US: JAMAICAN GOV'T MUST DEMONSTRATE ITS POLITICAL WILL

The United States Department of State on Monday released its annual
International Narcotics Control Strategy Report in which it chastised
the Bruce Golding-led administration for its handling of the
extradition request for Tivoli Gardens strongman Christopher 'Dudus'
Coke and questioned Jamaica's commitment to the fight against
narco-trafficking.

Below is the full text of the report on Jamaica.

Summary

Jamaica remains the Caribbean's largest source of marijuana for the
United States. It is also a transit point for cocaine trafficked from
South America. While cooperation between Government of Jamaica (GOJ)
and US Government (USG) law enforcement agencies remained strong,
delays in proceeding with the significant extradition request for a
major alleged narcotics and firearms trafficker who is reported to
have ties to the ruling Jamaica Labour Party, and subsequent delays
in other extradition requests, have called into question Kingston's
commitment to law enforcement cooperation with the US.

The GOJ's ambitious anticorruption and anticrime legislative agendas
announced in 2007 remain stalled in Parliament. Five anticrime
proposals under consideration as part of an extensive agenda to
address the widespread crime challenges have yet to be debated by
Parliament. Jamaica is a party to the 1988 UN Drug Convention.

Status of Country

Porous sea and air ports serve as direct export locations of
marijuana and cocaine to the United States. Jamaican law stipulates
that consumption of cocaine, heroin and marijuana are illegal, with
marijuana being the most frequently abused. The possession and use of
MDMA (3, 4-methylenedioxymethamphetamine, or Ecstasy) is controlled
by Jamaica's Food and Drug Act and is currently subject to light,
non-criminal penalties.

Jamaica's murder rate per capita reached 1,672 in 2009 making it one
of the highest in the world. The difficult economic situation has
spawned a significant increase in aggravated crime such as larceny,
robbery and rape. This, in turn, has placed a national spotlight on
increasingly brazen criminal activity throughout the country which
continues to threaten civil society. A particular focus of concern
has been the increasing activity of organised crime, which permeates
both the legitimate business sector as well as the political sector.
The "guns for ganja" trade exacerbates the problem as undocumented
handguns continue to flow freely into the country. Recent assessments
indicate that approximately 70 per cent of the illegal firearms
entering Jamaica originated from the US.

Country Actions Against Drugs in 2009

Policy Initiatives: The Ministry of National Security (MNS) and the
Ministry of Justice (MOJ) held a two-day high-level forum to discuss
organised crime and its impact on Jamaica's political and economic
stability. The MNS outlined an ambitious set of legislative proposals
which included tackling the drugs for guns trade, lottery scams,
extortion, and the trafficking of drugs and people. These proposals
are currently being reviewed at the Cabinet level with the hopes of
being presented to Parliament for ratification. Efforts to reform the
police force, as mandated by the GOJ-approved Police Strategic Review
in 2007, have yet to yield significant results in a law enforcement
system that is plagued by corruption and inefficiencies.

The GOJ took steps to ensure greater accountability in the
implementation of the anti-money laundering provisions of the
Financial Investigative Division Act enacted in late 2008. Procedural
training was provided to judges, prosecutors and investigators on how
to apply the new legislation with further training exercises planned
for the next two years. A Code of Practice for investigators has been
developed to guide officials in the execution of their powers and is
expected to be sent to Parliament. The Bank of Jamaica and the
Financial Services Commission regulate compliance with the Proceeds
of Crime Act of 2007 by financial sector institutions. As a result of
enforcement efforts, 31 persons were charged with money laundering;
$86 million (Jamaican dollars) in property seized; $3 million (US
dollars) seized; and $1,335,724 (US Dollars) forfeited.

Jamaica is not in full compliance with the Egmont Group requirements.
The Financial Action Task Force has deemed that Jamaica has complied
fully with three of the recommendations, is largely compliant in 27
areas, partially compliant in 13, and non-compliant in five areas.

Pervasive corruption at Kingston's container and bulk terminals
continues to undermine the USG Container Security and MegaPorts (CSI)
initiatives team's activities. In an effort to combat corruption, the
Commissioner of Jamaican Customs Department has taken measures to
crack down on importers who evade customs duties and to dismiss staff
complicit in criminal activity.

Accomplishments: Drug-related arrests were relatively stagnant at
6,346 arrests for 2009. Drug seizure levels showed a dramatic
decrease with approximately nine metric tons of marijuana seized
compared to nearly 32 metric tons in 2008. The GOJ seized 222
kilograms of cocaine, 2,785 Ecstasy tablets and 3.2 metric tons of hashish.

