TURKMENISTAN: SOLDIER ARRESTED WITH 50 KILOS

UNCLAS ASHGABAT 000019 SENSITIVE SIPDIS STATE FOR SCA/CEN, INL/AAE BUHLER E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: SNAR KCRM PGOV SOCI TX IR SUBJECT: TURKMENISTAN: SOLDIER ARRESTED WITH 50 KILOS OF OPIUM ¶1. (SBU) Sensitive but unclassified. Not for public Internet. ¶2. (SBU) SUMMARY: A first sergeant in a military unit in Serdar district near the Iran border was reportedly arrested for drug smuggling last week. Immediately following the incident, the Minister of Defense gathered all military unit commanders and singled out the Serdar unit commander with a reprimand. The involvement of military officers and border guards in drug trafficking continues to be a problem in Turkmenistan. END SUMMARY. ¶3. (SBU) A military officer from unit 20016 (Honor Guards) of Ashgabat who is the sister-in-law of an Embassy LES reported that a "starshyna" (rank equivalent to a first sergeant) from the Serdar military unit (a district close to the Turkmen - Iranian border) of Balkan Province was arrested for smuggling 50 kilograms of opium at the end of December. The incident was disclosed by the Ministry of Defense (MOD) during the all Military Unit Commanders meeting that was held in Ashgabat on January 2. MOD Major General Berdiyev was said to be "very angry" at the meeting, reportedly yelling at the commander of the Serdar Military Unit "How come you don't know your personnel or what they are doing!" The commander in question had been appointed only three days before the incident, which was apparently why he was not summarily dismissed and instead was given a written reprimand. ¶4. (SBU) One Embassy contact, a former State Border Service captain who recently left his position, said he doubted that the amount was actually 50 kilos. "50 kilos is a whole lot for a soldier to smuggle alone across the border. Low-ranking soldiers would not smuggle such an amount on their own. If he actually had that amount, he must have done it on the orders of somebody above him, or he was just a scapegoat," said the ex-Captain, and added that the soldier must have been caught not on the border, but at a civilian location. He added that "usually, Iranians get the drugs across the border and pass it to soldiers for resale. Iranians like to do business with military men," he said, because soldiers are more reliable than civilians. Civilians might take the drugs and promise to pay them after the drugs are sold and then run away. By contrast, soldiers are tied to their units and unlikely to abscond. They also have the added advantage of being able to pass easily through checkpoints, he said. ¶5. (SBU) COMMENT: The involvement of military and border officers in the drug trade is reportedly common in Turkmenistan. Low salaries, delays in the payment of salaries and poor working conditions at remote military units can push soldiers to engage in the illegal drug trade. In addition, connections at the check points and military identity documents help them to pass through with minimal scrutiny. END COMMENT. CURRAN