Pubdate: Sun, 10 Aug 2003
Source: Taipei Times, The (Taiwan)
Copyright: 2003 The Taipei Times
Contact:  http://www.taipeitimes.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/1553
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/heroin.htm (Heroin)

HEROIN CULTIVATION A GROWING CONCERN IN TAJIKISTAN

LOST CAUSE: The US-led anti-terrorism campaign in Afghanistan caused a 
brief lull in drug trafficking, but heroin production has recently 
increased at an alarming rate

Warrant Officer Amirali Niyozov and his men trekked for five hours to reach 
the isolated mountain spot near the Afghan border where they had been 
tipped a drug drop was going down.

After four hours lying in wait, Niyozov heard footsteps: Afghans were 
making their way across the barren slopes.

"Who's there?" he shouted, firing warning shots into the air before 
training them on the suspected drug traffickers. They returned fire -- and 
then melted away into the night, leaving behind 31kg of drugs.

It was another frustrating night for Niyozov. He has the unenviable job of 
hunting down the smugglers who have turned the Tajik border into a favorite 
transit point for drugs going to users in Russia and Europe.

Despite the mountainous terrain and dangers of minefields, traffickers 
routinely sneak past Tajik and Russian border guards.

"There's no way to stop them," Niyozov, sporting a black cowboy hat with 
matching black vest stuffed with ammunition clips. "They will always find a 
way."

The US-led anti-terrorism campaign in neighboring Afghanistan after the 
Sept. 11 terror attacks caused a brief lull in drug traffic through this 
Central Asian nation.

But in the first six months of this year, law enforcement officers seized 
nearly 5.2 tonnes of narcotics in Tajikistan -- double the amount for the 
same period last year. Experts estimate seizures are only about 10 percent 
of actual traffic.

Major General Rustam Nazarov, head of Tajikistan's UN-supported Drug 
Control Agency, warned the US that it can't afford to ignore the drug issue 
as it seeks to extinguish lingering threats from al-Qaeda and the Taliban 
in Afghanistan.

"Drugs, terrorism and Islamic extremism are all linked. You can't fight 
against terrorism and then say you will fight drugs later," he said in an 
interview. "If we don't solve this problem, then you can worry about a 
bigger problem than what happened in New York," Nazarov said, referring to 
the Sept. 11 attacks.

The drugs aren't just passing harmlessly through Tajikistan either. The 
number of addicts is on the rise -- officially about 9,000, according to 
Nazarov, but the actual number is believed to be 55,000 or more.

Increased drug use is also causing a spike in HIV cases, though official 
figures are still small. The number of registered AIDS cases is now 92, up 
from four a few years ago, Nazarov said.

Faridun Sharopov, a patient at the main drug treatment clinic on the 
outskirts of the capital Dushanbe, said he started smoking marijuana in 
1992 as the country descended into civil war and injecting heroin seven 
years later.

"When it first appeared, [heroin] was as cheap as a bottle of beer. People 
even gave it away for free," he said in an unsteady voice at the clinic, a 
collection of rundown concrete buildings on the edge of town. "We didn't 
know such a strong thing existed."

UN drug officials say heroin production in Afghanistan is shifting to the 
north to take advantage of trafficking routes through former Soviet Central 
Asia and because of increased enforcement in traditional opium-growing 
areas in southern Afghanistan, where most US anti-terror operations are 
being conducted.

Northern Afghanistan is largely left to the control of regional warlords, 
who Nazarov alleged are still involved in drug trafficking to help fund 
their private armies -- just as they were before international troops arrived.

Tajikistan gets help policing its 1,200km border with Afghanistan from more 
than 10,000 Russian border guards, mostly Tajiks working on contract under 
Russian supervision. A second line of defense is formed by Tajik border guards.

Colonel Saidato Merzoev, commander of the more than 700 Tajik border guards 
in Shurobod region, said traffickers use satellite phones to coordinate 
drops, and often have night-vision equipment and wear Russian uniforms to 
fool guards. Informants advise them when troops are eating so they can time 
their illegal forays across the border.

In contrast, the ill-equipped Tajik border guards don't even have 
walkie-talkies to call their base for help while on patrol. At one border 
post, guards were seen using an old gun sight to peer across the Pyandzh 
River to Afghanistan because they have no binoculars.

Merzoev also faces challenges from the local population, many of whom see 
the drug trade as one of the few ways to make money in this impoverished 
country, one of the poorest in the world.

"Even if the Americans, French, Russians or whoever send troops here, the 
traffic would still happen," he said.
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MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom