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U.S. DEPARTMENT OF STATE
INTERNATIONAL NARCOTICS CONTROL STRATEGY REPORT, MARCH 1996
United States Department of State
Bureau for International Narcotics and Law Enforcement Affairs
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
Next Steps
We must continue to exploit the vulnerabilities of the drug trade.
Contrary to the image that the large drug syndicates cultivate, they are
far from invincible. They cannot exist independently of the governments
in whose territories they operate. Nor can they function outside the
financial channels of legitimate commerce. We must therefore
concentrate on disrupting the drug production and distribution cycle,
while striking at trafficking organizations at their most vulnerable
point, in their financial operations. Illegal drugs and their criminal
revenues form a self-reinforcing vicious circle. Drugs generate
astronomical profits that permit the expansion of the drug trade; this
expansion, in turn, allows the system to generate more cash.
Breaking the cycle is difficult, but not impossible. Unfortunately for
them, criminal enterprises are at the mercy of the world's legitimate
banking systems. Their profits, if they are to be useful, must at one
time or another pass through international banking channels subject to
government oversight. Moreover, the very magnitude of cash that makes
drug trafficking so profitable also makes the profits difficult to
conceal from attentive banking systems. We will encourage other
governments to strengthen their oversight mechanisms, tighten
regulations, and more stringently enforce money laundering laws. We
will also work with them to develop means of quickly identifying,
freezing, and ultimately seizing illegal drug proceeds before they can
be invested. We will make full use of the sanctions imposed by under
the International Economic Emergency Powers Act to prevent the drug
trade from exploiting legitimate companies for criminal purposes. Drug
traffickers who find they cannot easily spend their profits may
eventually 1ook for another line of work.
The United States will continue to provide leadership and assistance to
its partners in the global antidrug effort. We cannot afford to give up
any of the precious gains made in the last decade. Yet ultimately the
success of this effort will hinge not on the United States, but on the
actions and commitment of the major drug-affected countries themselves.
We will help, but they must lay the political and economic groundwork
for development programs to provide legitimate alternatives to farmers
now raising illegal crops. They must undertake prevention and demand
reduction programs to avoid the risk of losing the next generation to
drug addiction. Most importantly, they must demonstrate the necessary
political will to defend their national sovereignty from drug corruption
by reforming and strengthening their political, legislative, judicial,
law enforcement, and banking institutions. The drug trade flourishes
only when it can divide populations and corrupt institutions from
within. It cannot survive a concerted, sustained effort by a coalition
of countries individually committed to its destruction. We shall work
to make that coalition a reality.
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