S. HRG. 107–885 NARCO–TERROR: THE WORLDWIDE CONNECTION BETWEEN DRUGS AND TERRORISM HEARING BEFORE THE SUBCOMMITTEE ON TECHNOLOGY, TERRORISM, AND GOVERNMENT INFORMATION OF THE COMMITTEE ON THE JUDICIARY UNITED STATES SENATE ONE HUNDRED SEVENTH CONGRESS SECOND SESSION MARCH 13, 2002 Serial No. J–107–66 Printed for the use of the Committee on the Judiciary ( U.S. GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE 85–660 PDF WASHINGTON : 2003 For sale by the Superintendent of Documents, U.S. Government Printing Office Internet: bookstore.gpo.gov Phone: toll free (866) 512–1800; DC area (202) 512–1800 Fax: (202) 512–2250 Mail: Stop SSOP, Washington, DC 20402–0001 VerDate Mar 21 2002 15:46 Apr 01, 2003 Jkt 085660 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 5011 Sfmt 5011 C:\HEARINGS\85660.TXT SJUD4 PsN: CMORC COMMITTEE ON THE JUDICIARY PATRICK J. LEAHY, Vermont, Chairman EDWARD M. KENNEDY, Massachusetts ORRIN G. HATCH, Utah JOSEPH R. BIDEN, JR., Delaware STROM THURMOND, South Carolina HERBERT KOHL, Wisconsin CHARLES E. GRASSLEY, Iowa DIANNE FEINSTEIN, California ARLEN SPECTER, Pennsylvania RUSSELL D. FEINGOLD, Wisconsin JON KYL, Arizona CHARLES E. SCHUMER, New York MIKE DEWINE, Ohio RICHARD J. DURBIN, Illinois JEFF SESSIONS, Alabama MARIA CANTWELL, Washington SAM BROWNBACK, Kansas JOHN EDWARDS, North Carolina MITCH MCCONNELL, Kentucky BRUCE A. COHEN, Majority Chief Counsel and Staff Director SHARON PROST, Minority Chief Counsel MAKAN DELRAHIM, Minority Staff Director SUBCOMMITTEE ON TECHNOLOGY, TERRORISM, AND GOVERNMENT INFORMATION DIANNE FEINSTEIN, California, Chairwoman JOSEPH R. BIDEN, JR., Delaware JON KYL, Arizona HERBERT KOHL, Wisconsin MIKE DEWINE, Ohio MARIA CANTWELL, Washington JEFF SESSIONS, Alabama JOHN EDWARDS, North Carolina MITCH MCCONNELL, Kentucky DAVID HANTMAN, Majority Chief Counsel STEPHEN HIGGINS, Minority Chief Counsel (II) VerDate Mar 21 2002 15:46 Apr 01, 2003 Jkt 085660 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 5904 Sfmt 5904 C:\HEARINGS\85660.TXT SJUD4 PsN: CMORC C O N T E N T S STATEMENTS OF COMMITTEE MEMBERS Page DeWine, Hon. Mike, a U.S. Senator from the State of Ohio ................................ 59 Feinstein, Hon. Dianne, a U.S. Senator from the State of California ................. 1 Hatch, Hon. Orrin G., a U.S. Senator from the State of Utah ............................ 15 Kyl, Hon. Jon, a U.S. Senator from the State of Arizona .................................... 4 WITNESSES Beers, Rand, Assistant Secretary of State for International Narcotics and Law Enforcement Affairs, Department of State, Washington, D.C. ................ 22 Hutchinson, Asa, Administrator, Drug Enforcement Administration, U.S. De- partment of Justice, Washington, D.C. .............................................................. 6 Kamman, Curtis W., Former United States Ambassador to Colombia, Depart- ment of State, Washington, D.C. ........................................................................ 38 Newcomb, R. Richard, Director, Office of Foreign Assets Control, U.S. Depart- ment of the Treasury, Washington, D.C. ........................................................... 17 Olcott, Martha Brill, Senior Associate, Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, Washington, D.C. ...................................................................................... 47 Shifter, Michael, Adjunct Professor and Program Director, Inter-American Dialogue, Center for Latin American Studies, School of Foreign Service, Georgetown University, Washington, D.C. ........................................................ 41 Smith, R. Grant, Former U.S. Ambassador to Tajikistan, Department of State, Washington, D.C. ...................................................................................... 44 Taylor, Francis X., Ambassador-at-Large for Counterterrorism, Department of State, Washington, D.C. .................................................................................. 23 (III) VerDate Mar 21 2002 15:46 Apr 01, 2003 Jkt 085660 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 5904 Sfmt 5904 C:\HEARINGS\85660.TXT SJUD4 PsN: CMORC VerDate Mar 21 2002 15:46 Apr 01, 2003 Jkt 085660 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 5904 Sfmt 5904 C:\HEARINGS\85660.TXT SJUD4 PsN: CMORC NARCO–TERROR: THE WORLDWIDE CONNEC- TION BETWEEN DRUGS AND TERRORISM WEDNESDAY, MARCH 13, 2002 UNITED STATES SENATE, SUBCOMMITTEE ON TECHNOLOGY, TERRORISM, AND GOVERNMENT INFORMATION, OF THE COMMITTEE ON THE JUDICIARY, Washington, D.C. The Subcommittee met, pursuant to notice, at 10:12 a.m., in room SD–226, Dirksen Senate Office Building, Hon. Dianne Fein- stein, Chairperson of the Subcommittee, presiding. Present: Senators Feinstein, Kyl, Hatch, and Sessions. OPENING STATEMENT OF HON. DIANNE FEINSTEIN, A U.S. SENATOR FROM THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA Chairperson FEINSTEIN. The hearing will come to order. I am very pleased to be joined by the ranking member, Senator Kyl, from the State of Arizona The subject of this hearing is the worldwide connection between drugs and terrorism. We are here today to discuss what I think both Senator Kyl and I believe to be a key