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P 171039Z AUG 09
FM AMEMBASSY ASTANA
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RUEHAST/USOFFICE ALMATY 1799
RUEAWJL/DEPT OF JUSTICE WASHINGTON DC
RUEATRS/DEPT OF TREASURY WASHINGTON DC
RHMCSUU/FBI WASHINGTON DC
RUEABND/DEA HQS WASHINGTON DC
RHMFIUU/DEPT OF HOMELAND SECURITY WASHINGTON DC 0026

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 03 ASTANA 001403 
 
SENSITIVE 
SIPDIS 
 
STATE FOR INL/AAE, SCA/CEN 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PGOV SNAR KCRM KZ
SUBJECT:  KAZAKHSTAN:  NARCOTICS AND PROPERTY SEIZURES BY COMMITTEE 
FOR NATIONAL SECURITY 
 
ASTANA 00001403  001.2 OF 003 
 
 
¶1. (U) Sensitive but unclassified.  Not for public internet. 
 
¶2. (U) SUMMARY:  Kazakhstan's Committee for National Security (KNB) 
publicly reported its narcotics seizures for the first half of 2009. 
 Total KNB seizures increased 466% from the same period last year. 
In addition, the KNB reported that it began seizing property 
purchased with drug profits, the first time a Kazakhstani law 
enforcement agency has taken such action.  END SUMMARY. 
 
¶3. (U) German Didenko, Head of the KNB Division on Combating 
International Drug Trafficking spoke to the press on July 30 and 
reported that the KNB had arrested members of 25 drug rings and 
blocked 56 drug routes, including 36 international routes, during 
the first half of 2009.  As a result of KNB operations, he said, two 
metric tons of drugs, including 261 kilos of heroin, 104 kilos of 
hashish and 1,500 kilos of marijuana, were seized.  The KNB's drug 
seizures increased 466%, with a 1.3% increase in heroin seizures. 
NOTE:  Total seizures in Kazakhstan during the first half of 2009 
will be reported septel.  END NOTE. 
 
INTERNATIONAL COOPERATION 
 
¶4. (U) The KNB participated in 11 joint operations with special 
services throughout Central Asia, Russia, and China, resulting in 
the seizure of hundreds of kilos of drugs headed to the Russian 
cities of Omsk, Kazan, Novosibirsk, and Samara via Kyrgyzstan and 
Kazakhstan.  During one operation, the Russian Federal Security 
Service (FSB) and Kazakhstani KNB arrested two Tajik citizens 
delivering nine kilos of heroin to Kazan, Tatarstan.  As a result of 
a controlled delivery operation from Taldykorgan, Kazakhstan to 
Novosibirsk, Russia, two Russian citizens were arrested for 
trafficking. 
 
¶5. (U) The Chinese Ministry of Public Security and the KNB 
participated in the Safari Transit joint operation September 2008 
through March 2009, stopping a large transnational drug ring 
transporting Afghan heroin through Kazakhstan to China.  As part of 
the operation, the KNB conducted three controlled delivery 
operations to China.  Members of a Nigerian organized crime group 
were living in China and had long been working with Pakistani 
organizations.  Couriers transported heroin via commercial flights 
from Kabul and Islamabad to Almaty and onward to Guangzhou via 
Beijing.  On January 30, an Afghan citizen flying to Kabul was 
arrested with four kilos of heroin at a security checkpoint in the 
Almaty airport.  As a result of the operation, three Mongolians, 
five Afghans, and one Ghanaian were arrested in Almaty and seven 
Nigerians, one Mongolian, and one Uzbek were arrested in Guangzhou, 
China.  A total of 15 kilos of heroin was seized during the 
operation. 
 
STATISTICS 
 
¶6. (U) Authorities seized large amounts of heroin in Astana (19.9 
kilos), Almaty (17.5 kilos), Almaty Oblast (7.6 kilos), 
East-Kazakhstan Oblast (39.7 kilos), Zhambyl Oblast (63.5 kilos), 
North-Kazakhstan Oblast (42.2 kilos), and South-Kazakhstan Oblast 
(63.7 kilos).  But law enforcement officials seized especially large 
quantities of marijuana and hashish in Akmola Oblast (271.4 kilos), 
Zhambyl Oblast (832 kilos), Karaganda Oblast (486 kilos), and 
Pavlodar oblast (375.7 kilos).  The KNB also seized synthetic drugs, 
including 232 tabs of ecstasy and 124 amphetamine pills, being 
trafficked from Moscow to Astana. 
 
