cocaine report

[6p6]

TweetReport looks at cocaine trade
Posted 3/2/2007 1:52 AM ET E-mail | Save | Print | Reprints & Permissions | Subscribe to stories like this



By Donna Leinwand, USA TODAY
Venezuela has become a significant player in the flow of cocaine from Colombia to the USA by allowing drug smugglers to operate freely and making little effort to cooperate with U.S. anti-drug efforts, a State Department report said Thursday.
The number of flights from Venezuela suspected of ferrying Colombian cocaine to the Dominican Republic and Haiti — key transfer points for U.S.-bound shipments of the drug — increased 167% last year, State Department Assistant Secretary Anne Patterson said. She added that the leftist government of Venezuelan President Hugo Chávez, a frequent critic of the United States, has allowed drug trafficking to flourish.

"Venezuela's permissive and corrupt environment led to more trafficking, fewer seizures and an increase in suspected drug flights (from Venezuela) over the past 12 months," Patterson said.

In 2006, the Department of Defense's Joint Interagency Task Force South documented 75 flights from Venezuela to the Dominican Republic and 46 flights into Haiti, says U.S. Coast Guard Rear Adm. Jeff Hathaway, who directs the task force.

"What we have seen emerging over the last 12 months is a virtual explosion of drug trafficking emanating from Venezuela," Hathaway said.

The task force gives information about suspected drug flights to the Venezuelan government, but it rarely acts on it, he said. "Venezuela is not making any attempt to stop the aircraft when they are being tipped off by the United States."

The Venezuelan Embassy did not respond to phone calls and e-mails requesting comment.

Patterson praised governments in Mexico and Colombia for aggressive counterdrug programs, but she said both countries continue to be major drug suppliers to the USA. In Bolivia, she said, the political will to counter drug trafficking has declined.

Recently elected Bolivian President Evo Morales has said the government would allow farmers to increase cultivation of coca to be used legally for flavorings and pharmaceuticals from 29,653 acres to 49,421 acres. The U.S. government contends that just 618 acres of coca cultivation would meet worldwide industrial demand.

The report also said Afghanistan's opium-poppy cultivation rose 59% last year, making the 2006 crop the largest ever. Patterson said profits from the opium trade help finance Taliban forces. The Afghan government does not control the Helmand and Kandahar provinces, where much of the opium is grown, she said.

Officials at the Afghan Embassy did not respond to a request for comment.

[solidground]

TweetThats a huge rise..i think the "war on drugs" here in america is BS..its a big part of our economy on the blackmarket..Our govt makes money off it therefore it will never change..Personally i could care less about stopping drugs from comming to our country, and a few should be legalized imo.

[AlmostThere]

TweetCocaine is a hellofa drug. Just ask Rick James.