By president’s decree director of the counter narcotics agency of Tajikistan has been replaced.
The Tajik president’s official website says that by president’s decree issued on January 27 Habibullo Vohidzoda was relieved of his post of Director of the Drug Control Agency under the Government of the President of Tajikistan in connection with transfer to another job.
Zafar Samad, who previously served at the First Deputy Director of the Drug Control Agency, was appointed to head it.
Established in 2000 through joint efforts by the Government of Tajikistan and the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC), the Drug Control Agency (DCA) supports law enforcement and provides capacity-building, policy and legislative advice to Government institutions as part of efforts to combat drug trafficking.
The Agency has been instrumental in stemming the flow of opiates from Afghanistan via Central Asia and the Russian Federation to Europe. The Agency has provided information leading to numerous regional drug control actions.
In addition to drug seizures, the Agency has been helping to increase the knowledge and capacity of institutions to deal with drug trafficking. In 2004, it set up an analytical center to assist operational and investigation departments in ongoing operations. A mobile units department was established and incorporated into the Agency's structure in 2006, and two new mobile unit offices were inaugurated in Ishkashim and Murgab districts of the Gorno Badakhshan Autonomous Region (GBAO) in 2011.
The Agency has entered into collaborative agreements with law enforcement bodies and special services in Afghanistan, China, the Islamic Republic of Iran, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, the Russian Federation, Ukraine and Uzbekistan. Additionally, three liaison offices had operated in northern Afghanistan (in Kunduz, Takhor and Badakhshan provinces).