Law Enforcement Efforts: Two years after the strategic review of the
police force, the GOJ has yet to implement the necessary recommended
reforms. The slow paced, along with the increasing rate of aggravated
crime compelled the Jamaican Executive Office (JEO), MNS, and the
Police Services Commission (PSC) to assess the overall effectiveness
of Police Commissioner Lewin's leadership.

Shortly after a public statement of no confidence was announced by
the prime minister, Commissioner Lewin tendered his resignation and
left office on November 6, 2009. He provided few details for his
resignation but stated that there were numerous problems that he
encountered with the authorities that conflicted with the macro
management of law and order in Jamaica. The Jamaica Constabulary
Force (JCF) senior official Owen Ellington was appointed acting
police commissioner until the PSC formally appoints a permanent
replacement in January 2010. While he has taken a strong public
stance to eliminate corruption, he could face, as his predecessor
did, internal, judicial and political roadblocks that hinder efforts
to reform the police. In the past, these battles have paralysed the
commissioner's authority and ability to affect change on the force.
If this continues, Commissioner Ellington's fate could be similar to
the previous three police commissioners who, despite the best of
intentions, could not secure the necessary legislative support and
political will to underscore their reform efforts at a time when
murder and other violent crimes threaten to overwhelm the country.

The Department of Homeland Security's Immigration and Customs
Enforcement (ICE) Assistant Attache office in Kingston currently
supports a 41-person JCF Vetted Unit with investigative
responsibility over violations of Intellectual Property Rights (IPR),
weapons smuggling, human trafficking, human smuggling, money
laundering, and fraud investigations. Much of the unit's
investigative efforts have been focused primarily on investigating
lottery scam cases under the auspices of the Jamaican Operations
Linked to Telemarketing (JOLT) Task Force. The task force was
established to combat the overwhelming amount of fraudulent monetary
schemes perpetrated on United States citizens. Since inception of
JOLT in May 2009, the task force has yielded 60 arrests, seized
$283,460 (Jamaican dollars), repatriated $251,892.00 (US dollars)
back to victims in the United States, and contributed to the opening
of approximately 140 domestic ICE cases.

Corruption: As a matter of policy, GOJ does not facilitate or
encourage illicit production or distribution of narcotic or
psychotropic drugs or other controlled substances or the laundering
of proceeds from illegal drug transactions. However, pervasive public
corruption continues to undermine efforts against drug-related and
other crimes, and plays a major role in the safe passage of drugs and
drug proceeds through Jamaica. For the first time, corruption ranked
first to crime and violence as the area of greatest concern for
Jamaicans. It remains the major barrier to improving counternarcotics
efforts. Indeed, Jamaica's delay in processing the US extradition
request for a major suspected drug and firearms trafficker with
reported ties to the ruling party highlights the potential depth of
corruption in the government.

The Jamaica Defence Force (JDF) investigates any report of
corruption, and takes swift disciplinary action when warranted in
furtherance of its zero tolerance policy. Unfortunately, a bill
creating an Anti-Corruption Special Prosecutor remains stuck in
Parliament despite having the requisite legislative majority needed
for passage. There has not been legislative action to create a
National Anti-corruption Agency (NIIA), which could satisfy the
Inter-American Convention against Corruption's requirements. However,
the Anti-Corruption branch (ACB), headed by an internationally
recruited police officer, continues to have success in identifying
and removing corrupt officials, which included the dismissal of 59
JCF personnel since March 2009. The Branch's number one task is to
target high-level officers responsible for corruption. The GOJ now
requires senior police officers to sign employment contracts to
improve accountability and facilitate the speedy dismissal of corrupt
police officers.

Agreements and Treaties: Jamaica and the US have a Mutual Legal
Assistance Treaty (MLAT) in place, which assists in evidence sharing.
The US and Jamaica have a reciprocal asset-sharing agreement, and a
bilateral law enforcement agreement governing cooperation on stopping
the flow of illegal drugs by maritime means. Jamaica is a party to
the Inter-American Convention on Mutual Legal Assistance in Criminal
Matters. The GOJ signed, but has not ratified, the Caribbean Regional
Maritime Counterdrug Agreement. Jamaica is a party to the 1988 UN
Drug Convention, the 1971 UN Convention on Psychotropic Substances
and the 1961 UN Single Convention as amended by the 1972 Protocol.
Jamaica is also a party to the UN Convention against Corruption, the
UN Convention against Transnational Organised Crime and its three
Protocols, as well as the Inter-American Convention against Corruption.

