Pubdate: Fri, 19 Mar 2004
Source: Reuters (Wire)
Copyright: 2004 Reuters Limited
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/coke.htm (Cocaine)

INTERNET MAKES DRUG TRAFFICKERS HARD TO CATCH: DEA

Lima, March 19: The Internet and cellular telephones are making drug 
traffickers harder than ever to catch and the job will only become more 
difficult as technology develops, a US anti-drug official said on Thursday.

Messages in Internet chat rooms, where drug smugglers in Latin America can 
arrange cocaine deliveries in London or Berlin, are almost impossible to 
intercept and cellular phone text messages cannot be tracked by 
authorities, Mark Malcolm, intelligence analyst at the United States Drug 
Enforcement Administration, told an international drug conference in Lima.

"We are at a great disadvantage because we cannot intercept text messages 
or instant messaging. The only real possibility is by using undercover 
officers, who put their lives at risk," Malcolm told delegates.

Cocaine smuggling to Europe is on the rise as cartels find new ways to 
evade authorities, shipping drugs via Africa, according to European 
anti-drug officials. Latin American authorities also concede they are no 
closer to beating the drug trade because of a lack of resources and 
intelligence.

And the rise of new technology only makes it more difficult, Malcolm said.

"As wireless technology develops there are now a multitude of avenues to 
surf the Internet anonymously and our attempts at surveillance are tenuous 
at best," he said.

Many Latin American cartels use free electronic mail services to 
communicate with drug ring members around the world and hook up illegally 
to wireless Internet routers in cities to avoid being tracked to a 
land-based server, Malcolm said.

"Traffickers can also go to a Starbucks and link a laptop up to the coffee 
shop's wireless network and go out on the web anonymously, so it is a 
daunting task," Malcolm said.

The growth of "hushmail," or encrypted mail, also presents a new challenge 
to anti-drug authorities, he said.

"Few traffickers currently use hushmail, but it would present an enormous 
problem if they do start," he added.

Malcolm said the DEA needed governments around the world to work more 
closely to track and intercept traffickers, because the US drug agency 
"cannot do the job alone."
- ---
MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom