UNODC REPORTS MAJOR UPSURGE IN HEROIN FROM IRAN, SUGGESTS SIGNIFICANT IRANIAN DRUG PROCESSING ACTIVITY (BAKU 911 CORRECTED COPY)

S E C R E T SECTION 01 OF 04 BAKU 000917



NOFORN

SIPDIS



E.O. 12958: DECL: 09/24/2028

TAGS: SNAR, PINR, IR, AJ, AM, TU

SUBJECT: UNODC REPORTS MAJOR UPSURGE IN HEROIN FROM IRAN,

SUGGESTS SIGNIFICANT IRANIAN DRUG PROCESSING ACTIVITY

(BAKU 911 CORRECTED COPY)



Classified By: JOEL R. Garverick, Reasons 1.4 (b and d)



1. (S/NF) Summary: UNODC Baku reports that trans-shipment of

heroin and other opiates from Iran through Azerbaijan has

skyrocketed. Total heroin seizures by GOAJ security

authorities increased from twenty kilos to over 250 kilos

in 2007. These seizures accounted for less than five

percent of the total volume of heroin entering Azerbaijan,

and about 95 percent of this heroin enters Azerbaijan from

Iran, nearly all headed for the European market. UNODC

cited increasing interdiction of alternative routes through

Turkish Kurdistan and alleged ethnic Azeri control of the

Russian drug mafia as among the likely contributing factors

to this upsurge, and asserted that trans-shipment of heroin

from Iran to the Black Sea via Azerbaijani territories

controlled by Armenia remains a problem.



2. (S/NF) According to the UNODC officer, the large majority

of heroin seized in Azerbaijan is "ready for market," with

much being processed in Iranian laboratories: about 85

percent enters Azerbaijan from Iran by land, and the rest

by sea routes. He described Azerbaijani and Iranian

cooperation in combating this trade as "only superficial."

A new regional information-sharing center based in

Kazakhstan may be a bright light in the regional

anti-narcotics picture, but Iran has reportedly rebuffed

proposals that it join the current six-nation group

(Central Asian countries plus Azerbaijan). End Summary.



Meeting with UNODC - Azerbaijan

--------------



3. (S/NF) Baku Iran watcher met on September 12 Fuad

Hashim-zadeh (strictly protect),the Baku-based

United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC)

officer specializing in trans-border narcotics

trafficking. The Baku UNODC office is only about 18

months old, and exists as an appendage to the regional

UNODC office in Tashkent. A separate UNODC officer

focuses on internal Azerbaijan narcotics issues.

Hashim-zadeh said that UNODC does not have a presence

in either Armenia or Georgia, and was only established

in Baku after a specific request to UNODC Executive

Director Antonio Maria Costa for anti-narcotics

assistance from Azerbaijan President Ilham Aliyev.



4. (S/NF) Hashim-zadeh noted that, perhaps due to

Aliyev's personal interest, both he and UNODC generally

enjoy a good relationship with Azerbaijan government

entities, including its two primary anti-narcotics

security forces, the Ministry of Interior (MOI) and

the Ministry of National Security (MNS). According to

Hashim-zadeh, the latter has the effective GOAJ lead on

narcotic trans-shipment and foreign narcotics activity

intelligence. These opiates and heroin are not produced

in Azerbaijan, unlike marijuana and hashish (which were

not the focus of September 12 discussion). Hashim-zadeh

offered a great deal of information on the regional and

local heroin trans-shipment picture, based on his

professional work, liaison with other UNODC staff and

headquarters, and contacts with GOAJ security.



Major Surge in Iran-Azerbaijan Heroin Shipments

-------------- --------------



5. (S/NF) According to Hashim-zadeh, in 2003 the Azerbaijani

authorities seized about two kilos of heroin during the

entire year. In calendar year 2006 a total of about 20

kilos was seized. In 2007 Azerbaijani authorities seized

168 kilos of heroin in one bust, the biggest in Azerbaijan's

history, and recovered more than 250 kilos of heroin in 2007

overall. Based on information from Azerbaijani authorities

including Ministry of National Security officers, he

asserted that most or all of the seized heroin was

"ready for market" (i.e., had been processed in a lab),

and that about 95 percent of it entered Azerbaijan from Iran.



6. (S/NF) Hashim-zadeh said that while official government



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sources claim that these seizures accounted for most of the

narcotic substances entering the country, MNS and other

government sources privately estimate that the seized

heroin actually represents no more than five percent of

the total volume being trans-shipped.



Possible Contributing Factors

--------------



7. (S/NF) Apart from some intrinsic factors favoring this

route, Hashim-zadeh cited an increased presence of

Turkish security forces in Turkish Kurdistan and along

the Turkish/Iraqi border. He speculated that this

development has complicated some traditional narcotics

trafficking routes into Europe, leading to a diversion to

the trans-Azerbaijan route. He added that "it is well

known that the Russian narcotics mafia is run by (ethnic)

Azeris," and said that this could be a supplementary factor.

He said that potential new drug trafficking developments in

Iran, e.g., alleged expansion of narcotics infrastructure

in Tabriz, is a possible additional factor. According to

Hashim-zadeh, the vast majority of heroin entering Azerbaijan

is headed for Western Europe, via either an Iran-Azerbaijan

Georgia-Black Sea or an Iran-Azerbaijan Russia-Baltic route,

in addition to an alleged Armenian-controlled route.



