TURKMENISTAN: GOVERNMENT'S TOUTED CRACKDOWN ON THE DRUG

UNCLAS ASHGABAT 000953 SENSITIVE SIPDIS STATE FOR SCA/CEN, INL E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: SNAR PGOV KCRM SOCI TX SUBJECT: TURKMENISTAN: GOVERNMENT'S TOUTED CRACKDOWN ON THE DRUG TRADE IS NOT APPARENT TO THE PUBLIC REF: Ashgabat 184 ¶1. (U) Sensitive but unclassified. Not for public Internet. ¶2. (SBU) SUMMARY: Turkmenistan's local press continue to report an increase in arrests and convictions of drug dealers. Ashgabat residents, however, are skeptical about the government's so-called "rigorous measures" to crack down on drug criminals, and say that many neighborhoods in the city are still rife with drugs. Officers of the State Counter-Narcotics Service say that a lack of resources is preventing them from conducting effective operations. END SUMMARY. ¶3. (U) On July 17th, the Ashgabat weekly "Adalat" (Justice) published an article reporting that a resident of Lebap province, Bahram Orazbayev, had been sentenced to eight years in prison for purchasing three grams of heroin from two Ashgabat drug dealers identified in court documents as "Haydar" and "Serdar." ¶4. (U) Similarly, the July 24th issue of Adalat reported another drug conviction, that of Toyly Kurrikov, an alleged drug dealer from Ashgabat. He was sentenced to 12 years in prison. ¶5. (SBU) Despite an increasing number of reports of drug dealers being arrested and convicted, some Ashgabat residents are sceptical about the efficiency or enthusiasm of law enforcement officials in confronting the drug problem. Andrey, a resident of the city's 6th Microdistrict, said that a group of drug dealers have operated out of his apartment building for the past ten years. "Everyone in the neighborhood knows about them. Drug addicts appear daily at the same time, almost like people reporting to work. Why don't the police do anything about it?" he said. Likewise, a resident of Ashgabat's "Khitrovka" district, Vladimir, criticized the State Counter-Narcotics Service (SCNS) for doing nothing to stop a well-known drug dealer living next-door to his apartment on Grajdanskaya street. "Every one of the neighbors will testify that he has been selling drugs out of his home for years, but the SCNS has never tried to arrest him," he said. ¶6. (SBU) Meanwhile, SCNS officers complain of a lack of resources, and emphasize the difficulty of conducting undercover operations. For instance, an SCNS Lieutenant assigned to the town of Tejen (a well-known center of drug crimes in Ahal province) explained that it is increasingly difficult to apprehend drug dealers. "Our office is understaffed: There are only two field officers, in addition to the chief of directorate assigned to all of Tejen District. All of the drug addicts and dealers know us and the (Russian-made) Lada cars that we drive. Although we change the license plates, they still recognize our cars. It is hard to conduct a surveillance operation when everyone knows you and your car. When we come to a neighborhood, all of the drug dealers run away. When we send informants out to buy drugs, they know better than to sell to them. They are all becoming more suspicious and cautious." Another SCNS field officer, Senior Lieutenant Berdi, said that he experiences similar problems where he is assigned in Balkan Province, and added that besides a lack of staffing and insufficient vehicles, they lack even basic equipment, such as handcuffs and batons. ¶7. (SBU) COMMENT: In the absence of official statistics, it is hard to determine how effective law enforcement efforts actually are in combating the drug trade in Turkmenistan. SCNS officials admit that although they have received 14 million USD from the president for capacity-building in the past two years, they are still 40% understaffed and lack much equipment vital for their operations. The Embassy's INL project is in the process of donating two light vehicles and twenty narcotics identification systems to the SCNS, with delivery expected next week. END COMMENT. CURRAN