DOMESTIC EFFORTS 
 
¶7. (SBU) During the press conference, Didenko also mentioned that 
there has been a noticeable reduction of heavy drug traffic in 
Kazakhstan, which he attributed to the financial crisis.  This 
theory was substantiated during INL's July 24 meeting with the 
Chairman of the Ministry of Interior's (MVD) Committee on Combating 
 
ASTANA 00001403  002.2 OF 003 
 
 
Drugs.  The Chairman mentioned that there has been a marked increase 
in drug dealers bartering heroin for vehicles.  At the same time, 
there has been an increase in the sale of marijuana from the Chu 
Valley, leading law enforcement agencies to strengthen their efforts 
in the valley, located on the Kazakhstani-Kyrgyz border.  Each year 
from May 20 through October 20, Kazakshtan conducts an Operation 
known in Russian as Mak and in Kazakh as Koknar (poppy), during 
which the MVD, KNB, and Customs create a security zone around the 
valley.  This operation often accounts for a large percentage of 
annual marijuana seizures.  Last year, for example, Operation 
Mak/Koknar resulted in the seizure of 20,000 kilos of marijuana. 
 
¶8. (U) The KNB also has seen new concealment methods used by 
traffickers.  For example, on the theory that wolves' scent will 
confuse canines, traffickers are covering narcotics with powdered 
wolf's tooth.  Narcotics have also been found in nut shells and 
vegetables, as well as in liquid form. 
 
¶9. (U) The KNB reported that it is strengthening the southern border 
of Kazakhstan to help stem the flow of narcotics.  Construction and 
equipping of additional border posts and the purchase and 
installation of barriers and inspection equipment is foreseen within 
the State Program on Combating Drug Trafficking.  Of the 38.7 
million KZT (approximately $258,000) allocated by the government to 
the 2009-2011 Program on Combating Drug Addiction and Drug 
Trafficking, the KNB is to receive 18.7 million KZT (approximately 
$124,666). 
 
GOING AFTER THE PROFITS 
 
¶10. (U) During the first half of the year, the KNB became the first 
Kazakhstani law enforcement agency to seize property purchased with 
drug proceeds.  In one case, a ring operating six drug houses in and 
around Almaty was shut down by the KNB as part of Operation Pyramid, 
conducted in April and May.  Reportedly, each of the houses was 
earning approximately 200,000 KZT ($1,333) per day. As a result of 
the operation, the head of the cartel and six members were arrested 
and the KNB seized approximately $206,000 in various currencies, 
more than 5.5 kilos of heroin, cocaine, hashish and marijuana, three 
weapons, ammunition, and gold.  The KNB tracked the laundered 
proceeds, seizing three houses, two apartments, 14 vehicles, 100 
hectares of land, and a farm. 
 
¶11. (U) During Operation Temyr Tor (Iron Trap), the KNB dismantled a 
cartel trafficking heroin from Kyrgyzstan and Uzbekistan to Russia 
through Kazakhstan.  The head of the cartel and its members were 
arrested with more than 42 kilos of heroin.  While tracing the 
laundered proceeds, the KNB also found luxury cars and real estate. 
 After it was discovered that drug profits had been invested in a 
business owned by the cartel leader's spouse, investigators found 
that the business was also liable for $260,000 in unpaid taxes. 
Additionally, a high-ranking member of the cartel was charged with 
attempting to bribe a KNB official. 
 
COMMENT 
 
¶12. (SBU) The KNB has publicly emphasized the importance and 
complexity of tracing and seizing drug proceeds.  However, the lack 
of an Anti-money Laundering (AML) Law complicates the process. The 
AML Law, passed by Parliament in June, is currently before the 
Constitutional Council and cannot be signed by the President until 
the Council determines that the new Law is constitutional.  The KNB 
and the newly-formed Financial Intelligence Unit of the Ministry of 
Finance have discussed how to cooperate once the AML Law is signed. 
The MVD's Interagency Counter Narcotics Training Center (CN Center) 
is also reacting to the new challenges and has asked for INL 
assistance in developing a curriculum for drug-related money 
laundering investigation training.  INL will continue its technical 
assistance to the FIU and CN Center and will work with DEA to 
provide training sessions next year.  END COMMENT. 
 
ASTANA 00001403  003.2 OF 003 
 
 
 
HOAGLAND