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Volume I: Drug and Chemical Control
http://www.state.gov/p/inl/rls/nrcrpt/2008/vol1/html/100778.htm

I. Summary

Haiti is a major transit country for cocaine and marijuana from South America and the Caribbean respectively. In 2007, air smuggling of narcotics to Haiti from Venezuela increased by 38 percent. The Preval Administration continued the struggle to overcome pervasive corruption, weak governance and mismanagement. Haiti’s law enforcement institutions are weak and its judicial system dysfunctional. With the support of the United Nations Stabilization Mission in Haiti (MINUSTAH), the Haitian National Police (HNP) conducted a successful campaign in the Port-au-Prince area to disrupt gang elements involved in kidnapping, drug trafficking, and intimidation. Although the campaign decreased criminal activity in those areas, the Government of Haiti (GOH) has yet to deliver the sustained police presence needed to curb the gangs’ criminal activity. The GOH with assistance from international donors – principally MINUSTAH, the United States and Canada – continues to promote the restoration of the rule of law. The HNP, with the support of MINUSTAH, completed the first year of its reform plan, which includes a vetting and certification process for all officers, and reform of institutional elements including the General Administration Department and Logistics Bureau. The HNP’s counternarcotics unit carried out operations during the year that resulted in limited seizures of drugs. Haiti is a party to the 1988 UN Drug Convention.

II. Status of Country
Haiti is a major drug transit country. Haiti’s 1,125 miles of unprotected shoreline, uncontrolled seaports, numerous clandestine airstrips, along with a struggling police force, dysfunctional judiciary system, corruption, and weak democracy make it an attractive strategic point for drug traffickers. Cocaine and, to a lesser extent, marijuana are trafficked through Haiti to the United States and, in smaller quantities, to Canada and Europe. In addition to being shipped directly to the United States, drugs brought into Haiti also are moved overland into the Dominican Republic for onward delivery to the U.S. and Europe. Following a 167 percent spike in suspected drug smuggling flights from Venezuela to Hispaniola in 2006, flights decreased temporarily, primarily as a result of the joint DEA-HNP Operation Rum Punch. Launched in March, Rum Punch involved the deployment of USG air assets to Haiti teamed with maritime assets operating south of Hispaniola for three months. However, following that operation, the flights resumed and Haiti experienced a 38 percent increase in drug smuggling flights in 2007, as reported by the U.S. Joint Interagency Task Force–South (JIATF-S).

III. Country Actions Against Drugs in 2007
During 2007, the HNP trained 901 new recruits (782 men and 119 women), and 243 existing officers. In November, the HNP graduated a class of 646 new officers, including 86 women. The new officers are assigned to the Motorized Intervention Brigade (BIM) with primary duties to introduce community policing and to patrol the slum areas of the capital. The Academy training now consists of 24 weeks of basic police tactics, less-than-lethal tactics, community policing, weapons training, search and evidence gathering techniques, ethics, human rights, and gender and children’s issues. In 2006, the HNP and MINUSTAH agreed upon a reform plan to create a police force of 14,000 trained and vetted officers within five years. The report on the first year of the plan’s implementation released in September revealed progress on training of both new and experienced officers, development of standard operating procedures, continued emphasis of vetting, and improved capacity in criminal investigative techniques among specialized units. Since January, MINUSTAH military troops, United Nations Police (UNPOL), MINUSTAH Formed Police Units, and HNP officers have made progress in dismantling gangs that support drug trafficking and kidnapping.

In November, the GOH formally approved the terms of reference and work plan for a USG-funded project to enhance the effectiveness of GOH anti-money laundering and anti-corruption efforts. The project will provide mentoring on the investigation and prosecution of financial crimes by U.S. Treasury advisers and will involve the restructuring the GOH Central Financial Intelligence Unit (French acronym UCREF) by separating its investigative and intelligence gathering functions.

