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. -------------- -- CSTO WILLING COOPERATION WITH SCO, NATO AND EU -------------- -- ¶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. -------------- OPERATION "KANAL" -------------- ¶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. -------------- UNIFIED DATABASE AND LEGISLATION -------------- ¶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. -------------- OPIUM HARVEST -------------- ¶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