Until August 2009, the extradition treaty between the USG and the GOJ
had been actively and successfully used by the United States to
extradite suspected criminals from Jamaica. Extradition requests were
routinely and timely processed by Jamaican political and judicial
authorities. The GOJ's unusual handling of the August request for the
extradition of a high-profile Jamaican crime lord with reported ties
to the ruling Jamaica Labour Party, which currently holds a majority
in Parliament, on alleged drug and firearms trafficking charges
marked a dramatic change in GOJ's previous cooperation on
extradition, including a temporary suspension in the processing of
all other pending requests and raises serious questions about the
GOJ's commitment to combating transnational crime. The high-profile
suspect resides in and essentially controls the Kingston
neighbourhood known as Tivoli Gardens, a key constituency for the
Jamaica Labour Party. Jamaica's processing of the extradition request
has been subjected to unprecedented delays, unexplained disclosure of
law enforcement information to the press, and unfounded allegations
questioning US compliance with the MLAT and Jamaican law.

Cultivation/production: Natural environmental barriers such as
swamps, marshes and mountainous terrains make it difficult to conduct
marijuana crop surveys. Marijuana is grown in areas generally
inaccessible to vehicular traffic on small plots in both rocky
terrain and along the tributaries of the Black River in Saint
Elizabeth. Eradication of marijuana decreased this year, with 254.9
hectares eliminated compared with 423 hectares eliminated in 2008.
Much of this is due to fiscal constraints within the JDF.

Jamaican law also prohibits the use of herbicides; therefore only
manual eradication is conducted. The manufacture, sale, transport,
and possession of Ecstasy, methamphetamine, or the precursor
chemicals used to produce them remains regulated by civil and
administrative rather than criminal authorities. Jamaica is not a
producer of precursor chemicals or other chemical substances, and
therefore relies on the export countries to conform to international
standards governing export verification. Jamaica does not import the
prime components used in combination with diverted chemical
substances for the production of synthetic drugs. Furthermore, the
importation and sale of pharmaceutical products and chemical
substances are regulated, and reinforced with fines or imprisonment.
Additionally, other controls exist to monitor the usage of
pharmaceutical products and chemical substances, including register
controls, inspections and audits.

Drug flow/transit: Cocaine smugglers continued to use maritime
containers, couriers, checked luggage, and bulk commercial shipments
to move cocaine through Jamaica to the United States. There was a
noticeable increase by law enforcement in detection of liquid cocaine
secreted into consumer goods and luggage. Marijuana traffickers
continue to barter for cocaine and illegal weapons. While Operation
Kingfish, a multinational a multinational taskforce (GOJ, US, United
Kingdom and Canada) to target high-profile, organised crime gangs,
continued to successfully operate, it has not been able to
exclusively focus on high-powered leaders of criminal gangs. This is
due to the fact that these leaders are afforded community and, in
some cases, police and political protection. Additionally, their
activity is often linked with legitimate business holdings.

Domestic programmes/demand reduction: Jamaica has several demand
reduction programmes, including the Ministry of Health's National
Council on Drug Abuse. US funding supported the provision of books
and teaching staff to an inner-city after-school programme. The GOJ
operates five treatment centres through the Ministry of Health. The
GOJ/Organisation of American States Inter-American Drug Abuse Control
Commission (CICAD) university-level certificate programme in drug
addiction and drug prevention remains active. The United Nations
Office Drug Control (UNODC) works directly with the GOJ and NGOs on
demand reduction; however, due to limited resources these programmes
have limited impact.

US Policy Initiatives and Programmes

Policy Initiatives: The USG supports counternarcotics projects in
Jamaica designed to increase the capacity of its law enforcement
agencies to reduce the trafficking of illicit narcotics through
Jamaica and sustain improvements in law-enforcement capabilities
through modernisation and professionalisation of the JCF, while
maintaining a strong and corruption-free law enforcement institution.
The pressures of narcotics trafficking, money laundering, corruption
and crime undermine the rule of law and democratic governance.
Supporting Jamaica's transformation into a more secure, democratic,
prosperous and stable partner represents a major US policy goal. This
included enhancing the abilities of Jamaica's law enforcement
agencies to detect and intercept shipments and detain traffickers.

