DUSHANBE, December 13, 2011, Asia-Plus — A large-scale anti-drug operation, dubbed Channel-2011, was carried out within the Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO) are from December 5 to December 12, press release issued by the CSTO on December 13 said.
During a week, the relevant bodies of the CSTO member nations carried out a concerted work to prevent activities of drug smuggling groups within the CSTO area.
Police and security, customs and border services as well as financial intelligence units from the CSTO member nations and observer countries such as Azerbaijan, Afghanistan, Venezuela, Iran, Italy, China, Latvia, Lithuania, Pakistan, Poland, the United States, Ukraine and Estonia, reportedly participated in the regional anti-drug operation.
The operation, involving nearly 15,000 people, resulted in the seizure of some 16,000 kilograms of narcotics, including more than 500 kilograms of heroin, more than 90 kilograms of synthetic narcotics, more than 9,000 kilograms of raw opium, 1,500 kilograms of marijuana, 2,300 kilograms of hashish, some 130 kilograms of cocaine as well more than 30,000 kilograms of precursors. Besides, 200 firearms and more than 35,000 rounds of ammunition have been intercepted in the operation.
During the report period, more than 4,000 drug-related crimes have been detected and some 4,000 people have been arrested on drug charges.
The regional security organization was initially formed in 1992 for a five-year period by the members of the CIS Collective Security Treaty (CST) — Armenia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Russia, Tajikistan, and Uzbekistan, which were joined by Azerbaijan, Georgia, and Belarus the following year. A 1994 treaty “reaffirmed the desire of all participating states to abstain from the use or threat of force,” and prevented signatories from joining any “other military alliances or other groups of states” directed against members states. The CST was then extended for another five-year term in April 1999, and was signed by the presidents of Armenia, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Russia, and Tajikistan. In October 2002, the group was renamed as the CSTO. Uzbekistan became a full participant in the CSTO on June 23, 2006; and its membership was formally ratified by the Uzbek parliament on 28 March 2008. The CSTO is currently an observer organization at the United Nations General Assembly.
