REPUBLIC OF Tajikistan

 ECO DCCU Country Profile 2003

1998-1999,2000-2002

The Republic of Tajikistan is located in the southeast of Central Asia and bordered to the north by Kyrgyzstan, by China to the East, by Afghanistan to the South, and Uzbekistan to the West and Northwest. The length of Tajikistan's border shared with the Transitional Islamic State of Afghanistan is 1,343 km, which is approximately the third part of the Republic’s total border length.

Territory of the country is 143,100 square kilometers. Tajikistan is the smallest state in Central Asia, however, it encloses more and higher mountains than any other country in the region. Dushanbe is the capital of Tajikistan.

Population (2002):                                                        6.7 mln.                                               

GDP per capita (PPP, 2001):                                       USD 1,170                 

Population under 15 years (2002):                                40.4% 

Human Development Index value (2001):                      0.677

The analysis of drug situation in Tajikistan proves that it is not a drug producer. This is, first of all, due to the following reasons: non-profitability of drug production, strengthening of country’s law enforcement and tough punishment for crimes related to illicit drug trafficking.

However, the climatic conditions of Tajikistan are favourable for vegetation of poppy and cannabis, which are illicitly cultivated in mountainous areas, primarily in the northern Aini and Panjakent districts close to Uzbekistan border.

Cannabis also grows wild in the mountainous region of Panjakent and Gorno-Badakhshan in Tajikistan. Tajik wild cannabis has a very low tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) content and is rarely harvested for illicit drug use. Each cannabis field found usually has only a few plants and is generally grown by drug users for their own use.

The Republic of Tajikistan does not produce and export precursors, it only imports certain types of them, which might be utilized while producing narcotics.

Increases in trafficking across Tajikistan’s territory has been part of the larger trend over recent years of increasing trafficking of drugs out of Afghanistan via the “Northern Route”, which runs through the Central Asian states, onward to the Russian Federation, and generally further onward to European markets. The factors contributing to this trend most likely include the following: peculiarities of geopolitics location of the states, limited border controls between the CIS states, tougher interdiction measures along the Afghan-Iranian border, etc.

Drug pushers are taking all means to update heroin production process. Most of them are trying to use the so-called mini-laboratories, which manufacture 10-15 kg of heroin per day. If there is a menace, the laboratories are quickly demounted and shifted to other places. Shifting from one place to another gives an opportunity for drug producers to continue their business. A number of such and other kind of laboratories are operating in border areas of Tajik-Afghan frontier on the territory of neighboring Afghanistan. This enabled traffickers to smuggle less voluminous heroin than the bulky opium which, in addition, has a distinct smell and can thus be detected easily, which helps to explain increases both in heroin seizures and increases in heroin use in Tajikistan.

In Tajikistan heroin became one of widespread drugs on the market. However, if its price constantly decreased within the period of 1996-2000 and its quality was improving, since the end of 2000 up to the beginning of 2001 there were sharp changes in offers for all types of drugs, especially heroin: prices increased, quality and availability decreased.

During 2002 there were no considerable changes in prices and availability of drugs, but as compared with 2000, prices were high and availability was lower. The latter happened because of a decrease in the number of dealers and because these dealers had worked more carefully.

In 2001 heroin retail prices varied from USD 5 up to 9 per gram. The average wholesale price in 2001 was USD 3,000 per kilogram. Opium retail prices in 2001 ranged from USD 0.2 up to 1.0 per gram, whereas the average wholesale price in 1999 was USD 310 per kilogram. Increases in heroin prices in 2001 were, in general, less pronounced than increases in opium prices: some 30% in Tajikistan, 40% in Pakistan and 60% in Iran. Despite a strong increase in opium prices in 2001, heroin prices in Tajikistan some 60% less than in 1998, indirectly reflecting the larger heroin manufacturing capacity in the region as well as the existence of important stocks.

Range of prices across the country is very broad, as well as the range in quality (for export and for the local market). In February 2002 opium prices in Tajikistan ranged from USD 80 in some areas close to the Afghan border to USD 600 close to Tajikistan's borders with other neighbours.

