VZCZCXRO9947
PP RUEHAG RUEHAST RUEHBC RUEHBI RUEHCI RUEHDBU RUEHDE RUEHDF RUEHDIR
RUEHIK RUEHKUK RUEHLH RUEHLN RUEHLZ RUEHNEH RUEHPW RUEHROV RUEHSK
RUEHSL RUEHSR RUEHTRO RUEHVK RUEHYG
DE RUEHAH #0953 2110922
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
P 300922Z JUL 09
FM AMEMBASSY ASHGABAT
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 3222
INFO RUCNCLS/ALL SOUTH AND CENTRAL ASIA COLLECTIVE PRIORITY
RUCNCIS/CIS COLLECTIVE PRIORITY
RUCNMEM/EU MEMBER STATES COLLECTIVE PRIORITY
RUEHAK/AMEMBASSY ANKARA PRIORITY 5490
RUEHBJ/AMEMBASSY BEIJING PRIORITY 3213
RUEHKO/AMEMBASSY TOKYO PRIORITY 3078
RUEHBS/USEU BRUSSELS PRIORITY
RHMCSUU/CDR USCENTCOM MACDILL AFB FL PRIORITY
RUEAIIA/CIA WASHDC PRIORITY
RHEFDIA/DIA WASHDC PRIORITY
RUEKJCS/JOINT STAFF WASHDC PRIORITY
RHEHNSC/NSC WASHDC PRIORITY
RUEKJCS/SECDEF WASHDC PRIORITY
RUEAWJA/DEPT OF JUSTICE WASHDC PRIORITY
RUCNIRA/IRAN COLLECTIVE
RUEHIT/AMCONSUL ISTANBUL 3733
RUEKJCS/SECDEF WASHDC

UNCLAS ASHGABAT 000953 
 
SENSITIVE 
 
SIPDIS 
 
STATE FOR SCA/CEN, INL 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: SNAR PGOV KCRM SOCI TX
SUBJECT:  TURKMENISTAN: GOVERNMENT'S TOUTED CRACKDOWN ON THE DRUG 
TRADE IS NOT APPARENT TO THE PUBLIC 
 
REF: Ashgabat 184 
 
¶1.  (U) Sensitive but unclassified.  Not for public Internet. 
 
¶2.  (SBU) SUMMARY:  Turkmenistan's local press continue to report an 
increase in arrests and convictions of drug dealers.  Ashgabat 
residents, however, are skeptical about the government's so-called 
"rigorous measures" to crack down on drug criminals, and say that 
many neighborhoods in the city are still rife with drugs.  Officers 
of the State Counter-Narcotics Service say that a lack of resources 
is preventing them from conducting effective operations.  END 
SUMMARY. 
 
¶3.  (U)  On July 17th, the Ashgabat weekly "Adalat" (Justice) 
published an article reporting that a resident of Lebap province, 
Bahram Orazbayev, had been sentenced to eight years in prison for 
purchasing three grams of heroin from two Ashgabat drug dealers 
identified in court documents as "Haydar" and "Serdar." 
 
¶4.  (U)  Similarly, the July 24th issue of Adalat reported another 
drug conviction, that of Toyly Kurrikov, an alleged drug dealer from 
Ashgabat.  He was sentenced to 12 years in prison. 
 
¶5.  (SBU)  Despite an increasing number of reports of drug dealers 
being arrested and convicted, some Ashgabat residents are sceptical 
about the efficiency or enthusiasm of law enforcement officials in 
confronting the drug problem.  Andrey, a resident of the city's 6th 
Microdistrict, said that a group of drug dealers have operated out 
of his apartment building for the past ten years.  "Everyone in the 
neighborhood knows about them.  Drug addicts appear daily at the 
same time, almost like people reporting to work.  Why don't the 
police do anything about it?"  he said.  Likewise, a resident of 
Ashgabat's "Khitrovka" district, Vladimir, criticized the State 
Counter-Narcotics Service (SCNS) for doing nothing to stop a 
well-known drug dealer living next-door to his apartment on 
Grajdanskaya street.  "Every one of the neighbors will testify that 
he has been selling drugs out of his home for years, but the SCNS 
has never tried to arrest him," he said. 
 
¶6.  (SBU)  Meanwhile, SCNS officers complain of a lack of resources, 
and emphasize the difficulty of conducting undercover operations. 
For instance, an SCNS Lieutenant assigned to the town of Tejen (a 
well-known center of drug crimes in Ahal province) explained that it 
is increasingly difficult to apprehend drug dealers.  "Our office is 
understaffed:  There are only two field officers, in addition to the 
chief of directorate assigned to all of Tejen District.  All of the 
drug addicts and dealers know us and the (Russian-made) Lada cars 
that we drive.  Although we change the license plates, they still 
recognize our cars.  It is hard to conduct a surveillance operation 
when everyone knows you and your car.  When we come to a 
neighborhood, all of the drug dealers run away.  When we send 
informants out to buy drugs, they know better than to sell to them. 
They are all becoming more suspicious and cautious."  Another SCNS 
field officer, Senior Lieutenant Berdi, said that he experiences 
similar problems where he is assigned in Balkan Province, and added 
that besides a lack of staffing and insufficient vehicles, they lack 
even basic equipment, such as handcuffs and batons. 
 
¶7. (SBU) COMMENT:  In the absence of official statistics, it is hard 
to determine how effective law enforcement efforts actually are in 
combating the drug trade in Turkmenistan.  SCNS officials admit that 
although they have received 14 million USD from the president for 
capacity-building in the past two years, they are still 40% 
understaffed and lack much equipment vital for their operations. 
The Embassy's INL project is in the process of donating two light 
vehicles and twenty narcotics identification systems to the SCNS, 
with delivery expected next week.  END COMMENT. 
 
CURRAN