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reduce the trafficking of precursor chemicals, maritime drug trafficking, and the production and smuggling of drugs throughout the region. The United States will also continue to improve its assessments of returns on investments in these efforts. Finally, our partners Australia, Canada, New Zealand, and the United Kingdom, colloquially named the “Five Eyes”, are critical to worldwide law enforcement and intelligence sharing, and to our understanding of the drug threat globally. They face many of the same challenges as the United States, including international precursor shipments and the growing influence of Mexican drug trafficking organizations. Representatives of our Five Eye partners attend monthly classified meetings, hosted by ONDCP, with the full spectrum of interagency partners to share critical information, trends, and leads. Our Five Eye partners help facilitate law enforcement cooperation and information sharing. They also provide ships and aircraft to our interdiction missions in several critical locations around the globe. We will continue to expand these relationships to better understand drug trafficking not just in our countries, but around the world. C. Encourage international organizations to develop tools and offer capacity building to help countries address pressing threats related to the manufacturing and trafficking of illicit drugs, including emerging synthetic drugs. (Agencies involved: DHS/CBP; DEA; DOJ; DOS; Treasury; USPIS) International organizations offer opportunities to mobilize countries globally to share information about emerging trends, develop best practices, and strengthen capacity to The abundant supply of illicit substances is costing too many American lives and causing far too much damage to vulnerable communities in the United States and around the world. Global drug trafficking sustains a vast domestic and international criminal ecosystem that enables corruption and destabilizes partner nations abroad. « « « « « « 96 NATIONAL DRUG CONTROL STRATEGY address the broad range of issues associated with the illicit global drug market. These efforts help countries around the world develop the skills and tools necessary to take measures independently and collectively to combat the illicit drug trade and improve global health and stability. Many organizations also offer tools that help monitor global trends, improve cross-border collaboration, and offer guidance and best practices to improve governments capacities to address drug challenges. For example, UNODC's Global SMART improves the capacity of targeted countries to generate, manage, and use information on illicit synthetic drugs through early warning advisories; the International Narcotics Control Board's Pre-Export Notification (PEN) Online tool helps track the global movement of chemicals used in the manufacture of substances of interest; the Precursor Incident Communication System (PICS) and International Operations on NPS Incident Communication System (IONICS) facilitate information sharing to support law enforcement investigations and collaboration; and the UN Toolkit on Synthetic Drugs offers countries a suite of programmatic and policy solutions to strengthen their national response to emerging threats. The United States should continue leveraging these and other tools offered by international and regional organizations to mobilize a global response to drug challenges. Principle 4: Protect individuals and the environment abroad from criminal exploitation by those associated with drug production and trafficking. The cultivation and manufacture of illicit substances abroad produces tremendous collateral damage to the environment. However, the full scope of damaging activities carried out by TCOs engaged in drug trafficking also includes illicit crop cultivation and illegal mining which result in deforestation and pollution of watersheds and other sensitive habitats. Activities related to illegal drug production in the Western Hemisphere have disproportionately detrimental effects on vulnerable populations ill equipped to confront these activities on their own. A. Work with Western Hemisphere partners to address the criminal destruction of natural resources due to illicit drug production. (Agencies Involved: DOS; EPA; USAID) In Colombia, large areas of forest are clear cut to make room for coca cultivation and clandestine runways to support aerial trafficking operations. Deforestation leaves communities more vulnerable to erosion and landslides that displace populations. In Mexico, environmental pollution by the illicit synthetic drug trade is well documented; the high acidity of drug wastewater and harsh chemicals damage sensitive environments. The United States must engage with partner nations in the Western Hemisphere to prioritize the protection of their natural resources from environmentally damaging activities carried out by TCOs engaged in illicit drug manufacture and trafficking. Engagements must emphasize the range of approaches to address environmental destruction including investigations, prosecutions, and reclamation efforts. The abundant supply of illicit substances is costing too many American lives and causing far too much damage to vulnerable communities in the United States and around the world. Global drug trafficking sustains a vast domestic and 

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