KAZAKHSTAN - CSTO COUNTER-NARCOTICS MEETING

UNCLAS ASTANA 000672

SIPDIS

STATE FOR INL/AAE (BALABANIAN),INL/C, SCA/CEN (O'MARA)

SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: SNAR ASEC PREL KCOR KCRM PREL KZ

SUBJECT: KAZAKHSTAN - CSTO COUNTER-NARCOTICS MEETING


1. Summary: On March 27, the Ministry of Internal Affairs of
Kazakhstan (MVD) held a meeting in Astana of the Coordination
Council of the Heads of Competent Bodies on Combating Illegal Drugs
Trafficking (CCBCD) of the Collective Security Treaty Organization
(CSTO). The participants discussed the current status and
development of CCBCD, results of the Kanal-2007 operations, the drug
situation in CSTO member-countries, and measures to improve the
CCBCD's fight against drugs. End summary.

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CSTO WILLING COOPERATION WITH SCO, NATO AND EU
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2. During the meeting, the SCTO extended an invitation to the
Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO),NATO, and the EU to work in
cooperation with the CSTO. This meeting was the first attended by
SCO General Secretary Bolat Nurgaliyev. CSTO General Secretary
Nikolai Bordyuzha proposed that the CSTO and SCO unite their efforts
against the trafficking of drugs from Afghanistan. (Note: At the
June 2004 SCO summit, held in Tashkent, Uzbekistan, a Regional
Antiterrorism Structure (RATS) was established. On April 26, 2006,
the SCO announced plans to fight cross-border drug crimes as part of
the fight against terrorism. End Note.)

3. On March 27, Bordyuzha met with President Nazarbayev and
discussed a proposal to the EU to cooperate in countering drug
trafficking and illegal migration and other possible international
cooperation.

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OPERATION "KANAL"
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4. Participants in the meeting raised the issue of reorganizing the
Kanal Operation, which is an international anti-narcotics operation,
into a continuing project. Though the operation was initiated by
CSTO countries, nineteen other countries joined it last year.
Representatives from anti-narcotics units of Azerbaijan, Iran,
China, Latvia, Lithuania, Mongolia, Pakistan, Poland, the U.S.,
Ukraine, Finland, and Estonia took part in this operation as
observers. For the first time, Afghanistan and Turkmenistan also
joined the operation.


5. In 2007, Operation Kanal was conducted in two stages: August 28
through September 3 and November 27 through December 3. The aim of
the operation was to detect and stop narcotics trafficking, create
anti-narcotics security zones around Afghanistan, block
inter-regional and international channels for delivery of synthetic
drugs from European countries, and disrupt clandestine laboratories
producing synthetic drugs. Representatives of the National
Security, Internal Affairs, Customs and Border Services
participated. During the first stage of the operation, Kazakhstani
law enforcement bodies seized 1,608 kilos of drugs, including 1.5
tons of marijuana, approximately 17 kilos of hashish, and over seven
kilos of heroin.

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UNIFIED DATABASE AND LEGISLATION
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6. The meeting participants discussed approval of information
resources to be included in the CCBCD's unified database. These
resources may include information on drug dealers,
narco-trafficking, psychotropic substances and precursors. Russia
has allotted some budget resources for the development of software
to improve the unified database. CCBCD has become an international
center for combating the drug threat in Eurasia. Bordyuzha stated
that it is necessary to continue setting up a mechanism for
confidential information exchange between the law enforcement bodies

SIPDIS
and special services of the CSTO countries.

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OPIUM HARVEST
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7. As the opium harvest increases, criminals continue using Central
Asia for the transit, sale, and distribution of narcotics. The SCTO
expects that closer cooperation with Uzbekistan, Turkmenistan and,
most importantly, with Afghanistan will lead to more opportunity to
counter the expansion of drugs from Afghanistan.

ORDWAY