking.

                According to the U.S. assessment of cocaine movement, 
                about a third of cocaine destined for Europe passed 
                through West Africa in 2009. The 2011 U.N. World Drug 
                Report also states there are reports that cocaine from 
                Latin America is being stockpiled in some West African 
                countries for future distribution to Europe in smaller 
                quantities.

                Despite the range of domestic challenges, including 
                corruption, West African countries have begun to 
                consider narcotics control as a top national security

[[Page 59497]]

                priority. For example, in 2010, Liberian law 
                enforcement successfully uncovered and interdicted a 
                cache of cocaine valued at $100 million. A number of 
                U.S. projects in West Africa are aimed at improving 
                drug interdiction and investigation capabilities. The 
                assistance provided by international donors and 
                organizations to West African governments to improve 
                their counternarcotics capability is increasingly 
                urgent. The United States welcomes fresh impetus in 
                2010 and 2011 from the international community, 
                especially the United Nations and the European Union, 
                to make Africa a priority for drug-control assistance, 
                to promote and protect the stability and positive 
                growth of countries in Africa.

                The stealth with which both marijuana and synthetic 
                drugs such as MDMA (ecstasy) and methamphetamine are 
                produced in Canada and trafficked to the United States 
                makes it difficult to measure the overall impact of 
                this smuggling. However, a special report prepared in 
                May 2011 by the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration 
                states that ``the threat posed by MDMA trafficking from 
                Canada to and within the United States is 
                significant.'' For example, in April 2011, a seizure of 
                20 pounds of MDMA from a Canada-based trafficking group 
                was made by U.S. law enforcement in Plattsburg, New 
                York. The United States pledges a more robust 
                engagement and dialogue with Canada to reduce the 
                shared problem of illegal drug trafficking. The results 
                of this bilateral redoubling of drug-control 
                cooperation will be considered in the framework of next 
                year's Presidential Determination.

                You are hereby authorized and directed to submit this 
                determination under section 706 of the FRAA, transmit 
                it to the Congress, and publish it in the Federal 
                Register.
                
                
                    (Presidential Sig.)

                THE WHITE HOUSE,

                    Washington, September 15, 2011

[FR Doc. 2011-24887
Filed 9-23-11; 11:15 am]
Billing code 4710-10-P