There are cases of non-medical use of heroin, opium and cannabis in the country. Other types of drugs available on the illegal market are used by opiates consumers as additional and substitutive remedies. Cannabis is consumed quite often, but the number of officially registered cannabis addicts is lower than the number of opium addicts, in view of the fact that this group of drug addicts is rarely get into the field of vision of experts and law enforcement.

Prevalence of drug abuse has increased over recent years. Despite the measures taken to prevent drug addiction in the Republic of Tajikistan, the number of people registered on the books with the diagnosis of “drug addiction” is increasing. As of July 1, 2003, 6,671 drug addicts have been registered in the country (prevalence rate of 107.8 addicts per 100,000 of the population), though independent studies suggest that the number may be much higher, up to 55,000.

The strongest increase in drug abuse in Central Asia appears to have taken place in recent years in Tajikistan, i. e. in the country most affected by increasing trafficking activities. Majority of drug addicts are young people (as of July 1, 2004 they made up 58.2% of the total number of registered drug addicts). About 5% of drug users are women.

Percentage ratio of drug addicts by the type of drugs consumed is following: 74.8% are heroin users, 14.3 % use opium, 7.1% - cannabis and 3.9 % are diuretic substances users and poly-drug addicts.

Correlation of drug addiction through the country is as follows: Dushanbe – 51%; Sogd province – 21%, Khatlon province – 10%, Gorno-Badakhshan autonomy province – 10% and other provinces – 8%.

According to data received from Republican Centre for prophylactics and combat HIV/AIDS, 34% out of registered drug-addicts are intravenous drug users (IDUs). However, the information obtained during the interviewing of drug addicts “on streets” testifies that IDU is much more popular than official sources inform, and 52 % of addicts prefer this way of drug using. Level of risky behavior among drug addicts is rather high. 40% of polled people consume drugs by intravenous method daily and 15% use common syringe needles.

As of the beginning of 2003, the number of HIV infected people registered in the country is 75 and 1 person is AIDS infected. Out of them 51 people or 67% are IDU. The outcomes of interviewing prove that risky behavior of drug addicts may be a potential threat for HIV, hepatitis and other infection dissemination.

116 cases of illicit drug circulation were prevented during 9 months of 2003. Illegal activity of 12 criminal gangs was disclosed and eliminated. 101 individuals were charged with judicial restraint in the form of arrest. 5 internationally searched individuals were detained and arrested. During the operative investigation actions 18 fire weapons (8 “Kalashnikov” automatic guns, 12 pieces of other weapons) and 902 different ammunitions were seized from drug traffickers. The investigation unit of the Drug Control Agency of Tajikistan finished investigation of 87 criminal cases, out of which 55 cases of 76 persons were brought to courts.

In provision of control of illicit trafficking of drugs, psychotropic substances and precursors and prevention of their leak through illegal channels, 169 checks were held in medical institutions and drug-stores and checks of rules of licit turnover of precursors at the industrial enterprises of the country, and according to the results of those checks, 4 criminal cases were sued and 3,724 pieces of synthetic drugs were withdrawn from illicit trafficking.

In 2002, 43 persons of foreign nationality were arrested for drug-related crimes, including: 17 citizens of Uzbekistan, 16 Afghanis, 6 Kyrgyz citizens, 2 citizens of Russia, 1 person from Kazakhstan and 1 from Turkmenistan. In first half of 2003, 18 foreign citizens from Kyrgyzstan, Afghanistan, Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan, Turkmenistan and Russia were arrested for drug trafficking.

Tajikistan accounts 28 drug-related offences per 100,000 populations. These arrests as reported by the police have been for various drug related offences in Tajikistan.

In 1999 the Parliament of the Republic of Tajikistan passed a Law on Narcotic Drugs, Psychotropic Substances and Precursors.

Since September 1, 1998 the new Criminal Code of the Republic of Tajikistani has come into effect. It foresees criminal punishment for the illicit circulation of drugs, psychotropic substances and precursors.

