VZCZCXYZ0001
RR RUEHWEB

DE RUEHKB #1464/01 3450622
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
R 110622Z DEC 07
FM AMEMBASSY BAKU
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 4413
INFO RUEHAK/AMEMBASSY ANKARA 2507
RUEHSI/AMEMBASSY TBILISI 1656
RUEHFT/AMCONSUL FRANKFURT 1624

UNCLAS BAKU 001464 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SIPDIS 
 
DEPT FOR INL AND EUR/CARC 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: SNAR PREL EAID AJ
SUBJECT: 2007-2008 INSCR FOR AZERBAIJAN 
 
REF: STATE 136780 
 
Azerbaijan 
 
¶I. Summary 
 
Azerbaijan is located along a drug transit route running from 
Afghanistan and Central Asia to Western Europe, and from Iran 
to Russia and Western Europe.  Domestic consumption and 
cultivation of narcotics as well as seizures have increased 
since 2006-2007.  The United States has funded 
counternarcotics assistance to Azerbaijan through the FREEDOM 
Support Act since 2002.  Azerbaijan is a party to the 1988 UN 
Drug Convention. 
 
II. Status of Country 
 
Azerbaijan's main narcotics problem is the transit of drugs 
through its territory, but domestic consumption in growing. 
Azerbaijan emerged as a narcotics transit route in the 1990s 
because of the disruption of the "Balkan Route" due to the 
wars in and among the countries of the former Yugoslavia. 
According to the Government of Azerbaijan (GOAJ), the 
majority of narcotics transiting Azerbaijan originates in 
Afghanistan and follows one of four primary routes: 
 
Afghanistan-Iran-Azerbaijan-Georgia-western Europe; 
 
Afghanistan-Iran-Nagorno-Karabakh and the occupied 
territories of Azerbaijan-Armenia-Georgia-Western Europe; 
 
Afghanistan-Iran-Azerbaijan-Russia; or 
 
Afghanistan-Central Asia-the Caspian 
Sea-Azerbaijan-Georgia-western Europe. 
 
Azerbaijan shares a 380 mile (611 km) frontier with Iran, and 
its border control forces are insufficiently trained and 
equipped to patrol it effectively.  Iranian and other 
traffickers are exploiting this situation.  The most widely 
abused drugs in Azerbaijan are opiates -* especially heroin 
-- licit medicines, hemp, ecstasy, hashish, cocaine and LSD. 
Domestic consumption continues to grow with the official GOAJ 
estimate of drug addicts reaching 18,000-20,000 persons. 
Unofficial figures are estimated at approximately 180,000 to 
200,000, the majority of which is heroin addicts.  Students 
are thought to be a large share of total drug abusers at 
30-35 percent.  The majority of heroin users is concentrated 
in major cities and in the Lankaran District (64.6 percent), 
which borders Iran.  Drug use among young women has been 
rising. 
 
III. Country Actions Against Drugs in 2007 
 
Policy Initiatives.  The GOAJ continued to refine its 
strategy to combat drug transit and usage in Azerbaijan.  The 
GOAJ bolstered its ability to collect and analyze 
drug-related intelligence, resulting in more productive 
investigations against narcotics traffickers.  The GOAJ 
assumed the chairmanship of GUAM 
(Georgia-Ukraine-Azerbaijan-Moldova) in 2007 and has pushed 
sharing of counternarcotics information through the GUAM 
countries Virtual Law Enforcement Center (VLEC) in Baku.  The 
VLEC was established with USG assistance.  The center 
provides an encrypted information system that allows member 
states' law-enforcement agencies to share information and 
coordinate their efforts against terrorism, narcotics 
trafficking, small arms, and trafficking in persons.  The 
extent to which information is shared among GUAM member 
states through the VLEC appears limited.  In 2007 the Drug 
Enforcement Agency (DEA) increased its cooperation with 
Azerbaijan's Ministry of Internal Affairs and is developing 
strategies to further strengthen regional cooperation. 
 
Law Enforcement Efforts.  According to Ministry of Internal 
Affairs (MIA) information from January-October 2007, the MIA 
confiscated 107.2 kilos of opium, 121 kilos of marijuana, 
67.6 kilos of hashish, 58 kilos of heroin and 1.1 grams of 
cocaine.  The MIA statistics said that 95.3 percent of drug 
related crimes were solved. 
 
The MIA reported that one in seven crimes in Azerbaijan was 
related to the illegal trade in narcotics.  During the 
reporting period, there was a 6.7 percent increase in crimes 
related to the illegal trafficking of narcotics and an 11.4 
percent increase in crimes related to the sale of narcotics. 
Of the 1659 people who were prosecuted for drug-related 
crimes in Azerbaijan, 95.5 percent were described as able 
bodied, unemployed people who were not in school, 28.8 
percent had a criminal record, 3.6 percent were women and 
0.18 percent were underage children. 
 
