Counternarcotics and Law Enforcement Country Program: Suriname

The Government of Suriname’s (GOS) inability to control its borders, inadequate resources, limited law enforcement training, lack of a law enforcement presence in the interior of the country, and lack of aircraft or patrol boats allow traffickers to move drug shipments via land, sea, river, and air with little resistance. South American cocaine transits Suriname en route to Europe, Africa, and, to a lesser extent, the United States.

Key U.S. Counternarcotics Goals

• Improve Suriname’s capacity to dismantle large transnational criminal organizations involved in narcotics and financial crimes.
• Support and strengthen the capabilities of Suriname’s Police and Customs agencies in counternarcotics efforts.
• Provide limited equipment and training to a DEA-led vetted unit targeting drug trafficking and for the airport narcotics unit.

The U.S. Government (USG) provides training and material support to several elements of the national police to strengthen their counternarcotics capabilities. The DEA, which established an office in Suriname in 2006, provides several units of the Korps Politie Suriname (KPS) with counternarcotics training and technical assistance to the KPS in narcotics and money laundering investigations. The USG also supports Surinames efforts to draft and pass new legislation to strengthen law enforcement ability to utilize undercover agents in narcotics investigations and to enhance the judiciary’s asset forfeiture capabilities.