REPUBLIC OF Azerbaijan

ECO DCCU Country Profile 2003

1999,2000

 

 
 

 

 

Basic Country Facts

 

Geography/topography

 

Azerbaijan is located in Southwestern Asia between Iran and Russia and has a total area of approximately 86,600 square kilometers (86,100 sq. km of land area and 500 sq. km of water area). Except for its eastern Caspian shoreline and some areas bordering Georgia and Iran, Azerbaijan is ringed by mountains. The length of the state frontier of the Republic of Azerbaijan is 3370,4 km;  with Iran it is 765 km, Russian Federation 390,4 km, Georgia 480 km, Turkey 15 km, and Armenia 1007 km, including 713 km on sea.

Three physical features dominate Azerbaijan: the Caspian Sea, whose shoreline forms a natural boundary to the east; the Greater Caucasus mountain range to the north and the extensive flatlands at the country's center. Of the three Transcaucasian states, Azerbaijan has the greatest land area.

 

Demographics and Human Development Index indicators

 

Population (2003):                                            7.8 million

 

GDP per capita (PPP, 2001):                           USD 3,090

                       

Population under 15 years (2003):                    27.7%

           

Human Development Index value (2001):          0.751  

 

 

Illicit Drug Trends

 

Supply Side Trends: Cultivation, Production, Supply and Trafficking

 

Cultivation and Production

 

    Cultivation and production of drugs and related substances in Azerbaijan are prohibited by law. Cultivation of narcotics is low and mostly intended for Comonwealth of Independent States (CIS) consumption. However, cannabis and poppy are cultivated illegally, mostly in southern Azerbaijan. In some provinces self-growing of hemp aws also reported.

            Azerbaijan was identified as one of the main source countries of cannabis resin in 2001.

 

Trafficking

Azerbaijan is located along a drug transit route running from Afghanistan and west Central Asia into Western Europe, and from north Iran into Russia and west Iran into Western Europe. Therefore, Azerbaijan’s main narcotics problem is the transit of drugs through its territory. According to Azerbaijan officials, continual aggression of Armenia against Azaerbaijan makes a severe impact on situation in relation to fight with illicit drug trafficking. As a result of this aggression a part of state frontier with 132 km lenght tuned out to under control of Armenia military forces, and is a channel for illegal trnsportation of drugs.According to United States and Russian sources, illegal narcotics including opium, hashish and marijuana are assuming a large role in Azerbaijani exports, although official economic indicators do not reflect such commerce. There are several drug trafficking routes in the country as follows:

1.      Afghanistan – Turkmenistan – Azerbaijan – Georgia – Turkey – Europe;

2.      Afghanistan – Iran – Azerbaijan – Georgia – Turkey – Europe;

3.      Russia – Azerbaijan – Georgia – Turkey – Europe;

4.      Iran – Nagornyi Karabakh – Armenia – Europe and Russia;

5.      Uzbekistan – Azerbaijan – Europe.

According to Azerbaijani sources, totally about 5 tons of hard drugs passed the first route during the recent 8-10 years.

Traffickers use sea, rail, air and motor ways, forests and mountain paths, changing the methods of passing the drugs across the state borders. Whereas, in 1994 the foreigners brought to Azerbaijan hard drugs as 0.97 kg of heroin, in 2000-2002 they brought 6-10 kg of it.

Efforts taken against illegal drug trafficking resulted in confiscating 26 kg and 99,9 grams of drugs in 2004. While transporting drugs from Iran to Azerbaijan, the volume of drugs confiscated Azerbaijan frontier was 17 kg and 234,9 gram (66%); from Azerbaijan to Russia, the volume of the confiscated drugs was 1 kg and 35 gram (4%); and from Azerbaijan to Georgia, the volume of drugs confiscated at Azerbaijan frontier was 7 kg and 800 grams(29%).

The representatives of local authorities and law enforcement bodies have carried out operative activities in order to reveal and annihilate 29,6 tons of cannabis and 3,5 tons of opium sowing.

 

 

        

           

Demand Side Trends: Drug Abuse and Related Problems

 

Types of Drugs Consumed

 

Cannabis and opium are the most commonly used drugs in Azerbaijan. In 2000 it was reported that the consumption of opiates had been growing at an alarming rate.

 

Prevalence

 

Availability of drugs in the black market creates conditions for raising the number of consumers. For the recent decade the number of registered drug-addicts has increased more than 8 times as much. While in 1991 there were 25 addicts out of every 100,000 people, in 2002 their rate reached as many as 190 persons.

According to the Ministry of Health of Azerbaijan, the number of drug users constituted 16,134 by the end of 2002 (in 2000 their number counted 13,512 people).  

 

Demography of Abusers

 

            Women constitute 1.7% of the total number of people addicted to drugs and toxic substances. 6 out of 16,134 drug users are aged 15-17 and the rest are people aged 20-59. 983 people were registered with drug addiction diagnosis for the first time in their life during 2002.

            Currently the youngest age of drug addicts has been reduced from 17 to 14. The most alarming situation in this regard is observed in the southern region of the country neighboring Iran. Teenagers begin to use soft drugs like marijuana and then pass to the opium and heroin.   