Corruption.  Corruption remains a significant problem in 
Azerbaijan and permeates the entire society.  Several 
Azerbaijani prosecutors have attended DOJ-sponsored training 
courses on investigating transborder crimes, implementing the 
Azerbaijani criminal code, and developing courtroom 
skills*such as preparing courtroom evidence and cross 
examining witnesses.  These broad-based skills may aid in the 
prosecution of drug-related cases and limit the scope of 
corruption. 
 
Agreements and Treaties.  Azerbaijan is a party to the 1988 
UN Drug Convention, to the 1971 UN Convention Against 
Psychotropic Substances, and to the 1961 UN Single Convention 
as amended by its 1972 Protocol.  Azerbaijan also is a party 
to the UN Convention Against Corruption, and to the UN 
Convention Against Transnational Organized Crime and its 
protocols against trafficking in persons, migrant smuggling 
and illegal manufacturing and trafficking in firearms. 
 
Cultivation and Production.  Azerbaijan's problem with 
narcotics largely stems from its role as a transit state, 
rather than as a signficant drug cultivation site.  Cannabis 
and popp are cultivated illegally, mostly in southern 
Azerbaijan. 
 
Drug Flow/Transit.  Opium and poppy straw originating in 
Afghanistan transit to Azerbaijan from Iran, or from Central 
Asia across the Caspian Sea.  Drugs are also smuggled through 
Azerbaijan to Russia, then on to Central and Western Europe. 
Azerbaijan cooperates with Black Sea and Caspian Sea littoral 
states in tracking and interdicting narcotics shipments, 
especially morphine base and heroin.  Caspian Sea cooperation 
includes efforts to interdict narcotics transported across 
the Caspian Sea by ferry.  Law enforcement officials report 
that they have received good cooperation from Russia. 
 
Domestic Programs.   In 2007, Azerbaijan continued the 
anti-narcotics public service announcement begun in the 
summer of 2006, about the dangers of drug usage.  The 
advertisements were aimed at a younger audience and were 
displayed in downtown Baku, in kiosks and on billboards. 
 
IV. U.S. Policy Initiatives and Programs. 
 
Bilateral Cooperation.  In 2007, the U.S. Export Control and 
Related Border Security (EXBS) office continued to assist the 
Azerbaijan State Border Service (SBS) and the State Customs 
Committee (SCC).  EXBS training and assistance efforts, while 
aimed at the nonproliferation of weapons of mass destruction 
and their delivery systems, directly enhance Azerbaijan's 
ability to control its borders and to interdict all 
contraband, including narcotics.  During 2007, EXBS sponsored 
border control and management courses for the SBS and SCC 
officers.  Some of these courses provided participants with 
real-time, hands-on inspections and border control tactics at 
sea and in the field. Others improved the Border Guard's 
control of Azerbaijan's southern border, as well as the 
ability of SCC officers to detect contraband.  The U.S. 
donation of search tools and related equipment improved the 
Customs Contraband Teams' detection capabilities. 
 
A 2006 U.S. Border Patrol assessment of Border Guard 
operations on the Iranian border prioritized the direction of 
U.S. assistance.  The U.S. contribution of fencing, and 
construction materials to rebuild watchtowers, and vehicles 
significantly enhanced the Border Guards' ability to hamper 
illegal penetrations of Azerbaijan's southern border. 
During 2006, DTRA and EXBS helped equip a maritime base near 
Azerbaijan's southern border in Astara.  The base will host 
two patrol boats and two fast response boats which were 
delivered in early 2007.  The facility will also be used for 
extended patrols by larger vessels from Baku. 
 
In August 2007, the Department of Justice International 
Criminal Investigative Training Assistance Program 
(DOJ/ICITAP) provided a three-week high-risk entry course 
with mass spectrometer analysis and drug training.  This 
capacity has already been put into use by the Minster of 
Internal Affairs, the Ministry of Justice and the Ministry of 
Health. 
 
The Road Ahead.  The U.S. and Azerbaijan will continue to 
expand their efforts to conduct law enforcement assistance 
programs in Azerbaijan.  While our assistance programs in 
Azerbaijan proper are strong, we have little window into what 
is happening in the Azerbaijani exclave of Nakhchivan or into 
activities in Nagorno Karabakh and the occupied territories. 
The increase in government revenues from the opening of the 
Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan oil pipeline has resulted in a 
significant inflow of cash into a developing economy with a 
high number of unemployed and underemployed young people; 
Azerbaijan's increasing wealth could be linked to reports of 
increasing drug consumption.  There are signs that an 
increased proportion of the budget of the Ministry of 
Internal Affairs is going into counternarcotics operations 
and seizures.  These confrontations have resulted in a few 
violent confrontations and increased causalities amongst 
security personnel and drug runners. 
DERSE