The Resolution of the Government of the Republic of Tajikistan has provided a “National List of Drugs, Psychotropic Substances and Precursors” and of “Regulation on Licensing Operations in the Sphere of Licit Circulation of Drugs, Psychotropic Substances and Precursors”.

There is a Drug Control Agency (DCA) under the President of Tajikistan, which was established on June 1, 1999 with the UN support and technical assistance. At present, the Agency is a full-fledged law enforcement body that carries out the state policy in the sphere of licit circulation of drugs, psychotropic substances and precursors and struggles with their illicit circulation, coordinates the activities of various agencies in this sphere and directly participates in the struggle against illicit drug circulation. The Agency has 350 staff and offices in three regions. It is divided into units, which include Administrative, Operational, Investigative, Analysis, Special Task Force and Medical services. It also has a drug forensic laboratory with the purpose of analyses, storage and destruction of narcotics.

To ensure sustainability of the DCA, the “Exit Strategy” was elaborated and shared with donors. The strategy envisages provision of further assistance to the DCA up to 2006 with gradual withdrawal from the payment of the DCA’s staff salaries.

Most cannabis located and subsequently defoliated during the annual operations “Opium” (held in May-June and July-September) is revealed either in house gardens or hidden amongst legitimate crops.

As of October 2003, in the course of another operation “Kuknor-2003” the officers of the operative investigation units detected and withdrew 16,627 bushes of drug-bearing plants.

The situation requires a constant control over potential cultivation of poppy. For this purpose, within the framework of the UN international project titled “Research and preparation of environmentally safe biological control agent to annihilate poppy”, the Drug Control Agency of Tajikistan, Academy of Science of the republic and regional office of UNODC have conducted experiment in 2001. The aim of this test was to research and prepare effective environmentally safe substances to annihilate illicit planting of poppy. Outcomes of experiment were submitted for consideration of workshop titled “Biological methods of annihilation of drug-bearing plants”. The scientists from Academies of Science of Tajikistan and Uzbekistan and the representatives of Ministry of Environment, Drug Control Agency of Tajikistan attended this workshop. The participants of this meeting were of the view that scientific research of biological method to fight against plants of poppy by using mini-herbicides was effective and could be one of the methods not only in Tajikistan, but also in other countries.  

The quantity of confiscated drugs in Tajikistan coming from Afghanistan is increasing. As against 1996, the quantity of confiscated heroin increased by 659.7 times and it was 3,000,958 tons in 2002. Only for 8 months of 2003 more than 6.300 tons of drugs have been seized, out of which 4.340 tons are heroin. In compare with the same period of 2002, the figures have doubled.

The share of confiscated heroin in Central Asia increased from 0.1% in 1994-95 to 13% in 2000 and it made 23% in 2001. This particularly took place in Tajikistan, because transitional crime groups considered Tajikistan to be one of the basic transit territories for drug flow from Afghanistan to Russia and Europe.  

Heroin was confiscated for the first time in Tajikistan in 1996 and its total weight since was 6.350 kg per year. Today, 85% of heroin and opium confiscated from illicit drug trafficking in Central Asia falls on Tajikistan. According to the latest UN data, Tajikistan is the third country for its seizures of opium in the world (4% of world total).

Since 1999 the Tajik law enforcement and the Russian Federal Border Service troops deployed in Tajikistan seized around 30 tons of various narcotics including more than 15 tons of Afghani heroin equal to 75 million doses. 

The length of the state border of Tajikistan with Afghanistan is 1,343 km. Tajik frontier guards control over 73 km while the rest territory is controlled by the Russian frontier guards. Tajikistan has direct borders with Kunduz, Takhor and Badakhshan provinces of Afghanistan, where the situation has remained complicate and intensive over the last years. The Tajik Border Guard Service was created in February 1997.

