| Synopsis
The Twenty-fifth International Drug Enforcement Conference (IDEC XXV) took place May 8-10, 2007, in Madrid, Spain. Representatives from a total of 84 countries were in attendance; 62 were member countries and 22 were observer countries.
OPENING CEREMONIES
The conference began on Tuesday, May 8, 2007, with the Master of Ceremonies calling the conference to order in the main ballroom. Dignitaries seated at the head table delivered opening remarks. They included Alfredo Perez Rubalcaba, Minister of Interior, Spain; Karen P. Tandy, Administrator of the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA); Eduardo Aguirre, Jr., U.S. Ambassador to Spain; Antonio Camacho Vizcaíno, Secretary of State for Security, Spain; and Maria Marcos Salvador, Director, Center of Intelligence against Organized Crime, Spain.
The opening ceremony stressed the importance of global collaboration and described successful initiatives undertaken by countries from different parts of the world working together to destroy major drug trafficking organizations. They praised this conference as a unique opportunity for high-level drug law enforcement officials from around the world to meet together, share intelligence, and develop regional and global approaches to combat drug trafficking, money laundering, and diversion of essential and precursor chemicals. To commemorate the 25th year, a video was shown tracing the history of IDEC from its inception in 1983 to the present. In addition, during her opening remarks, Administrator Tandy recognized the following 12 countries that comprised the first IDEC: Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, Guatemala, Mexico, Panama, Peru, the United States, and Venezuela.
IDEC MEMBERSHIP
Of the 62 member countries in attendance at IDEC XXV, 6 countries became IDEC member countries since last year’s IDEC. They are Bulgaria, Denmark, Netherlands, Russia, Singapore, and Sweden. Six countries attended IDEC for the first time. They are Cambodia, Ireland, Latvia, Morocco, Norway, and Saudi Arabia.
The conference continues to grow from its original size and scope. This is also the first time the conference took place outside of the Americas.
PRESENTATIONS
The Global Drug Threat was given by Maria Marcos Salvador, Director, Center of Intelligence against Organized Crime, Spain. The presentation focused on cocaine, heroin, marijuana, MDMA, and methamphetamine, their impact, drug trafficking routes, and estimated production.
Following this presentation, the press was escorted from the ballroom and from then on, only conference delegates participated in sessions. The next order of business was the election of the Secretary of IDEC XXV. Francisco Ovalle, Brigadier General, National Directorate for Drug Control, Dominican Republic was unanimously elected Secretary.
The keynote speaker, Antonio Maria Costa, Executive Director, United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, discussed “The Context of Enforcement: Lessons Learned from a Quarter Century of Drug Control.”
Following the keynote speaker, a new concept of concurrent sessions was assembled. The first set of concurrent sessions included the following: “If Intelligence is Good…Evidence Could be Even Better: Judicial Wiretaps” presented by Noe Ramirez-Mandujano, Deputy Attorney General, Mexico and Brigadier General Francisco Ovalle, National Directorate for Drug Control, Dominican Republic facilitated by Derek Maltz, Special Agent in Charge, Special Operations Division, DEA; “Africa: Emerging Markets” presented by Deven Naicker, Senior Superintendent, South Africa Police Services, Alphonse Adu Amankwah, Director, Organized Crime Division, Ghana, and John Coles, Head of International Delivery, Serious Organized Crime Agency, United Kingdom facilitated by Thomas Scarantino, Assistant Regional Director, DEA; and “Exploiting Choke Points and Other Vulnerabilities: Drug Flow Attack Strategies” presented by Stephen Sookram, Director, Counter Drug and Crime Task Force, Trinidad & Tobago, Eloy Quiros Alvarez, Commissioner, Center for Intelligence against Organized Crime, Spain, Humberto Brid, Sub-Comisionado, National Police of Panama, and Scott Cantfil, Liaision to Southern Command, Joint Inter Agency Task Force facilitated by Vito Guarino, Assistant Special Agent in Charge, DEA and Alexander Toth, Latin America Section Chief, DEA.
The second set of concurrent sessions included the following: “Show Me the Money: A Three Dimensional Attack” presented by Khamis Mattar Al Muzainah, Commanding Officer, CID, Dubai Police, United Arab Emirates, and General Jorge Baron, Colombian National Police facilitated by Donald Semesky, Chief of Financial Operations, DEA; and “Hunting Traffickers in Cyberspace” presented by Anisios Soares Vieira, Director General, Anti-narcotics Unit, Brazilian Federal Police, Niti Samritdetkhachorn, Police Major, Thai Department of Special Investigations, and General KC Verma, Director General, Narcotics Control Board, India facilitated by Matthew Murphy, Chief of Pharmaceutical Investigations Section, DEA.
Conference participants then returned to the plenary ballroom for a presentation on “Understanding Global Money Movement” from Duane Ritter, Vice President of International Security and Fraud, Western Union and Robert Gray, Director of International Security, Domestic and Foreign Government Initiatives, Western Union.
Wednesday morning the participants were also privileged to hear an inspirational speech from Chief Joseph Carter, President of the International Association of Chiefs of Police, on “International Partnerships: The Vital Element in Combating International Drug Trafficking.”
DELEGATE NETWORKING
In addition to concurrent sessions, IDEC XXV saw the implementation of delegate networking, a time set aside for participants to reach across regional boundaries to meet on a range of topics.
WORKING GROUPS
Following the panel sessions, the delegates met in working groups. The working groups were broken down by regions as follows: Southern Cone Region, Andean Region, Mexico & Central America Region, Caribbean Region, Far East Region, Europe & Africa Region, and Southwest & Central Asia Region. During the working groups the delegates discussed their accomplishments since last year’s IDEC. They assessed their progress against the targets identified at IDEC XXIV in the areas of drug trafficking, money laundering, and diversion of precursor chemicals. They shared information and intelligence against the targets, identified additional targets, and developed working plans for the coming year. Representatives from several observer countries indicated an interest in becoming member countries.
Attendees then reconvened in the plenary session and the chairmen of each working group presented a report. The Secretary of IDEC XXV delivered the conference report. Mexico was elected unanimously as the host of IDEC XXVII and the Turkish delegation addressed the conference as we look forward to IDEC XXVI in Istanbul, Turkey.
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IDEC
was established in 1983 in an effort to bring together high-level
drug law enforcement officials from throughout the Western
Hemisphere. The principal purpose of the conference is to share
drug-related information and to develop a coordinated approach
to law enforcement efforts against international drug traffickers.
Since its inception, IDEC has grown from a regional to a global
forum, with 84 countries in attendance at IDEC XXV.
Presidency
/Co-Presidency: The President is elected
annually and presides over the next conference. The
country in which the conference convenes is determined
by the President of the conference. The Administrator
of DEA is the permanent Co-President of the conference.
The
majority of the IDEC agenda is devoted to working group sessions
where senior-level drug law enforcement officials identify common
targets based on intelligence and coordinate regional and global
attacks on these targets. 
