DUSHANBE, March 31, 2009, Asia-Plus — Lately, a number of Russian media released a series of tendentious reports on the drug situation in Tajikistan, Fakhriddin Jonmahmadov, an official with the Drug Control Agency (DCA), remarked at a roundtable meeting in Dushanbe on March 31.
The meeting, staged by Tajik Journalists’ Union, brought together senior representatives from the DCA, Ministry of Interior (MoI) and the Customs Service to discuss issues related to drug smuggling from Afghanistan and coverage of this subject in CIS media.
“Some of these reports say without any proof that allegedly some 300 trucks proceed via crossings on Tajik-Afghan border per day and each second of them has heroin hidden in it,” said the DCA official, “In the meantime, four automotive bridges and one ferry function along the Tajik-Afghan border and according to official data, not more than 15-20 trucks proceed via them per day. Moreover, vehicles and passengers undergo thorough customs and border control with use of special technical equipment and trained dogs.”
According to him, only one case of drug smuggling has been reported this year at the bridge across the Panj River joining Tajikistan’s Nizhny Panj and Afghanistan’s Shekhon Bandar that was nicknamed by ill-wishers as “heroin bridge.”
Representatives from Tajik law enforcement agencies that attending the meeting expressed concern that some Russian media claimed that some 60 percent of Afghan drugs traveled to Russia through Tajikistan. They lament Russian guards” withdrawal from Tajik-Afghan border, claiming that after withdrawal of Russian border troops the border patrol situation deteriorated and drug trafficking increased.
“In fact, the situation on the Tajik-Afghan border has not changed essentially after withdrawal of Russian border guards,” Jonmahmadov said. He, in particular, noted that in first half-year of 2005, when Russian border guards were still deployed on the Tajik-Afghan border, little more than 4.6 tons of drugs were seized in the country, while in recent years, the volumes of detained drugs have increased and in 2008, more than six tons of drugs were seized in Tajikistan.
Speaking at the meeting, Deputy Interior Minister, Sharif Nazarov, noted that the main problem of Tajikistan was the fact that the country remained one of transit routes for opiates smuggled from Afghanistan to Russia. “Many Russia media are imposing the stereotype, under which Tajiks are associated with drug smuggling, while not only Tajiks are involved in drug trafficking and Tajikistan is not the only conduit for narcotics,” he said.
