DUSHANBE, October 12, Asia-Plus – This year’s raw opium harvest is expected to reach 6,100 tons, Tajik drug control chief Rustam Nazarov said at a briefing in Dushanbe today.
He added that the opium production in Afghanistan in 2004 4,100 tons.
“Of course, this will affect drug situation in all countries, through which Afghan heroin, marijuana and opium are being smuggled,” Tajikistan’s Drug Control Agency (DCA) director said, pointing to the necessity of combing efforts of international community to fight this evil.
“As far as our state is concerned, it has become the front-line against drug trafficking,” said the Tajik drug control kingpin, “Tajikistan has been and remains reliable shield on the way of smuggling of Afghan drugs to the Central Asian countries, Russia and Europe.”
Nazarov also expressed dissatisfaction with prejudiced coverage of the drug trafficking theme by Russian media. He noted that 24,000 people have been detained in Russia this year on suspicion of having been involved in drug trafficking, “and only hundredth of them is our fellow-countrymen.” “Since the beginning of this year, 242 Tajik nationals have been detained in the Russian Federation on suspicion of having been involved in drug pushing, which is only 1% of a total number of those detained in Russia over the same period for similar crime,” said Nazarov, “Looking through Russia newspaper one can form the impression that only Tajiks are involved in drug pushing in Russia.”
Officers from the Tajik counternarcotics agency have intercepted 1,161 kilograms of drugs over the past nine months. The totaled included 405 kilograms of heroin, 520 kilograms of raw opium and 235 kilograms of cannabis. Besides, the DCA officers have seized three explosives, 14 firearms and 914 bullets of different caliber over the same nine-month period.
40 joint operations carried out by the DCA in cooperation with other law enforcement agencies of Tajikistan and special services of the CIS states and Afghanistan in January-September this year have led to the seizure of 1,026 kilograms drugs, with 446 kilograms of them being heroin.
