UZBEKISTAN: FERGHANA LAW ENFORCEMENT OFFICIALS PUTTING

1. (C) On January 21, Poloff and Export Control and Related Border
Security (EXBS) Program Assistant visited Ferghana Province's
Department of Internal Affairs of the Ministry of Internal Affairs
(MVD). Emboffs conducted end-use monitoring of counternarcotics
equipment that the International Narcotics and Law Enforcement
(INL) Program provided to Uzbekistan in 2004. (Note: This
equipment includes a video camera, six tape recorders, three
digital cameras, a TV, and a VCR. End note.) Deputy Head of the
Counternarcotics Section Ikhtiyor Mulajanov greeted Emboffs and
escorted them around the Department's facilities. On the way to
the Counternarcotics Section, Emboffs observed a masked,
blue-uniformed man armed with a sniper rifle standing atop one of
the buildings--Mulajanov refused to comment on this, however.

How Counternarcotics Equipment is Used


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



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





2. (C) At the Counternarcotics Section, Mulajanov showed Emboffs
the equipment provided under the auspices of INL. He noted
apologetically that some of the equipment had been lost since 2004,
but noted that the officers responsible for this had purchased new
replacements themselves. He presented this for Emboffs'
inspection. Mulajanov said that the MVD uses this equipment on
almost a daily basis, and that it was useful for undercover
counternarcotics work. He explained that the MVD conducts
"controlled purchase" operations, and an undercover drug buyer will
carry a hidden recorder on his body during the operation. Another
MVD official will use the video camera from a distance to monitor
the controlled purchase. MVD officials also will use the video
camera to monitor fields where drugs are planted--while Uzbekistan
does not produce heroin or hashish, poppy is grown in the country,
he continued. Roughly 20-25 MVD officers use the equipment. He
remarked that they had received equipment only from the U.S.
Embassy and from MVD Headquarters in Tashkent--no other countries
or organizations had provided them with this.

Coordination and Results of Counternarcotics Efforts


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



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




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





3. (C) The Ferghana Department for Internal Affairs cooperates
actively with the National Security Service, which has officials
with counternarcotics responsibilities. Mulajanov also noted that
MVD officers work with Customs at the border as well as the
Ministry of Health. By weight, Ferghana MVD officials seize
primarily marijuana and hashish. Heroin has a larger market, and
officials have had a greater number of heroin seizures, but in
smaller amounts than marijuana or hashish. The Ferghana Department
for Internal Affairs sends seized heroin, opium, and hashish to the
National Security Service, and sends marijuana to investigators and
courts, who later dispose of it. Mulajanov noted that
representatives from the department also work to prevent young
people from using drugs by giving lectures at universities,
colleges, and schools. He also said that MVD officials have
changed how they go about investigating narcotics-related crimes;
before, they could check anyone they suspected of using drugs, but
now evidence, such as a formal complaint from somone, is necessary
before they conduct such searches.

Training for MVD Officers


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





4. (C) MVD officers in Ferghana generally undergo four years of
training at the MVD Academy in Tashkent. About 95 percent of those
serving at the Ferghana Department for Internal Affairs had done
this, Mulajanov estimated. Uzbekistan has additional training
courses in Samarkand and Tashkent of up to one month at a time for
its personnel. Russia from time to time also sponsors two-week
training courses for Ferghana MVD officials in Moscow, he
continued.

TASHKENT 00000147 002 OF 002



Comment:


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





5. (C) Mulajanov's relatively open discussion of MVD's activities
in Ferghana contrasts with the more tight-lipped Border Guards in
Andijon that Emboffs interacted with the previous day (reftel).
The Ferghana Department for Internal Affairs appears to be
maintaining and effectively using INL-supplied equipment in support
of its counternarcotics efforts.
NORLAND

To view the entire SMART message, go to URL http://repository.state.sgov.gov/_layouts/OSS SearchResults.aspx?k=messageid:6e233b49-ae64- 4fd4-a0f5-bab3f0efdf79