component in the war against terrorism, and that is the connection between drug traf- ficking and terrorism. In some cases, terrorists may sell drugs for money, they may trade them for weapons. In others, organizations may protect drug traffickers for a fee or a tax. Either way, it has become increasingly clear that money spent to buy drugs on the streets of America may well eventually end up funding a terrorist attack on our country. Let me give you a case in point: Afghanistan. We have seen in Afghanistan, for instance, that the Taliban essentially controlled or at least profited from the distribution of more than 70 percent of the world’s heroin. In remarks last October, British Prime Minister Tony Blair referred to the Taliban as ‘‘a regime founded on fear and funded on the drug trades.’’ The Prime Minister was correct. According to the Department of State’s International Narcotics Control Strategy it is issued last year, the Taliban controlled 96 percent of the territory where the opium poppy was grown, and promoted and even taxed the sale of this poppy to finance weapons purchased, as well as military operations. And there is little doubt that these operations, at least in part, supported and protected Al Qaeda and Osama bin Laden. Although the Taliban reportedly banned poppy cultivation in late 1997, opium production in Afghanistan increased through the year (1) VerDate Mar 21 2002 15:46 Apr 01, 2003 Jkt 085660 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6633 Sfmt 6633 C:\HEARINGS\85660.TXT SJUD4 PsN: CMORC 2 2000, eventually accounting for a staggering 72 percent of the world’s illicit opium supply—72 percent from just one country. On July 27, 2000, the Taliban issued a second decree banning opium poppy cultivation. By the time of the second decree, the Taliban had better control of the country, and this time, according to almost every source, the ban was almost completely effective. Opium declined from over 3,000 metric tons in 2000 to 74 metric tons through October 2001. Now, some may say that it great, they succeeded. But the ban is just part of the story. In reality, all the ban did was artificially raise the price of heroin and allow the traffickers and the Taliban to reap record profits. This is because despite the ban on cultiva- tion, there was no ban on storage and trafficking. A British spokesman estimated late last year that 3,000 tons of opium were being stockpiled in Afghanistan, a significant portion of it by bin Laden personally and by his followers. So even though a ban on cultivation was in place, stored opium was still trafficked. More money was made than ever before and the Taliban continued to tax the opium trade at about 10 percent. Estimates are that the Taliban made between $40 and $100 mil- lion per year from the drug trade. But United Nations suggested that the Taliban may have become increasingly involved in the drug trade, in which case they could derive even more money. The street value of heroin derived from Afghan opium is some $35 bil- lion. The farmers get about $200 million of that, so there is a wide margin for additional money flowing to the Taliban. According to our own Government and the United Nations, vir- tually all of Afghanistan’s poppy fields have now been replanted, as much as 45,000 to 65,000 hectares, for a crop of between 2 and 3,000 metric tons of opium, with a full harvest due in just a few weeks. So one question I will ask the witnesses today is what can be done to prevent a return to an Afghanistan steeped in the drug trade, using drug money to fund terrorism. Now, Colombia is another case in point, but I am going to save time and just put that part of the statement in the record. But some of the questions I have are, for instance, should we ex- pand the Coverdell–Feinstein drug kingpin legislation, passed over two years ago, to also go after major terrorists? Is there other legis- lation needed to clarify our ability to use anti-drug assets against terrorists? Are we developing the proper level of resources in Af- ghanistan, Colombia, and other nations to deal with increasingly violent and interconnected narcotics terrorists? Should we be condi- tioning aid to Afghanistan or other nations on their cooperation in the war against drugs? These are questions I hope to ask of a very distinguished panel, and I will introduce them just as soon as we hear from my distin- guished ranking member, Senator Kyl. Welcome. [The prepared statement of Senator Feinstein follows:] STATEMENT OF HON. DIANNE FEINSTEIN, A U.S. SENATOR FROM THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA ‘‘We are here today to discuss what I believe to be a key component of the war against terrorism—that is the connection between drug trafficking and terrorism. The links between drugs and terrorism are often difficult to find, but they are there VerDate Mar 21 2002 15:46 Apr 01, 2003 Jkt 085660 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6633 Sfmt 6621 C:\HEARINGS\85660.TXT SJUD4 PsN: CMORC 3 and we ust dedicate ourselves to beaking those links, and to breaking the terrorists and drug cartels alike. In some cases, terrorists may sell drugs for money or trade them for weapons.