[House Document 107-57]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
107th Congress, 1st Session - - - - - - - - - - - - - House Document 107-57
PERIODIC REPORT ON SIGNIFICANT NARCOTICS TRAFFICKERS CENTERED IN
COLUMBIA
__________
COMMUNICATION
from
THE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES
transmitting
A 6-MONTH PERIODIC REPORT ON THE NATIONAL EMERGENCY WITH RESPECT TO
SIGNIFICANT NARCOTICS TRAFFICKERS CENTERED IN COLOMBIA THAT WAS
DECLARED IN EXECUTIVE ORDER 12978 OF OCTOBER 21, 1995, PURSUANT TO 50
U.S.C. 1622(d)
April 24, 2001.--Referred to the Committee on International Relations
and ordered to be printed
The White House,
Washington, April 17, 2001.
Hon. Dennis J. Hastert,
Speaker of the House of Representatives,
Washington, DC.
Dear Mr. Speaker: As required by section 401(c) of the
National Emergencies Act, 50 U.S.C. 1641(c), and section 204(c)
of the International Emergency Economic Powers Act, 50 U.S.C.
1703(c), I transmit herewith a 6-month periodic report on the
national emergency with respect to significant narcotics
traffickers centered in Colombia that was declared in Executive
Order 12978 of October 21, 1995.
Sincerely,
George W. Bush.
President's Periodic Report on the National Emergency With Respect to
Significant Narcotics Traffickers Centered in Colombia
I hereby report to the Congress on developments over the
course of the past 6 months concerning the national emergency
with respect to significant narcotics traffickers centered in
Colombia that was declared in Executive Order 12978 of October
21, 1995. This report is submitted pursuant to section 401(c)
of the National Emergencies Act, 50 U.S.C. 1641(c), and section
204(c) of the International Emergency Economic Powers Act
(``IEEPA''), 50 U.S.C. 1703(c). Sanctions imposed against
significant narcotics traffickers centered in Colombia pursuant
to Executive Order 12978 are separate from, and independent of,
sanctions imposed pursuant to the Foreign Narcotics Kingpin
Designation Act (Pub. L. 106-120, Title VIII). This report
covers sanctions imposed and persons named as specially
designated narcotics traffickers (``SDNTs'') pursuant to
Executive Order 12978, but does not cover those persons
identified pursuant to the Foreign Narcotics Kingpin
Designation Act, which are addressed in a separate report as
provided in that Act.
1. On December 7, 2000, the Treasury Department's Office of
Foreign Assets Control (``OFAC'') amended the appendices to 31
C.F.R. chapter V (65 Fed. Reg. 80749) by adding the names of
eight individuals and eight entities determined to play a
significant role in international narcotics trafficking
centered in Colombia or determined to be owned or controlled
by, or to act for or on behalf of, existing SDNTs. In the same
Notice, OFAC also amended the appendices by adding supplemental
infomation for 16 individuals previously designated as SDNTs.
Additions and deletions to the list of SDNTs during the
life of the program have brought it to a total of 548 names
(comprised of nine principals, 228 entities, and 311
individuals). These are persons or entities with whom financial
and business dealings are prohibited and whose assets are
blocked under Executive Order 12978. The list of SDNTs now
includes kingpins, associates, and businesses from Colombia's
Cali, North Valle, and North Coast drug cartels. The SDNT list
will continue to be expanded to include additional drug
trafficking organizations centered in Colombia and their
fronts.
2. As of March 6, 2001, OFAC issued four licenses during
the current reporting period. These licenses were issued in
accordance with established Treasury policy authorizing the
receipt of payment of legal fees for representation of SDNTs in
proceedings within the United States arising from the
imposition of sanctions, and certain administrative
transactions.
OFAC has disseminated and routinely updated details of this
program to the financial, securities, and international trade
communities by both electronic and conventional media. This
included bulletins to banking institutions via the Federal
Reserve System and the Clearing House Interbank Payments System
(CHIPS). The same material is also provided to the U.S. Embassy
in Bogota for distribution to U.S. companies operating in
Colombia.
During the reporting period, as of March 6, 2001, six
financial transactions totaling more than $671,000 were
reported to OFAC as having been blocked. Since the last report,
OFAC has collected two civil monetary penalties totaling more
than $13,500 for violations of the Narcotics Trafficking
Sanctions Regulations, 31 CFR Part 536. One financial
institution and one company remitted penalties for violative
transactions involving SDNTs. A third penalty proceeding
remains underway.
3. The narcotics trafficking sanctions have had a
significant impact on the Colombian drug cartels, with some
being forced out of business and others suffering financially.
More than a third of all the narcotics traffickers' business
enterprises that OFAC has identified to date as SDNTs are
involved in the pharmaceutical or agricultural sectors. These
also have been among the most successful investments for the
drug cartels and are those hardest hit by the sanctions. Of the
228 business entities designated as SDNTs as of March 2, 2001,
nearly 60, with an estimated annual aggregate income of more
than $230 million, have been liquidated or are in the process
of liquidation. As a result of OFAC designations, Colombian
banks have closed SDNT accounts in large numbers, affecting
more than 200 SDNT entities and individuals. The cooperation of
the Colombian authorities and the Colombian financial and
business sectors contributes significantly to the impact these
sanctions are having on the designated business entities of the
drug cartels.
4. The expenses incurred by the Federal Government in the
6-month period from October 21, 2000 through April 20, 2001,
that are directly attributable to the exercise of powers and
authorities conferred by the declaration of the national
emergency with respect to Significant Narcotics Traffickers are
estimated at approximately $570,0000. Personnel costs were
largely centered in the Department of the Treasury
(particularly in the Office of Foreign Assets Control, the U.S.
Customs Service, and the Office of the General Counsel), the
Department of Justice, and the Department of State. These data
do not reflect certain costs of operations by the intelligence
and law enforcement communities.
5. Executive Order 12978 provides the Government of the
United States with a tool for combating the actions of
significant foreign narcotics traffickers centered in Colombia
and the unparalleled violence, corruption, and harm that they
cause in the United States and abroad. The order is designed to
deny these traffickers the benefit of any assets subject to the
jurisdiction of the United States and the benefit of trade with
the United States by preventing U.S. persons from engaging in
any commercial dealings with them, their front companies, and
their agents. Executive Order 12978 and its associated SDNT
list demonstrate the United States' commitment to end the
damage that such traffickers wreak upon society in the United
States and abroad. The SDNT list will continue to be expanded
to include additional Colombian drug trafficking organizations
and their fronts. The magnitude and the dimension of the
problem in Colombia--perhaps the most pivotal country of all in
terms of the world's cocaine trade--are extremely grave. I
shall continue to exercise the powers at my disposal to apply
economic sanctions against significant foreign narcotics
traffickers and their violent and corrupting activities as long
as these measures are appropriate, and will continue to report
periodically to the Congress on signicant developments pursuant
to 50 U.S.C. 1703(c).