VZCZCXRO4867
PP RUEHPA
DE RUEHRY #0430/01 2041649
ZNY SSSSS ZZH
P 231649Z JUL 09
FM AMEMBASSY CONAKRY
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 3872
INFO RUEHZK/ECOWAS COLLECTIVE
RHEFDIA/DIA WASHINGTON DC
RUEAIIA/CIA WASHDC
RHMFISS/HQ USEUCOM VAIHINGEN GE
RHMFISS/HQ USAFRICOM STUTTGART GE S E C R E T SECTION 01 OF 02 CONAKRY 000430 
 
SIPDIS 
 
DEPT FOR: DS/IP/AF, DS/DSS/ITA, AF/EX 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 07/22/2029 
TAGS:        
SUBJECT: CORRECTED COPY - SEIZURE OF DRUG LAB PROVIDES PR 
OPPORTUNITY FOR DADIS 
 
Classified By: ARSO David Miller for reasons 1.4(a) and (g). 
 
  1.  (SBU) Summary: The discovery of a cache of reported 
narco chemicals sparked a flurry of CNDD activity.  The 
Embassy was invited by the Prime Minister to examine the 
cache that reputedly belonged to a Guinea narcotrafficking 
kingpin.  The following day CNDD President Moussa Dadis 
Camara held a meeting at Radiodiffusion Television Guineenne 
(RTG) to discuss the situation and to appeal to the 
international community for assistance.  These events appear 
to be designed to deflect attention from Dadis' plummeting 
popularity and re-focus public interest on counternarcotic 
activities. End Summary. 
 
 2. (S) On July 16, 2009 the RSO was invited to examine a 
"drug lab" in the Gbessia section of Conakry near the 
international airport that had attracted the attention of 
local residents.  Prime Minister Kabine Komara also called 
the Charge for Embassy assistance and stated that the seized 
chemicals could possibly be used for "weapons of mass 
destruction."  ARSO visited the site the following day along 
a high ranking delegation of GOG officials and members of the 
media.  ARSO took photos of the chemicals and forwarded them 
for analysis.  The Prime Minister's assertion that they could 
be used as WMD appears highly exaggerated.  Although some of 
the chemicals could possibly be used to process drugs, it is 
difficult to determine their exact nature without further 
analysis.  The CNDD claims that the chemicals belonged to a 
suspected drug trafficker in Guinea.  However, many details 
about the seizure, the origin of the chemicals, and the drug 
lab's actual operation remain murky.  The CNDD claimed it was 
concerned about safely disposing the chemicals and wanted USG 
and international assistance with the problem. 
 
 3. (S) Following the ARSO's visit to the lab, the Charge was 
again contacted by the Prime Minister inviting the Embassy to 
a press conference to be held by Dadis at the radio and 
television network RTG on June 21.  A/DCM, ARSO and PolOff 
attended the three-hour meeting which was broadcast in its 
entirety that night, replacing the normal news show. 
 
 4. (U) Dadis arrived in high style, driving a white pickup 
packed with soldiers bristling with machine guns in the back. 
 Thirty SUVs in the motorcade accompanying Dadis roared into 
the parking lot, and dozens of threatening red berets and 
other military disembarked.  Traffic was stopped in both 
directions on a major Conakry thoroughfare for over three 
hours. 
 
 5. (U) The diplomatic community, members of the Forces Vives, 
ministers, and other CNDD members, along with heavily armed 
soldiers and bodyguards crammed into a television studio. 
Dadis took his seat on the sofa with an entourage of Pivi, 
Tiegboro, the Prime Minister and others sitting nearby. 
Dadis appeared calm and listened carefully to speakers from 
the affected community representatives, chemistry professors, 
and representative of community projects to combat drugs. 
Dadis would occasionally interrupt speakers or chastise them; 
the only outburst occurred when Dadis shouted at a soldier 
whose cell phone continued to ring and the red berets rushed 
to forcibly remove him. 
 
 6. (U) Unexpectedly, Dadis elevated Captain Tiegboro Camara's 
position from Secretary of State for Special Services, 
Anti-Narcotics, and Organized Banditry to that of a Minister, 
and appointed Commissar Lansana Laye Camara as Tiegboro's 
deputy.  In his concluding remarks, Dadis repeatedly 
petitioned the international community for assistance, and 
often appeared to look at Embassy officers while doing so. 
 
 
 7. (SBU) COMMENT: The discovery of the chemical cache 
provided an opportunity for Dadis to shrug off his plummeting 
popularity and re-focus attention on his fight against 
narcotrafficking  Another big production at the RTG, coupled 
with the evening broadcast, focused all eyes on Dadis and 
kept both allies and potential rivals literally at his side. 
 
 8. (SBU) Dadis' repeated calls for aid from the international 
community and from the U.S. via the Prime Minister, were 
striking.  The disposal of the cache of chemicals did seem to 
genuinely confound some members of the GOG, however, the 
inordinate amount of attention focused on the proper disposal 
of these chemicals -- when other hazardous waste sites and 
toxic substances abound in Conakry -- may be interpreted as 
desperation to seek recognition and assistance from the 
 
CONAKRY 00000430  002 OF 002 
 
 
international community. END COMMENT. 
BROKENSHIRE