DUSHANBE, September 8, 2011, Asia-Plus — Senior representatives of drug control agencies attended the second regional anti-drug conference between Tajikistan, Afghanistan, Pakistan and Russia (the Central Asian anti-drug quartet) that was held in Kabul, Afghanistan on September 5-6.
Director of the Drug Control Agency (DCA), Lieutenant-General Rustam Nazarov, represented Tajikistan at the mentioned conference.
Russian media outlets report the conference participants discussed in earnest the heroin production situation in Afghanistan. About 90 officers from the drug watchdogs of several countries and high-ranking UN, NATO officials and ambassadors from several countries accredited in Afghanistan reportedly participated in the conference. They exchanged views on the measures proposed to step up the struggle against the drug production in Afghanistan.
According to Russia’s Itar-Tass, Russia already offered the international community the action plan to destroy the drug production in Afghanistan codenamed Raduga-2 (Rainbow), in which many countries interested and stated about their intentions to implement this action plan engaging all the capabilities of the UN Security Council.
Speaking at the conference, Tajik drug control chief proposed to work out a mechanism of activity of the anti-drug quartet by means of developing the plan or the program of actions for 2011-2012, arrange and conduct joint preventive events, involving both Tajik and Afghan specialists, in border areas, the Tajik DCA press center reports. He also proposed to raise professionalism of Afghan drug police officers at the DCA Dog Training Center that was established in Dushanbe under support of the European Union and at the Center for Training of Personnel for Tajikistan’s Drug Control Authorities that will be established here in 2012.
The conference reportedly resulted in signing of a joint statement by the chiefs of the drug control agencies of Afghanistan, Pakistan, Russia and Tajikistan.
Russia media outlets report the conference participants decided to set up the Regional Counternarcotics Strategic Center in Kabul this year.
We will recall that drug control chiefs from Afghanistan, Pakistan, Russia and Tajikistan signed a joint declaration to set up a Central Asian Anti-Drug Quartet in December 2010.
Meanwhile, during his stay in Kabul, the DCA director had a number of bilateral meetings.
According to the DCA press center, Rustam Nazarov, in particular, held talks with Ahmad Zarar Moqbel, Afghanistan’s Minister of Counter Narcotics. Cooperation between drug control agencies of Tajikistan and Afghanistan in combating illicit drug trafficking was a major topic of the meeting.
Rustam Nazarov’s meeting with Major-General Syed Shakeel Hussain, Director General of the Anti Narcotics Force (ANF) of Pakistan, focused on training of tajik young drug control officers at the training centers in Pakistan, the source said.