Health Ministry takes certain efforts to provide population with narcological assistance, however the progress goes slowly. The level of the narcological clinics is rather low. Insufficient budget, as well as shortage of pharmaceutical, tools and reagents, under-manning of medical staff, creates serious setbacks in treating drug addicts. Treatment methods are out of date and sorely in need of modernization. An adequate treatment and rehabilitation of drug addicts is complicated by lack of government funds and deteriorating economy. A drug abuser is treated only in case of his own or his relatives’ decision.

There are 15 trust clinics in the Republic of Tajikistan for Intravenous Drug Users. Coordination councils for preventing drug addiction have been created under the local executive bodies in accordance with the President’s proposal to carry out large work in this regard.

Under condition when drugs remain accessible for consumers, prevention of drug addiction dissemination is a priority in combating narcotics. The prophylactic activities in the country are conducted in several main directions.

Educational work among women is one of them, since the majority of families in Tajikistan are having many children and women are mainly responsible for anti-narcotic upbringing of their children. Representatives from governmental organizations, law enforcement, doctors, teachers hold drug-related meetings with housewives in various regions of the country. A number of projects and seminars such as “Woman and Drugs”, “Peculiarities of narcotics influence on women”, “Family against narcotics”, “Rights of women”, etc. were held jointly with the non-governmental organizations during last years.   

The work among schoolchildren is another trend in the activity for preventing drug demand, since children and teenagers are mostly subject to involvement of drug consumption. In August 2002 officers from DCA of Tajikistan conducted trainings on drug addiction problems for youth in summer camps, which were organized by the OSCE mission in Garm and Shaartuz towns. The purpose of trainings was to prepare propagandists from among the most active young people. During this training about 250 young activists from Rasht region and Khatlon province obtained the information about drugs, drug addiction and ways to avoid the risk of being inveigled into drug dependency.

Experts from Republican Centre for prophylactics and combat HIV/AIDS have drawn up a textbook “Healthy lifestyle” for secondary schools. The methodical manual for school teachers on prevention of drug addiction, AIDS among children has also been published for free dissemination. A number of seminars such as “Drug abuse prevention among teens”, “Role of school teachers in the drug abuse prevention” were held jointly with the non-governmental organizations.

A Project “School against narcotics” stipulating the drug awareness education at schools has been developed and is currently being implemented. Training of specialists in the field of drug abuse prevention has been started in the Institute of Advanced Training of Teachers under the Ministry of Education.

Within the framework of the Projects “Illicit drugs markets research”, a survey was carried out among students of the Dushanbe universities and patients of the Republican Drug Abuse Treatment Center. With the purpose of propaganda of healthy life-style and raise of public drug awareness, a number of sport tournaments were held in the Republic.

Harmful consequences of drug abuse are elucidated in the press, several radio and TV programmes. Every month an anti-narcotics programme “From curiosity towards Disaster” is broadcasted on the national Tajik TV. There is a special monthly radio-magazine “We are for a drug-free future!”. During 2002 DCA’s officers alone organized and participated in 748 anti-drug appearances through mass media.

The brochure “Drug addiction. What is to be done?” has been published by the Drug Control Agency in 3,000 copies with the financial support of the US Embassy in Dushanbe.

Tajikistan has ratified the 1961 Single Convention on Narcotic Drugs, the 1971 Convention on Psychotropic Substances, the 1988 UN Convention against Illicit Trafficking in Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances.

Tajikistan is party to numerous regionally based drug control agreements organized through ECO, OSCE, UNODC, Shanghai Cooperation Organization and other international and regional organizations.

Tajikistan illicit drug control efforts are incorporated into a number of international frameworks. On 4 May 1996 the five Central Asian states signed a Memorandum of Understanding on sub-regional drug control cooperation, which was also joined by Russia and the Agha Khan Foundation in January 1998 and by Azerbaijan in September 2001.

In 1996 the law enforcement agencies of Tajikistan, Kyrgyzstan, Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan signed an agreement on cooperation in combating the illicit traffic in drugs.