 

Intravenous Drug Use (IDU) and HIV/AIDS

 

People with HIV/AIDS (2001)

1,400

HIV/AIDS Adult prevalence rate (2001)

< 0.1%

Women age 15-49 with HIV/AIDS (2001)

280

HIV/AIDS deaths (2001)

<100

 

Drug-Related Crime

In 2004, 24 foreigners were arrested for illicit drug trafficking in Azerbaijan. The number of case and citizens arrested were as follows; in 6 cases -7 citizens of Republic of Azerbaijan with 594,9 grams; in 20 cases - 21 citizens of Iran with 11 kg. and 45,3 grams; in 2 cases - 2 citizens of Russia with 1 kg and 53 grams; and 1 case - 1 citizen if Georgia with 7 kg and 800 grams

 Out of them there were 20 Iranians, 10 Russians, 8 Georgians, 1 Ukrainian and 1 Arab. For 9 months of 2003 totally 31 foreigners from Iran (17), Russia (10), Georgia (2), Turkey (1) and Afghanistan (1) were detained for their implication in illicit drug trafficking. More then 34 kg of drugs were seized from them.

For 9 months (January-September) of 2003 there were detected 1,751 drug-related cases. Out of them 504 cases related to sale of drugs, 1,033 cases related to storage, 192 cases related to disclosure and termination of drug-plants and 10 cases related to seizure of psychotropic substances as medicine.

In 2000-2003 law enforcement of Russia and Azerbaijan detected and took control of the number of drug smuggling channels from Afghanistan and Iran through Azerbaijan and Russia to Japan. According to Russian sources, organizers of those channels were Iranians. They received drugs from Afghanistan and then send it by lorries transporting food-stuff to Baku and further by rails or cars to Russian cities which were transit points. It should be also mentioned that traffickers often used women as couriers on the Azerbaijan and Russia routes. Couriers were paid USD 300-500 per 1 kg of drugs. While in Iran the drugs were bought for USD 500-1000 per 1 kg, in Japan they sold it with USD 4,000-8,000 per 1 kg.          

           

Counter-efforts

 

Domestic Drug Control Framework

 

National Legislation

 

Combating illicit drug trafficking and spread of drug addiction in the Republic of Azerbaijan is one of the key tasks of public bodies and under the control of the government. This combating is carried out as per requirements of the following laws:

1.      Law on the control of illicit trafficking of narcotic drugs, psychotropic substances and precursors;

2.      Law on police;

3.      Law on operative and investigation activities;

4.      Criminal code.

 

All of these have been adjusted by the European Council Legal Committee.

 

In July 2000 the President signed the Decree that prolonged the nation-wide “Programme on Combating the Spreading of Drug Addiction and Illicit Trafficking of Drugs, Psychotropic Substances and Precursors”. The programme was adopted in 1997 and extended upto 2006.

 

National Drug Control Institutions

 

The State Drug Control Commission was established by the Decree of the President dated August 26, 1996 for the implementation of drug control programmes in Azerbaijan. Deputy Prime-Minister was appointed as the chairman of the commission and Minister of Interior was appointed as the deputy chairman. Ministers of National Security, Justice, Defense, Finance, Health, Agriculture, Foreign Affairs, Youth, Sports and Tourism, Ecology and Natural Resources, Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs, Prosecutor General, Chairman of the State Customs Committee, Mayor of Baku, Head of the Department of Humanitarian Policy, Head of the Department for Cooperation with Law Enforcement of the Presidential Office, Chairman of the Parliamentary Commission on Social Policy, Chairman of the Trade Union Confederation and President of the Academy of Sciences were elected as members of the commission.

In 2003 the laboratory of drug quality control was opened in Azerbaijan, which is the first one in Caucasus (it cost USD 800,000). The laboratory capability is 300 drugs per day, which is very high index and it was approved by Global Licensing Programme (GLP).

 

Countering Cultivation, Production, Supply, and Trafficking

 

Eradication

 

          Within 2002 law enforcement authorities discovered and destroyed 1,134,785 bushes of wild cannabis (501,510 kg), which were detected on 395 ha of land and put them to fire.

          In 2002 the Ministry of Interior conducted operation “Hash-Hash”, a poppy and cannabis cultivation and storage eradication programme, in several parts of the country, which increased significantly the amount of illegal narcotics seized and destroyed during the first ten months of the year.  

For 9 months of 2003 there were detected 192 cases related to disclosure and termination of drug-bearing plants. 272,732 kg of illicitly cultivated and wild narcotic-bearing plants were destroyed.

 

Seizures

 

            For the last 12 years the law enforcement bodies of the country have confiscated 2,841 kg of different drugs including 742.260 kg of opium, 1,594 kg of marijuana, 32.128 kg of heroin and 75.595 kg of hashish. Within 2002, 159 kg of different drugs were seized.

            For 9 months of 2003 there were withdrawn about 144 kg of different drugs, including 93.709 kg of marijuana, 35.863 kg of opium, 1.422 kg of heroin, 1.285 kg of hashish, 204,001 tablets and capsules and 2,959 ampoules of psychotropic medicines.

