DUSHANBE, March 6, 2009, Asia-Plus — According to annual US narcotics study reporting on global trends in illicit drug trade, Central Asia’s states remain major drug transit routes.
The State Department’s 2009 International Narcotics Control Strategy Report, issued on February 27, shows that the former Soviet Central Asian republics, while not major drug-producing nations, act as transit routes for illicit narcotics produced elsewhere in the region.
The report describes efforts to attack all aspects of the international drug trade on a country-by-country basis. It acknowledges the Central Asian nations’ commitment to work with each other, but observes that such efforts are hampered by corruption and a lack of resources, equipment and training.
The 26th annual report covers the year 2008. According to the report, the five Central Asian republics have minimal internal production of illicit narcotics or chemicals used to manufacture drugs, but are major transit corridors for heroin and opium originating in Afghanistan and destined for markets in Russia, Western Europe and America. It also cites evidence of trafficking in Afghan opiates to and through China. Problems continue to rise with a greater incidence of narcotics abuse in the region itself, the report adds, citing a number of country-specific developments.
In Tajikistan, there is a growing need for drug rehabilitation and treatment, and the country’s medical infrastructure is inadequate to address the problem, a shortcoming of which the government is aware, the report said.
Tajik counternarcotics efforts are hampered by corruption, but Tajikistan continues to implement counternarcotics activities that the UN Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) states yield more seizures than all other Central Asian states combined.
According to the study, Tajikistan suffers from a boom in Afghan drug production and is a major center for drug trafficking organizations, which transport major amounts of opium and heroin via land routes through Tajikistan and other Central Asian countries, and into Russia and Europe.
The 2009 International Narcotics Control Strategy Report is a two-volume publication; the first volume covers drug and chemical control; the second discusses money laundering and financial crimes.