In April 2007, the Center for Information and Joint Coordination (French acronym CICC), under the Ministry of Interior, became fully operational. The Center is tasked with conducting investigations, research, data collection, information sharing and international and regional coordination related to drug trafficking in/through Haiti. It has 26 staff personnel assigned, including 16 investigators. It has established the Anti-Drug Task Force consisting of all the agencies within the GOH that deal with aspects of drug trafficking, money laundering, border control and law enforcement. It is also working to establish greater bilateral cooperation with the Dominican Republic, signing a joint agreement in November to fight drug trafficking and other crimes.

Law Enforcement Efforts.
The HNP counternarcotics unit (French acronym BLTS) with support from the USG, continued canine detection operations at the airport inspection baggage and cargo areas in 2007. DEA-provided air assets working with JIATF-S air and maritime assets assisted the GOH in stopping air deliveries to Haiti. Through October 10, 2007, 914 kilos of cocaine and marijuana were seized.

The Special Investigative Unit (SIU), a partnership between DEA and the GOH, became operational in 2007. Selected HNP officers, graduates of a five-week course at the Drug Enforcement Academy in Quantico, Virginia, formed the nucleus of the SIU and are charged with investigating Haitian drug organizations that have a nexus to the United States. The unit has conducted several joint interdiction operations with DEA/FBI/JIATF-S and Customs Border Protection (CBP). The SIU is currently the only fully vetted unit in the HNP.

The HCG conducted drug and migrant interdiction operations from its bases in Port-au-Prince and Cap Haitien during the year. The HCG has one 40-foot vessel and one 35-foot go-fast boat in Cap Haitien for patrol and port security operations. In FY07, the HCG successfully interdicted more than one thousand Haitian migrants aboard vessels that departed the north coast. The HCG in Cap Haitien provided information on three vessels that contained illegal drugs or tested positive in ion-scanning by the U.S. Coast Guard (USCG). Additionally, the HCG in Port-au-Prince partnered with the HNP BLTS to board a Colombian-flagged freighter aground near Miragoane on Haiti’s South Claw. However, the HCG struggles maintain an operational fleet. The lack of funding and fuel shortages remain significant barriers to the ability of the HCG to conduct maritime operations.

Corruption.
As a matter of policy, the GOH does not encourage or facilitate the shipment of narcotics through Haiti, and does not discourage the investigation or prosecution of such acts. Moreover, the GOH has demonstrated willingness to undertake law enforcement and legal measures to prevent, investigate, prosecute, and punish public corruption. President Preval has publicly identified the fights against corruption and drug trafficking as major priorities for his administration. Vetting has taken place in some of the northern and southern areas and among certain ranks in Port-au-Prince and will be further expanded in the capital area, where the majority of police officers are assigned. In 2007, the HNP Director General dismissed 600 officers for misconduct or being absent without leave, although many remain on the payroll.

The HNP Director of Administration and Director of Logistics were both removed from their positions in 2007 for suspected corruption. The Prosecutor of Port-au-Prince has made several high-profile arrests of private citizens on corruption charges, but has not yet extended that campaign to the public sector.

Agreements and Treaties.
Haiti is a party to the 1961 Single Convention as amended by the 1972 Protocol; the 1988 UN Drug Convention; the Inter-American Convention Against Corruption; and the Inter American Convention against Trafficking in illegal firearms. A U.S.-Haiti maritime counternarcotics agreement entered into force in 2002. Haiti has signed but not ratified the UN Convention against Corruption, the Caribbean Regional Maritime Agreement and the UN Convention against Transnational Organized Crime). There is no bilateral mutual legal assistance treaty between the U.S. and Haiti. Requests for assistance historically have been made through letters rogatory but there have been no formal requests for assistance in years.

Extradition.
Haiti and the U.S. are parties to an extradition treaty that entered into force in 1905. Although the Haitian Constitution prohibits the extradition of its nationals, in the past Haitians under indictment in the U.S. have been returned to the U.S. by non-extradition means. The SIU has spearheaded efforts to transfer both Haitian and non-Haitian nationals wanted in the United States for drug trafficking to the U.S., in keeping with President Preval’s desire to stem drug trafficking through Haiti. During 2007, nine Haitian fugitives were sent to the U.S., including ex-HNP officer Raynald Saint-Pierre, wanted out of the Southern District of Florida on drugs and money laundering charges

Cultivation/Production.
There is evidence that cultivation of marijuana has increased, although it is low quality cannabis grown on a small scale and sold locally. The BLTS destroyed five hectares of marijuana but, due to lack of resources, is often unable to respond to tips about marijuana growing fields.

