Cablegate: Peru Signs Counternarcotics Information Sharing Agreement

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INFO AMEMBASSY BOGOTA
AMEMBASSY BUENOS AIRES
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AMEMBASSY MEXICO
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C O N F I D E N T I A L LIMA 001667

E.O. 12958: DECL: 2019/11/25
TAGS: SNAR MX PE
SUBJECT: Peru Signs Counternarcotics Information Sharing Agreement
with Mexico

CLASSIFIED BY: Robert C Ward, DEPUTY DIRECTOR, STATE, NARCOTIC
AFFAIRS SEC...

id: 236843 DROGAS 1
date: 11/25/2009 18:57
refid: 09LIMA1667
origin: Embassy Lima
classification: CONFIDENTIAL
destination:
header:
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GIWI-00 P-00 ISNE-00 DOHS-00 FMPC-00 SP-00 IRM-00
SSO-00 SS-00 STPD-00 TRSE-00 NCTC-00 SCRS-00 PMB-00
G-00 SAS-00 SANA-00 /000W

R 251857Z NOV 09
FM AMEMBASSY LIMA
TO SECSTATE WASHDC 0150
INFO AMEMBASSY BOGOTA
AMEMBASSY BUENOS AIRES
AMEMBASSY LA PAZ
AMEMBASSY MEXICO
AMEMBASSY LIMA
AMEMBASSY QUITO
AMEMBASSY SANTIAGO

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C O N F I D E N T I A L LIMA 001667

E.O. 12958: DECL: 2019/11/25
TAGS: SNAR MX PE
SUBJECT: Peru Signs Counternarcotics Information Sharing Agreement
with Mexico

CLASSIFIED BY: Robert C Ward, DEPUTY DIRECTOR, STATE, NARCOTIC
AFFAIRS SECTION; REASON: 1.4(B), (D)

1. (C) Summary: On November 6, officials in the Peruvian
and Mexican Governments signed an agreement in Mexico City designed
to improve coordination and cooperation to fight crime. For
Peru, the goal is to obtain intelligence to identify and capture
Mexican drug traffickers, whose expanded presence in Peru in recent
years represents a growing threat, according to Peruvian
authorities. The Peruvian police participant in the talks provided
NAS Lima a copy of the agreement and background information on
Mexicans in Peru. End Summary.

2. (C) On November 13, Peruvian National Police (PNP)
Anti-Drug (DIRANDRO) XXXXXXXXXXXX
briefed NAS officers on the recent history of Mexican drug
traffickers in Peru, and on a new agreement signed by the
Government of Peru (GOP) and the Government of Mexico (GOM)
designed to improve intelligence sharing. XXXXXXXXXXXX was on the GOP
delegation to Mexico City for talks November 5-6. This follows a
GOP-GOM meeting held in Lima in February 2009. XXXXXXXXXXXX also noted
that there had been two previous coordination meetings between the
two governments, in 2001 and 1996.

3. (SBU) The purpose of the agreement signed November 6 in
Mexico City is to "deepen the coordination and cooperation between
the countries" in order to prevent and combat crime. The agreement
establishes a working group which will begin meeting by
videoconference. The first session is scheduled to occur December
9. Second, the agreement names specific persons who will be the
liaisons for information exchange. From Mexico, it will be the
Head of the National Center for Planning, Analysis and Information
to Combat Crime (CENAPI). For Peru, it will be Colonel Cesar Arevalo, the head of the Office of Intelligence of the Anti-Drug Police
(DIRANDRO). The agreement also calls for sharing customs-related
information. In the accord, Mexico offers to share information
about its proposal regarding the Hemispheric System to Identify
Ballistic Fingerprints. The GOM works with the FBI on this,
XXXXXXXXXXXX said, adding that Peru is interested in doing the same.

4. (SBU) In the agreement Peru expresses interest in
learning more about the Mexican experience with organized crime,
and seeks a workshop for police, judges, and prosecutors who are
specialists in this area. The GOM commits to sharing with the GOP
information about specialized training in the field of synthetic
drug materials and chemical composition. The GOP invites the GOM
to a seminar on precursor chemicals to take place in June 2010 in
Lima, co-hosted by Germany. Finally, the agreement calls for
cooperation to reduce the local demand for drugs. The agreement
was signed by Maestra Marisela Morales Ibanez, the Assistant
Prosecutor of Investigation into Organized Crime in Mexico, and by
Romulo Pizarro, the head of the National Commission for Development
and Life Without Drugs (DEVIDA) in Peru.

----------------------
Mexicans in Peru
----------------------

5. (C) Coca cultivation in the Puno region of Peru, on the
border with Bolivia, is increasing, and Mexicans are behind it,
XXXXXXXXXXXX said. He noted that in the past year, 1091 Mexicans
suspected of drug trafficking had entered Peru. Authorities at
Lima's international airport now have a computerized program that
contains samples of real and fraudulent documents from many
countries, allowing for better detection. Also, very soon Peruvian
authorities will have the ability to run the names of passengers
through a database with Interpol. Despite these advances, XXXXXXXXXXXX
noted that many drug traffickers enter Peru with fraudulent
passports, or by private plane that lands in a clandestine
airstrip, avoiding immigration altogether. XXXXXXXXXXXX was confident
that information will be shared by Mexico and Peru more frequently
and faster as a result of this agreement.