Bilateral Cooperation: In 2009, the USG provided training and
material support to elements of the JCF and JDF to strengthen their
counternarcotics, and anticorruption capabilities and improve the
investigation, arrest, and prosecution of organised crime, including
assisting the GOJ with vetting of specialised units within the JCF.
The Jamaica Fugitive Apprehension Team (JFAT) received specialised
training, equipment, guidance and operational support from the US
Marshals permanently stationed in Kingston. The US Marshals opened 71
new cases and closed 198 cases involving US fugitives. Jamaican
authorities made 14 arrests, 15 extraditions and eight deportations
during the year.

The JDF Coast Guard participated in joint deployments with the USG in
Jamaican waters during 2009 under the auspices of "Operation Riptide"
which allow both nations to conduct law enforcement operations within
each other's maritime zones and is authorised under the Joint
Jamaica-United States Maritime Cooperation Agreement Concerning
Cooperation in Suppressing Illicit Maritime Trafficking. In addition,
the US Coast Guard provided JDF Coast Guard resident, mobile and
on-the-job training in maritime law enforcement, engineering and
maintenance, search and rescue, port security, and leadership and
management, while a three-phase training exercise was conducted,
which covered land navigation, port security, and search and rescue,
boat maintenance and repair, and leadership principles.

Multilateral Cooperation: While multi-nationals (United States,
United Kingdom and Canada) continue to provide assistance to the GOJ
for the implementation of 124 recommendations cited in the Police
Strategic Review, a parallel strategy to enhance judicial operations
has gained support from all partners. The priority to assist the
Anti-Corruption Branch with tackling corruption among senior police
officers while, in tandem, strengthening the judiciary infrastructure
so it can adequately process all forms of criminality remains high.
Recognising the abysmal five per cent conviction rate for murders,
the US-sponsored a comprehensive training programme which focused on
defining the role of the prosecutor, developing broader analytical
tools, and applying their skills via mock case studies in concert
with the United Kingdom Crown Prosecution Service, the United
Kingdom's High Commission and the GOJ.

The Department of State's Bureau of International Narcotics and Law
Enforcement Affairs' Narcotics Affairs Section in Kingston also
brought the Governments of Jamaica, Haiti, and the Dominican Republic
together to define, discuss and formulate a multilateral strategy to
reduce transnational crimes in the region and organised crime
activity between the three countries. As a result, the GOJ and
Government of Haiti were in the final stages of drafting a security
agreement covering a wide range of issues including joint operations,
personnel exchanges, joint training, intelligence sharing,
immigration, drugs and narcotics interdiction, transnational crime
and gang reduction.

A two-day meeting comprising of representatives from the Jamaican,
American, British and Canadian law enforcement agencies, several
major international airline companies, and the Montego Bay Airport
Authority took place in Montego Bay in December to discuss airport
operations. The purpose of the meeting was to review current airport
operations, identify airport assets and challenges, determine
operational gaps, develop a measurable strategic response to combat
previously defined roadblocks, and enhance cooperation between
international law enforcement partners, the airlines and the airport
authority. Over the course of the two-day meeting all objectives were
met including a short-list of immediately actionable items for all
players. Future meetings and task force groups have been established
for the purpose of resource de-confliction, information sharing and
strategic planning development.

The Road Ahead

The rise of gang-led violent crime and corruption will continue to
pose a significant threat to social stability in Jamaica. As trust in
the government to provide peace and security wanes daily, some
communities are resorting to the use of "vigilante style" law and
order by forming community policing units to target criminals who
threaten their families and businesses. We encourage the GOJ to
enhance its collaboration with the USG, and other regional partners,
to develop a comprehensive gang-reduction strategy and pass
legislation to criminalise participation in organised criminal gangs
which is currently under review by Parliament.

The GOJ is encouraged to demonstrate its political will to address
corruption by successfully investigating, prosecuting and convicting
corrupt officials at all levels of government service and by the
timely extradition of fugitives in accordance with the provisions of
the bilateral extradition treaty, without regard to political
influence or party affiliation.

We encourage the GOJ to maintain the independence of the
Anti-Corruption Special Prosecutor, the JCF's ACB, the Police
Civilian Oversight Authority and the Financial Investigative
Division, and provide them with the resources and political backing
to undertake their tasks. We also encourage the GOJ to support the
commissioner of police to implement the reform recommendations of the
Ministry of National Security's Strategic Review of the JCF to ensure
a professional non-corrupt organisation.