vacant, and left the country. According to U.S. officials, the Inspector 

General

-

who was conducting investigations into narcotrafficking by police 

officers

-

unexpectedly left the force in May 2000 and has not been 

permanently replaced. During his tenure, the former Inspector General had 

initiated investigations into human rights violations, narcotrafficking, 

corruption, and other offenses allegedly committed by police officers. 

According to U.S. officials, the Inspector General's investigations had led to 

the dismissal of over 1,100 police officers. As reported by the Department 

of State, at least 58 police officers were in prison as of September 1999 on a 

variety of charges. The Department noted that the police more often simply 

discharged officers caught committing flagrant abuses rather than initiating 

legal proceedings against them. Since the departure of the Inspector 

General, investigations of police misconduct have dramatically decreased, 

opening the door to increased corruption within the force, according to 

U.S. and Haitian officials.

The United States helped establish the antinarcotics unit and the Haitian 

Coast Guard to address the growing drug trafficking problem. U.S. 

estimates indicate that the percentage of cocaine coming into the United 

States through Haiti increased from 10 to 14 percent from 1998 through 

1999. These estimates indicate that the cocaine flow through Haiti grew 

from 54 to 67 tons during this period. However, the Haitian police has been 

generally ineffective in countering the growing drug threat because its 

antinarcotics unit and Coast Guard have limited capabilities and resources. 

As a result, the police has conducted few major drug related investigations 

successfully and does not have the resources to stop airdrops of cocaine 

loads to waiting land vehicles or maritime vessels, which currently account 

for most of the drug trafficking growth. 

The United States sought to help Haiti establish a professional and 

impartial police force. However, events over the past year have raised 

serious concerns about the impartiality of the force, according to U.S. and 

other donor officials. For instance, the departures of the Secretary of State 

for Public Security and the Inspector General of the police, and the partisan 

role played by some elements of the police before and after the May 2000 

parliamentary and local elections, are signs of the increasing politicization 

of the police, according to U.S. and other donors' officials. The failure of 

the police to protect legal demonstrations by the opposition; the 

involvement of the force in arresting some opposition candidates following 

the elections; and the failure of the police to investigate successfully major 

killings, including political assassinations, committed before the elections 

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GAO 01 24  Foreign Assistance