 

Development Programmes and Activities

 

            In order to increase the efficiency of work on combating drugs carried out by the Ministry of Interior of Azerbaijan, the 5-years Southern Caucasus Anti-Drug Programme financed jointly by (European Union) EU and United Nations (UN) is under implementation.

In order to prevent illegal penetration of drugs to the territory of the Republic of Azerbaijan, the State service has held following complex activities:

 

  • Strengthening frontier control of transport modes, cargoes and people crossing the state border;

  • Holding certain works aimed at defining violations of borders and strengthening frontier security;

  • Improving capacity building of the State frontier service.

  • Exchanging information among the law enforcement bodies in order to define the planned transportation of drugs;

  • Organizing interactions based on international agreements;

  • Holding specific works among population  in frontier areas with and aim to timely reveal illegal transportation of drugs through the state frontier;

  • Analyzing, summarizing and systemizing information in the State frontier service administration in relation to illegal drug trafficking (type and amount of  drugs, route and transportation method, nationality of people detained, drugs storing conditions etc);

  • Developing and intensifying international ties of the state frontier service with frontier structures of the developed countries and relevant international organizations as well as expanding bilateral relations at the regional level;

 

 

 

Demand Reduction and Rehabilitation

 

Treatment and Rehabilitation

 

            In order to treat and rehabilitate people addicted to drugs, the State NarcologicDispensary was established in Azerbaijan providing open as well as anonymous treatment.

 

Education and Public Information Programmes

 

            In 2002-2003 World Health Organization (WHO) and Ministry of Health of the Republic of Azerbaijan implemented several programmes. One of them is under implementation in Lenkoran city. The purpose of the programme is prevention of drug use among schoolchildren.

 

International Cooperation

 

International Conventions

 

            Azerbaijan joined three following major UN Conventions dealing with fight against drugs: “On drugs” (1961), “On psychotropic substances” (1971) and “On combating illicit trafficking of drugs and psychotropic substances” (1988).

 
Multilateral Agreements and Programmes

 

            Azerbaijan collaborates with many international organizations such as Economic Cooperation Organization (ECO), United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE), TASIS, Interpol etc. and signed multilateral agreements, Memorandums of Understanding (MOU) and protocols in the field of joint control of organized crime and illicit drug trafficking with many countries and organization.

In the framework of the Council of Europe, Azerbaijan is a party to Partial Agreement on Cooperation to Combat Drug Abuse and Illicit Trafficking in Drugs.

            Azerbaijan is a party of quadripartite on cooperation in drug control and activities against money laundering signed by ODCCP, Georgia, Iran and Azerbaijan in 2000.

            In 2001 Azerbaijan has joined the MOU among the governments of Central Asian states, Russia and Agha Khan Foundation on sub-regional drug control cooperation. 

 

            Azerbaijan signed bilateral agreements, MOUs and protocols in the field of control of organized crime and illicit drug trafficking with many countries including USA, Iran etc.

 

The following normative documents were signed during 2003-2004 within the framework of international relations:

 

  • 3 protocols among teh frontier services of Azerbaijan and Georgia on activities of frontier control points and information exchange;

  • Joint decleration of the frontier services of Azerbaijan and Poland on cooperation on protection of the state frontiers;

  • Joint decleration of the frontier services of Azerbaijan and Germany on cooperation on protection of the states frontiers;

  • Interaction Plan between the North-Caucasian regional frontier department of Federal security service of Russian Federation and the State frontier service of the Republic of Azerbaijan;

  • Agreement among the GUUAM member-states on setting up International - Information - Analytic System and Virtual Center;

  • Protocol among the GUUAM member-states on collaboration in the field of frontier affairs.

 

 

Sources and Publications used in preparing this profile:

 

  1. Address by the Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Azerbaijan Mr. Vellayat Guliev to the Ministerial Conference on Drug Transit from Central Asia to Europe. Paris, May 22, 2003

  2. Data on drug prices for 2003 provided by Azerbaijani NFP of DCCU. Baku, December 31, 2003

  3. Azerbaijan Human Development Report for 2002 prepared by UNDP. Baku, August 15, 2002

  4. Annual Report of International Narcotics Control Board (INCB) for 2002

  5. Statement by Azerbaijani NFP of DCCU at the first meeting of DCCU NFPs (ECO Secretariat, October 21-22, 2003)

  6. Provisional Country Profile prepared by ECO DCCU. October, 2000

  7. Bulletin No. 1 (6) prepared jointly by the State Drug Control Commission of the Republic of Azerbaijan and SCAD National Focal Point for Drug Information. Baku, April 1, 2003

  8. Statement by Azerbaijani NFP of DCCU at 13th meeting of ECO RPC (ECO Secretariat, April, 2003)

  9. Media sources

  10. ECO DCCU Mission Report. Tehran, 2000

  11. ECO DCCU Mission Report. Tehran, 2003

  12. Global Illicit Drug Trends for 2003 prepared by UNODC. New York, 2003

           

 

 

 


 

· Prices were collected on December 25, 2003

 

 

 

 

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