Land versus Sea Entries

--------------



8. (S/NF) Citing Azerbaijani security sources, the UNODC

officer

estimated that about 85 percent of the Iran-origin heroin is

entering Azerbaijan via land borders. He said that

approximately 15 percent is entering via the Caspian Sea,

mainly via trucks or containers on commercial ferries

originating in Turkmenistan (following route

Afghanistan-Iran-Turkmenistan). He added that the latter

route may be becoming more attractive to drug smugglers,

as he claimed that overlapping Azerbaijani security

monitoring and management attention at ports is less

comprehensive than that at official land crossings.



Alleged Iran-Armenian Routes

--------------



9. (S/NF) Noting that twenty percent of Azerbaijan's official

border with Iran is currently occupied by Armenia (as a

result of the unresolved Armenia-Azerbaijan war) and not

controlled by Azerbaijani authorities, Hashim-zadeh

cautioned that the above estimates do not include any

heroin shipments that may be following an

Iran-Occupied Territories-Armenia-Black Sea route.

Hashem-Zadeh asserted that some UNODC headquarters officers,

as well as Azerbaiajni authorities, believe that several such

routes exist, and that the volume of narcotics pursuing this

route probably exceeds that entering the rest of Azerbaijan.

Hashim-zadeh observed that Armenia is "starved for hard

currency," and alleged that UNODC as well as Azerbaijani

officials believe that senior Armenian political and

government

officials, including former President Tar-Petrossian, are

personally profiting from this trade. (Note: Hashim-Zadeh is

an ethnic Azeri, and his lurid assertions about Armenia need

separate confirmation. End Note).



Limited Iranian Government Cooperation

--------------



10. (S/NF) While agreeing that the UNODC's Teheran office has

been relatively upbeat in its reporting about Iranian

government

anti-narcotics trafficking activities, Hashim-Zadeh was

somewhat dismissive of this, claiming that this office is

looking for renewed donor-funding and has a strong incentive

to

accentuate the positive. In fact, he insisted, the Iranian

authorities provide virtually no useful information to UNODC,

InterPol, or neighboring countries relating to narcotics



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entering Azerbaijan or Armenia from Iran, and virtually no

information about narcotics transhipment activities inside

Iran

"outside of the immediate (Iran-Afghanistan and

Iran-Pakistan)

border areas." In this vein, he claimed that there is only

superficial anti-narcotics cooperation between Iranian and

Azerbaijani authorities, with Iranian authorities blaming

all narcotics trafficking on third-country nationals.

Basically, he said, the Iranians stress their border seizures

and (like some Azerbaijan officials) "basically claim to be

getting it all."



New Information on Alleged Iranian Heroin Processing

-------------- --------------



11. (S/NF) Hashim-zadeh speculated that Iran may be emerging

as

a major processing as well as transshipment center for

Western-Europe bound heroin. He said that interrogations and

other intelligence over the last six months suggest that a

significant amount of raw heroin and opiates are being

processed in laboratories in Tabriz, and perhaps other

locations in Iran. Although acknowledging that, as far as he

knows, this information is unconfirmed, he agreed to provide

recent statistics on regional seizures of processed versus

raw

opiates that may buttress the allegation that significant

processing is occurring in Iran. He opined that Azerbaijan's

MNS has intelligence operatives in Tabriz, and may be able to

provide more concrete data on this topic.



CARIC - A Bright Light?

--------------



12. (S/NF) Hashim-zadeh called the recently-established

Central

Asian Regional Information Center (CARIC) a potential "bright

spot" in the regional counter narcotics trafficking

cooperation picture. He said that CARIC was established

about six months ago in Almaty, Kazakhstan under UNODC

sponsorship and with major donor support from the USG and the

EU. Its staff includes anti-narcotics security officials

seconded by each of the central Asian countries plus

Azerbaijan. He was upbeat about its progress, noting that

the Russian government recently reversed its previously

diffident posture toward this organization and is in the

process of negotiating its entry. According to Hashim-zadeh,

the Iranian government has so far rebuffed invitations to

participate in the new anti-narcotics group, but has

indicated that it will reconsider the issue if Russia joins.



13. (S/NF) Bio note: Hashim-zadeh has Azerbaijani

citizenship,

but spent two years in the USA getting a Masters degree in

international relations at Missouri State. He has worked for

the UN since 1994 (initially with UNDP),and for UNODC since

2004.

He has excellent English, is extremely articulate, and

appears

to have a strong grasp of his portfolio and substantial

knowledge of wider local and regional issues.



INL Comment

--------------



14. (S/NF) The UNODC officer's information on the flow of

heroin

from Iran gels with our impressions. While the Ministry of

National Security has made great strides in the last year

interdicting heroin shipments being trafficked from Iran, the

State Customs Committee and State Border Service lag far

behind.



15. (S/NF) Although the State Customs Committee has, by all

accounts, exceptional drug K-9 units, they are seldom

utilized for narcotics interdiction purposes. On several

occasions when INL accompanied EXBS program advisor on visits



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to the southern border of Azerbaijan, Customs Committee

officers

and K-9's seemed disinterested or unable to effectively

search

vehicles crossing the border.



DERSE