Brazil and Bolivia UAV agreement against Narcotraf

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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.

[email protected]

For InterPort Police under the supervision of

Joel Vargas,

Assistant Director for Law Enforcement Operations

[email protected]

Cell: 847-875-4990 (USA)



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.



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.



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 Narco-

terrorism 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 Israeli-

made drone aircraft to search for traffickers. The Federal Police are

hiring 30% more agents and equipping them with 1,000 new assault rifles,



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.



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 across-

the-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

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Brazil and Bolivia UAV agreement against Narcotraf