On April 21, 2000 Tajikistan, Kyrgyzstan, Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan signed a Treaty on Concerted Action in Combating Terrorism, Political and Religious Extremism, Transnational Organized Crime and Other Threats to the Stability and Security of the Signatory Parties, which addresses also drug trafficking.

In October 2000 a Declaration and in the Priorities for Cooperation to Counter Drugs, Organized Crime and Terrorism was adopted by the Central Asian countries at the International Conference on Enhancing Security and Stability in Central Asia: an Integrated Approach to Counter Drugs, Organized Crime and Terrorism, jointly organized by ODCCP and OSCE in Tashkent.

In 2000 the "Six Plus Two" group (Tajikistan, Uzbekistan, Turkmenistan, Pakistan, Iran, China, as well as the Russian Federation and the USA) with the support of ODCCP established a Working group to strengthen drug control cooperation among the countries bordering on Afghanistan, e.g. to enhance their interdiction capacities (“Security belt”). In September 2000 the "Six Plus Two" group, with ODCCP’s assistance, elaborated and approved a Regional Action Plan for countering the Afghan drug threat.

In December 2001 UNODCCP presented a Regional Programme comprising a strategic framework and the ongoing and pipeline projects at the “Bishkek International Conference on Enhancing Security and Stability in Central Asia: Strengthening Comprehensive Efforts to Counter Terrorism”, jointly organized by ODCCP and OSCE. The participants of the Conference endorsed the Declaration and Programme of Action to Counter Terrorism, which emphasized additional needs of the Central Asian states in technical and financial assistance.

In September 2002 the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) set up an agency to combat drug trafficking in Central Asia, to pursue joint measures in investigating drug-related crime and to promote drug abuse prevention activities.

Shanghai Cooperation Organization (former “Shanghai Five”), which includes Tajikistan, China, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Russia and Uzbekistan covers several issues related to regional security, including drug trafficking.

Central Asian Conference On Judicial Cooperation In The Framework Of The United Nations Convention Against Illicit Traffic In Narcotic Drugs And Psychotropic Substances And The United Nations Convention Against Transnational Organized Crime: Ratification Issues (Almaty, Kazakhstan, March 5-7, 2002) sought to examine ways to enhance mutual legal assistance and to eliminate safe havens for trafficking.

Only in 2002, 91 international delegations visited the Agency on Drug Control under the President of Tajikistan, which is responsible for the development of the international cooperation in the field of drug control. The Agency also conducted several meetings with Ambassadors and representatives of the international organizations. In course of these meetings providing training for law enforcement bodies of the Republic of Tajikistan was discussed. 

The first stage of EU “CADAP” project has been completed within the framework, of which the Agency on Drug Control under the President of the Republic of Tajikistan carried out various training seminars and courses. Law Enforcement bodies and structures of the Republic of Tajikistan obtained special technical facilities up to 64 thousand Euros free of charge. Two programmes called “Strengthening control along Tajik-Afghan border” and “Strengthening potential of Law Enforcement Bodies in collection of data and information to combat drugs” are being performed. The following has been achieved within these programmes:

In 2002, 220 personnel of law enforcement bodies of the Republic of Tajikistan have been trained at the refreshing course and seminars in CIS countries and abroad.

Meetings of Anti-narcotic Community (FANC) and Mini-Dublin Group (MDG) (forum of donor countries, which coordinate the work in the sphere of fight against drug business) were held in Tajikistan in October 2002.

Tajikistan participated in international operation “Topaz” in 2003.

In May 2002 the Protocol on Cooperation to Fight Illicit Circulation of Drugs, Psychotropic Agents, and Precursors was signed with Afghanistan.

In the 3rd quarter of 2003 the DCA signed the Protocol on Cooperation with Security Service of Ukraine in the field of combating illicit trafficking of drugs, psychotropic substances and precursors.

It also signed Memorandum of Understanding with the state Committee of Russia for control of illicit drug trafficking. This document envisages exchange of drug-related information, interaction at taking actions against illicit drug trafficking, conducting of joint scientific research dedicated to the latter and cooperation in training and retraining of personnel.