DUSHANBE, October 16, 2014 Asia-Plus — Rustam Nazarzoda, Director of the Drug Control Agency under the Resident of Tajikistan (DCA), yesterday met here with Ms. Ashita Mittal, newly appointed Regional Representative of the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) for Central Asia.
The two reportedly exchanged views on regional and international cooperation in combating drug trafficking.
Tajik drug control chief briefed the UNODC regional representative on the current drug situation in Tajikistan and the region as a whole, the situation on the Tajik-Afghan border and antidrug programs being implemented by the Tajik counternarcotics agency in cooperation with UNODC, OSCE, European, the United States’ INL DEA, and Russia’s Federal Drug Control Service (FSKN).
According to the DCA press center, Nazarzoda noted that construction of the DCA’s offices in Darvoz, Jirgatol and Isfara districts is nearing completion.
The sides also discussed issues related to bilateral cooperation between the DCA and Afghanistan’s Interior Ministry in combating drug trafficking.
More than 18 tons of drugs were reportedly seized and 52 heroin processing labs were discovered and destroyed in Afghanistan in 239 joint operations carried by Tajik drug control officers and their Afghan counterparts. Besides, 313 Afghan nationals were detained for drug trafficking.
UNODC presence in Central Asia began in 1993 with the establishment of the UNODC Regional Office for Central Asia in Tashkent, Uzbekistan. Today there are Program Offices in all five Central Asian States and Azerbaijan.
With a traditional emphasis on building capacity in counter-narcotics through technical assistance, UNODC activities in the region link national projects on border control with regional projects developing intelligence analysis systems and joint operations. These include: the Central Asia Regional Information and Coordination Center in Almaty; precursor chemical control; border liaison office project; national drug control agencies; and intelligence lead policing. All this work is carried out in close cooperation with national and international partners and donors.
