Title 3--The President The GODR extradited nine Dominicans to the United States in 1999, and kept several other fugitives in custody awaiting decisions on extradition re- quests. The National Drug Council (CND) drafted a National Drug Strategy. A group of private attorneys energetically promoted the passage of a newly drafted anti-money laundering bill modeled on current Organization of American States (OAS) standards. The GODR began the process of devel- oping an anti-corruption bill. The draft strategy and both bills are sched- uled for submission to congress in 2000. A ministerial-level bilateral meeting with Haiti achieved historic border control accords, which were subsequently approved at the highest levels of the GODR. In 1999, the GODR activated a fourth border control unit, de- ployed its drug detection dog unit to the Haitian border, and took steps to double the size of the dog unit in 2000. Dominican forces participated in combined operations under the bilat- eral Maritime Counter-drug Interdiction Agreement. The GODR extended for one-year temporary overflight authority for USG anti-drug aircraft and vessels. In cooperation with the U.S. military, the Dominican Navy and Army engaged in joint counter-drug exercises. The National Drug Control Directorate (DNCD) worked closely with its counterpart, the DEA, on drug, fugitive, and special investigations, drug op- erations, and border interdiction during \177999. DNCD has begun to require its special unit personnel to take polygraphs, and has also initiated pre-em- ployment and periodic random drug testing for its employees. For the first time, the GODR authorized wiretaps for use in drug prosecu- tions. It also arrested and jailed on passport fraud charges the top money manager for the Coneo family, the dominant Colombian drug trafficking or- ganization operating on Hispaniola. We will continue to encourage the Dominican Republic to regularize its extradition process. GODR should also: act on a pending amendment to en- hance the bilateral maritime agreement; increase cocaine seizures, which amounted to less than half the amount seized in \177998; and strengthen its weak judicial system, which continues to hamper law enforcement efforts. Ecuador Ecuador continues to setwe as a major transit route for cocaine destined for the United States, and for precursor chemicals destined for drug proc- essing labs in Colombia and Peru. Despite suffering under the effects of the country's worst economic crisis in seventy years, the Government of Ecua- dor (GOE) pursued an active counter-drug agenda in \177999 to considerable effect, and cooperation between the GOE and the USG was excellent. The EcuadorJan National Police (ENP) seized a record \1770 metric tons of cocaine and coca base in 1999, more than doubling \177998's total of 3.9 met- ric tons. Heroin seizures also increased significantly, from 58 kilograms in \177998 to 8\177 kilograms in \177999. The ENP also seized a record amount of methyl ethyl ketone (MEK) and other precursor chemicals. Along with these tactical successes, the GOE implemented structural re- forms to their judicial system and law enforcement agencies that have the potential to enhance the country's law enforcement infrastructure. A uni- fied anti-drug division was established within the ENP, consolidating var- ious specialized interdiction units into a coherent organization for the first 366
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