Drug flow/transit.
In 2007, traffickers continued to use small aircraft to make offshore air drops of illegal drugs as well as land deliveries using clandestine airstrips. At least 29 such landing strips were identified in 2007. Suspect drug flights from Venezuela increased by 38 percent compared to 2006. Fast boats transporting cocaine from South America arrive at a number of locations on the southern coast of Haiti. The cocaine is then transported overland to Port-au-Prince where it is frequently concealed on cargo and coastal freighters destined for the United States and Europe. Marijuana is shipped via fast boats from Jamaica to waiting Haitian fishing vessels and cargo freighters to seaports along Haiti’s southern claw. It is then shipped directly to the continental United States or transshipped through the Dominican Republic or Puerto Rico. Seizures of very small quantities of crack for personal use also occurred in 2007. The BLTS also experienced an increase in amphetamine trafficking near the end of 2007, due to a crackdown in the Dominican Republic that has disrupted the distribution routes to Europe. The appearance of crack and the smuggling of amphetamines are new phenomena in Haiti for which the authorities have little training or experience. Pharmacies in Haiti are essentially unregulated, and some controlled medications are sold in quantities through those businesses as well.

Demand Reduction.
Drug abuse is a growing but largely unrecognized problem in Haiti. Increased use of marijuana in schools has been reported, leading to increased levels of local production.

IV. U.S. Policy Initiatives and Programs

Policy Initiatives.
The cornerstone of USG efforts to combat drug trafficking in Haiti continues to focus on reform of the HNP. In cooperation with MINUSTAH, the USG provided substantial equipment and technical assistance in 2007, aimed at transforming the HNP into an effective law enforcement institution. The NAS coordinated the procurement of vehicles, radios, forensic lab and other technical equipment for the HNP, police academy and in-service training, support for specialized HNP units and material support to the HCG. The USG contributed 50 officers to MINUSTAH’s UNPOL contingent, many of whom are involved in training recruits at the HNP academy. The police advisers also oversaw the construction of two model police stations in Croix des Bouquets and Thiotte and the continued installation of solar-powered radio base stations for the HNP throughout the country. The USG also is contributing three corrections experts to form the nucleus of a sixteen-member UN team that works on improving the infrastructure and management of Haiti’s prison system.

A U.S. senior corrections advisor will also oversee the refurbishment and equipping of certain prison facilities as well as the training of correction personnel to improve the detainees living conditions. In addition, the USG has provided an adviser to help the HNP Director General implement anti-corruption and strategic planning measures. Advisers from U.S. Treasury’s Office of Technical Assistance (OTA) visited Haiti three times in 2007, in order to review cases of financial crimes with prosecutors and judges and to discuss the investigative process and training requirements for financial investigators. USCG Mobile Training Teams supported HCG operations with maritime law enforcement, port security, engineering, logistics and maintenance training in 2007. The USCG is currently retrofitting three vessels, a 47-foot patrol boat and two “Eduardono” fast boats at USCG Integrated Support Command Miami. It is USCG’s hope that HCG will place the 47-foot patrol boat in Cap Haitien for future drug and migrant operations on the northern coast of Haiti.

Road Ahead.
Haiti needs to continue the reform and expansion of the HNP and its judicial system as prerequisites for effective counternarcotics operations throughout the country. The GOH must demonstrate the political will to fight corruption within state institutions and to overcome the under-resourcing and under-staffing of the HNP, problems which remain major impediments to sustained progress. More importantly, the restoration of the rule of law, including reform of the judicial system, must continue in order to provide the security and stability Haiti needs to meet the economic, social and political development needs of the Haitian people.

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