DUSHANBE, September 20, 2008, Asia-Plus – Production of heroin has increased considerably this year, Alexander Bokov, head of the CIS Organized Crime Combating Coordination Bureau, announced at a meeting with reporters in Dushanbe on September 19 following the second meeting of chiefs of drug control departments within the customs and special services from member nations of the CIS.
The two-day meeting that was held in the Tajik capital on September 18-19 was dedicated to consider issues related to coordination and interaction in carrying out joint operation, investigating criminal groups with international ties, as well as exchange of information on combating drug trafficking.
The meeting participants included representatives from Tajikistan, the Russian Federation. Armenia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Moldova, Ukraine, and Uzbekistan, as well as the CIS Executive Committee.
Speaking to reporters, Lieutenant-General Bokov who had presided over the meeting said that 4.8 tons of heroin have been seized in the Central Asian region since the beginning of this year, which is nearly two times more than in the same period of last year, when 2.5 tons of heroin were seized in the region.
Noting considerable increase in production of narcotic drugs in Afghanistan, Bokov said that the overall volume of opium production in Afghanistan is expected to have reached 8,200 tons this year. “It means that 820 tons of heroin will be produced, which 200 tons more than in 2006,” he said.
The Organized Crime Combating Coordination Bureau was set up for the purposes of cooperation to combat crime in the territory of CIS Member States and is at present located in Moscow.
