International Efforts
In targeting international methamphetamine production, the Department of Justice, primarily acting through the Drug Enforcement Administration, is the lead U.S. government agency. Recently, its attention has been focused primarily on Mexico—a major producer or transshipment point for much of the methamphetamine entering America.
Over the past few years, rising seizures at the U. S. Southwest border indicate increasing production of methamphetamine within Mexico, as do reports of additional methamphetamine lab seizures within Mexico, and reports from state and local law enforcement throughout the United States concerning the influx of out-of-state methamphetamine within their jurisdictions. The increase in Southwest Border seizures of methamphetamine from 2001 to 2004 has been significant with 1,170 kilograms in 2001; 1,130 kilograms in 2002; 1,790 kilograms in 2003; and, 2,320 kilograms in 2004.
Because the U.S. government's counterdrug, counterterror, and immigration enforcement missions are interrelated, improved counterdrug efforts will also enhance border security. In February 2005, the President’s Homeland Security Advisor directed the development of a strategy to address the drug threat to the Southwest Border. Interagency efforts, at this time, are culminating in a coordinated National Southwest Border Counternarcotics Strategy that will identify key strategic objectives and provide specific recommendations to address the illicit narcotics threat and significantly improve overall interdiction efforts along the Southwest Border.
Although this is a significant and growing threat, Mexico has taken some important steps. Through its Federal Commission for the Protection Against Sanitary Risks (COFEPRIS), the government of Mexico is implementing several important wholesale and retail controls on pseudoephedrine in cooperation with the pharmaceutical industry and is considering others. Mexican pharmacies are moving pseudoephedrine combination products behind the counter and limiting retail sales to 9 grams. In addition, Mexico recently imposed a policy limiting imports of pseudoephedrine and ephedrine to manufacturers only. Wholesale distributors are barred from importing raw pseudoephedrine and ephedrine. Furthermore, importers can import shipments of no more than 3,000 kilograms at a time. Mexico also has begun imposing import quotas tied to estimates of licit national need after a study revealed that imports far exceeded this amount. As a result, Mexico’s PSE imports have dropped from 216 metric tons in 2004 (COFEPRIS), to 132.5 metric tons in 2005 (COFEPRIS), with a goal of 70 metric tons for 2006 (COFEPRIS).
With United States support, Mexico is training and equipping methamphetamine-focused law enforcement teams to combat the spread of methamphetamine production in Mexico. DEA is providing laboratory investigation and processing training for Mexican law enforcement elements, enabling them to identify and destroy methamphetamine labs. Additionally, Mexican authorities have seized more than 55 million methamphetamine precursor pills since December 2000.
Canada, like Mexico, is aiding in the fight against trafficking and diversion. Canada has taken numerous steps over the past few years to prevent the diversion of pseudoephedrine and ephedrine through increased control of imports and exports. From 2000 to 2004, lawful pseudoephedrine imports into Canada fell from just over 500 to less than 50 metric tons. Additionally, from 2003 to 2004, lawful ephedrine imports fell from 19 to 7 metric tons, and overall pseudoephedrine and methamphetamine seizures of shipments into the United States have dropped over the past year. These reduced precursor imports into Canada resulted in sharp declines in the amounts of pseudoephedrine and ephedrine diverted into the United States for the manufacture of methamphetamine. The number of Superlabs in the United States detected by law enforcement fell from 143 in 2002 and 130 in 2003 to just 55 in 2004 and seizures of pseudoephedrine at our northern border are now down by 92 percent.
In addition to working with Mexico and Canada on this issue, the United States continues to work with the primary producing and exporting countries for bulk ephedrine and pseudoephedrine—China, Germany, and India. In addition to working with each of these nations multi-laterally, which I will address when discussing the recently adopted U.S. sponsored resolution at the Commission on Narcotic Drugs (CND), DEA continues to actively work cooperatively with each of these nations on precursor chemical investigation and regulatory issues. To accomplish this task, DEA has assigned chemical Diversion Investigators to their country offices in each of these nations to address this important issue.
The United States and Mexico are also working to gain broader international support for pre-notification of international shipments of combination tablets containing pseudoephedrine through multilateral bodies such as the Organization of American States and the Project Prism initiative facilitated by the United Nations International Narcotics Control Board. Extending these pre-export notifications (PENs) to pharmaceutical preparations that contain pseudoephedrine and ephedrine are critical to controlling the diversion of precursors. Under the 1988 UN Convention on Psychotropic Substances, signatory countries are only required to provide PENs on bulk pseudoephedrine, bulk ephedrine, and single-entity tablets containing these substances; pharmaceutical preparations (combination products) are exempt. Additionally, unlike the United States, many nations have not suffered the significant costs associated with Small Toxic Labs. Many countries are either unaware that diverted pharmaceutical preparations containing pseudoephedrine or ephedrine are often used as the main precursor for methamphetamine production (and how easily they can be converted into methamphetamine), or face continued challenges in stopping this diversion.
