Tajikistan

Tajikistan, a Central Asian nation, borders China, Kyrgyzstan, and Uzbekistan. Tajikistan also borders Afghanistan, which is a base of international terrorism, and the world's largest producer of opium. Tajikistan was the poorest republic within the Soviet Union and reportedly is the poorest country in the region.

According to the World Bank, nearly two thirds of the population lives below the poverty line. Soon after gaining its independence from the Soviet Union in 1991, Tajikistan collapsed into a devastating civil war. For years, various factions battled each other across the remote and mountainous territory for control. Thousands were killed and many more displaced, resulting in about 80 percent of the population suffering poverty. Many of the combatants took part in a multibillion-dollar drug trade, while extremists terrorized neighboring states.

Reportedly, nearly 20 percent of the opiates leaving Afghanistan flow through Tajikistan. According to estimates, about 90 percent of heroin consumed in Russia is trafficked from Afghanistan via Tajikistan and Uzbekistan. These factors produces cross-border effects that regularly threaten to destabilize Tajikistan. The result of the drug trade is crime, corruption, and disease. Reports warn that not only is rising narcotics trafficking “undermining the political economic reform of the country, but also corrupts government institutions and lures impoverished Tajiks into criminal activity fostering health-related problems such as the spread of HIV/AIDS.” Tajikistan also has high rates of opiate consumption, which compounds the human immunodeficiency virus and acquired immune deficiency syndrome (HIV/AIDS) crisis.

There have been responses to the drug problem in Tajikistan. Tajikistan's Drug Control Agency (DCA), created in 1999, has worked to stem the flow of opiates along the “northern route” from Afghanistan via Central Asia and the Russian Federation to Europe. And, with the support from United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC), the Ministry of Interior of Tajikistan (drug police) established a Mobile Interdiction Team in 2007. Reports suggest that these attempts to stem drug trade have resulted in large seizures of narcotics and [Page 763]the arrest of drug traffickers. In 2010 police seized more than 56 kilograms (124 pounds) of drugs in a special operation in Tajikistan's capital. In addition, UNODC has provided special equipment, vehicles, uniforms, and computers, and organized regular training and seminars.

Tajikistan, with the help of the European Union and the United Nations Development Programme, is stepping up efforts to cut drug supply lines. These efforts include the use of drug sniffing dogs, mobile forensics laboratories, and drug detection centers at railway stations and airports. In addition to the above strategies, government and international agencies are coordinating efforts to try to halt the rising number of young addicts. Families and schools have been asked to explain the dangers of drug addiction. Warnings have been broadcast on television. However, as long as extreme poverty exists and drug trafficking from neighboring Afghanistan continues, drug usage will continue to pose serious threats to Tajikistan.