DUSHANBE, October 18, Asia-Plus – Tajikistan has stood first among member nations of the Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO) in terms of the amount of drugs seized during the second stage of the counternarcotics operation, dubbed Channel 2006, that was held from October 9 to October 15.
According to the Tajik Drug Control Agency (DCA), the operation was carried out in accordance with a decision of heads of the CSTO member nations on discovering channels through which narcotics, psychotropic substances and precursors are smuggled into the territory of the Organization’s member countries.
The CSTO members are Armenia, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Russia, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan.
A source in the Tajik counternarcotics agency said that over the mentioned period, officers from the DCA and Tajik border troops had seized 441 kilograms of drugs. The totaled included more than 125 kilograms of heroin, some 207 kilograms of raw opium and 110 kilograms of cannabis. Besides, they have seized six firearms over this period.
According to international coordinating staff for carrying out the Channel 2006 operation, more than 168 kilograms of heroin and 290 kilograms of raw opium were intercepted during the second stage of the operation. Thus, Tajikistan accounts for 74 percent of heroin and 71 percent of raw opium that were seized during the operation.
Representatives form special services of Lithuania, Latvia, Poland, the United States, Ukraine, Finland and Estonia attended the operation as observers. The first stage of the operation was held in May this year.