6. (C) XXXXXXXXXXXX stressed that there are no Mexican cartels
in Peru, but there are "representatives" of the cartels here.
Their presence, he said, has resulted in a "climate of violence"
including targeted assassinations. For example, on June 30, 2005,
Peruvian judge Mariano de la Cruz released Mexican drug trafficker
Miguel Morales Morales (aka "Malamud") from prison. Morales was a
representative of the Tijuana cartel, according to XXXXXXXXXXXX, and had
been caught with 1750 kilos of cocaine. Judge de la Cruz was
accused of accepting USD 250,000 to free Morales. XXXXXXXXXXXX also
cited the case of judge Hernan Saturno Vergara, who was
assassinated July 19, 2005 presumably by Mexican assassins after
rejecting a request to set free 25 drug traffickers associated with
the Tijuana cartel. A third example offered by XXXXXXXXXXXX was the May
10, 2007 murder of Mexican drug trafficker Emigdio Alejandro Pineda
Jimenez in Lima, with newspapers reporting he was suspected of
stealing 52 kilos of cocaine from the Tijuana cartel.

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History of Cases
---------------------

7. (C) XXXXXXXXXXXX cited other notable cases in Peru in the last
few years connected to Mexican traffickers. Operation Lena
(Firewood) in 2002 resulted in the seizure of 6000 kilos of cocaine
in Arequipa, Peru. The drug trafficker was Mexican Rafael Alvarez
Navarro (aka Ricardo Garixax). The Miraflores Case in 2003
involved the detention of a Colombian drug trafficker, Manuel
Rivera Niebla (aka Manuel Lopez Rivas) connected to the Sinaloa
cartel in Mexico; he was working with Mexican traffickers Ricardo
Antunez Medina and a Peruvian fisherman, Jose Manuel de la Jara
Arrue, to export cocaine by boat from Peru to Mexico. In the Pota
Case in 2004, XXXXXXXXXXXX said, Mexican police seized seven tons of
cocaine on the ship Colibri coming from Callao port (Lima); Mexican
drug trafficker Jorge Perez was the mastermind of the shipment. In
the 2005 Maracuya case, Mexican drug trafficker Luis Gabriel Najera
Estrada was caught trying to ship 408 kilos of cocaine in frozen
fruits from Peru to Mexico. In 2006, Bolivian drug trafficker Luis
Amado Pacheco Abraham was arrested in connection with the seizure
of 864 kilos of cocaine; years earlier he had been behind the
attempt to move four metric tons of cocaine to Mexico via Air
Bolivia. In 2006, the boat "Ceci" was intercepted going from Peru
to Mexico with four metric tons of cocaine. In 2007, Mexican drug
traffickers Ramon Francisco Guerra Gonzalez, Antonio Avalos
Valencia, and Enrique Ochoa Garcia were caught with 108 kilos of
synthetic drugs. In the Paprika case in 2008, 711 kilos of cocaine
were found mixed in eight tons of paprika destined for Mexico.
Four Mexican drug traffickers, Jose Luis Romero Soto, Javier Gomez
Morales, Ricardo Rivera Landell, and Eric Omar Angulo Urtusuastegui
were detained in connection with the seizure of 210 kilos of
cocaine in the Pirana case. In May 2009, Peruvian flagged vessel
"Fausaqui 1" was interdicted by a U.S. navy ship and found to have
250 kilos of cocaine. In June 2009, Mexican drug trafficker Saulo
Mauricio Parra Tejada was arrested after police found 106 kilos of
cocaine in his car.

8. (U) XXXXXXXXXXXX provided the following statistics:

a) The number of Mexicans who visited Peru in 2008:

106,590 entered

105,587 exited

b) The number of Mexicans arrested in Peru for drug
trafficking:

2003: 5

2004: 12

2005: 25

2006: 17

2007: 20

2008: 13

c) The quantity of cocaine seized from Mexican passengers
transiting Peru, in kg:

2003: 35

2004: 254

2005: 2133

2006: 1192

2007: 342

2008: 2256

d) Mexicans in prison in Peru for drug trafficking:

Ricardo Rivera Landell

Javier Gomez Morales

Jose Luis Romero Soto

Erick Angulo Urtusvastegui

Alfonso Perez Zepeda

Margarita Zunzunegui Cuellar

Jose Manuel Arellano Andrade

Juan Carlos Torrest Ibarra

Casildo Encinas Cota

Ivan Alejandro Flores Brindis

Isaura Marlene Dominguez Herrera

Marco Antonio Tlahuico Calixto

Misael Medina Garcia

Jose Mauricio Gasca Medina

Carlos Daniel Ballesteros Lugo

Maria Guadalupe Ruiz Rangel

Guaalupe Violeta Rocha Ramirez

Diego Ibanez Herrera

Ignacio Salvador Sanchez Carrillo

Eduardo Manzano Munoz

Aldo Javier Ramirez Gomez

Victor Emilio Meza Saldana

Oria Hernandez Acevedo Nishimoto

Saulo Parra Tejada

Jorge Velasquez Quiroz

Andres Mondragon Ruiz

Ricardo Carlos Barrera Morales

Jose de Luna Lobato

9. (C) Comment: The agreement signed November 6 calls for
cooperation by Peru and Mexico to fight a wide range of criminal
activity; however, Peru is clearly most focused on identifying and
capturing Mexican drug traffickers. According to Peruvian
authorities, Mexican drug traffickers are expanding their presence
and operations in Peru. Most of the Mexican traffickers in prison
in Peru are low level mules. Major traffickers (Mexican and other
nationalities) have eluded Peruvian police. This agreement
represents a small step forward in tackling the growing problem of
increasing presence of Mexican drug traffickers in Peru.

MCKINLEY

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