VZCZCXYZ0001
PP RUEHWEB

DE RUEHKB #0918 3290941
ZNR UUUUU ZZH (TAO)
P 250941Z NOV 09
FM AMEMBASSY BAKU
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 2077
INFO RUCNCIS/CIS COLLECTIVE
RUEHAK/AMEMBASSY ANKARA 3681
RHMFISS/CDR USEUCOM VAIHINGEN GE
RHEHNSC/NSC WASHDC
RUFOADA/JAC MOLESWORTH RAF MOLESWORTH UK

UNCLAS BAKU 000918 
 
 
SENSITIVE 
SIPDIS 
 
DEPT FOR EUR/CARC, INL (J. LYLE) 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PGOV PREL SNAR KCRM AJ
SUBJECT: AZERBAIJAN: 2009 INCSR PART 1 SUBMISSION 
¶I. Summary 
Azerbaijan is located along drug transit routes running from 
Afghanistan and Central Asia or Iran to Russia and Europe, and 
trans-shipments of illegal substances from East to West via its 
 
territory remain Azerbaijan's primary narcotics issue. Domestic 
consumption and cultivation of narcotics as well as seizures have 
continued to increase. The United States has funded counternarcotics 
assistance to Azerbaijan through the FREEDOM Support Act since 2002. 
 Azerbaijan is 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 is growing. Azerbaijan 
emerged as a narcotics transit route in the 1990s because of the 
disruption of the "Balkan Route" during the wars among the countries 
of the former Yugoslavia. According to the Government of Azerbaijan 
(GOAJ), most of the narcotics transiting Azerbaijan originate in 
Afghanistan and follow any of four primary routes to Russia and 
Europe. Azerbaijan shares a 380 mile (611 km) frontier with Iran, 
and its security forces need additional material resources and 
training to combat increasingly sophisticated trafficking groups. 
Iranian and other traffickers are exploiting this situation. The 
most widely abused drugs in Azerbaijan are opiates - especially 
heroin-illicit medicines, cannabis, Ecstasy, hashish, cocaine and 
LSD. 
Domestic consumption continues to grow. The GOAJ has registered 
23,254 persons as drug addicts. Unofficial figures are estimated at 
approximately 300,000, the majority of which are heroin addicts. 
Students are thought to be a large share of total drug abusers at 
30-35 percent. The majority of heroin users are concentrated in the 
region of Absheron, which includes the capital Baku, while the rest 
are primarily in the Lankaran District near Iran. Drug use and drug 
dealing among women has been rising, and illegal drug use among 
unemployed young men in rural areas is a chronic problem. 
III. Country Actions Against Drugs in 2009 
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 held the chairmanship of GUAM 
(Georgia-Ukraine-Azerbaijan-Moldova) from July 2007-July 2008 and 
had pushed for sharing 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.  In December 2008 members of GUAM signed a 
protocol that would increase the level of information shared through 
VSEC; however, the extent to which the information is shared appears 
to remain limited. 
Azerbaijan is also party to the European Commission-funded South 
Caucasus Anti-Drug Program, which aims to reduce supply and demand 
by improving governments' capacity to address these problems.  The 
2007-2009 program has promoted drug policies and legislation that 
are in harmony with EU standards, refurbished a rehabilitation and 
treatment center for the Ministry of Justice, sponsored an awareness 
campaign and training courses, gathered information about drug 
addicts in the penitentiary system, and improve coordination between 
EU and Azerbaijani law enforcement agencies. 
Law Enforcement Efforts. During the first nine months of 2009, 
Azerbaijani law enforcement agencies confiscated approximately 900 
kg of narcotics. This is 60% increase compared to the same period in 
¶2008. Of this, the majority was seized while being smuggled across 
the border with Iran. During the year 1,956 drug traffickers were 
arrested. Of the 1,956 people who were arrested for drug-related 
crimes in Azerbaijan, 1843 were described as able bodied, unemployed 
people who were not in school, 392 had a previous criminal record, 
65 were women and 4 were underage children. 
In October 2009, the Central Department to Combating Law Violations 
in Customs seized 20 kg of heroin that was smuggled by an 
Azerbaijani/Iranian citizen through the southern border with Iran. 
This case is illustrative of numerous seizures that occurred 
throughout the year, in which large quantities of drugs were 
transported from Iran and through Azerbaijan by multinational 
criminal groups.  The majority of drugs enter Azerbaijan via land 
routes from Iran, hough some are transported by ships on the 
Caspia Sea. 
Corruption. As a matter of government poliy, Azerbaijan does not 
encourage or facilitate illicit production or distribution of 
narcotic or psychotropic drugs or other controlled substances, or 
the laundering of proceeds from illegal drug transactions. However, 
corruption remains a significant problem in Azerbaijan and permeates 
much of society. Azerbaijani judges, prosecutors and investigators 
attended DOJ-sponsored training courses on corruption investigation, 
prosecution techniques, investigating money laundering, and 
terrorism-financing. These broad-based skills may aid in the 
prosecution of drug-related cases and limit the scope of corruption. 
 In October 2008, several police officers from a Baku anti-drug 
trafficking unit were arrested on distribution charges. One kilogram 
of heroin was seized during the search of their offices. 
Agreements and Treaties. Azerbaijan is party to the 1988 UN Drug 
Convention, the 1971 UN Convention on Psychotropic Substances, and 
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 
significant drug cultivation site. Cannabis and poppy are cultivated 
illegally, mostly in southern Azerbaijan, but only to a modest 
extent.  During the year 448 tons of illegally cultivated and wild 
narcotic producing plants were destroyed. 
Drug Flow/Transit. Afghan opiates transit to Azerbaijan by three 
primary routes:  from Central Asia and across the Caspian Sea, or 
from Iran through the south of the country or through uncontrolled 
regions surrounding Nagorno-Karabakh, which remains in conflict. 
The Iranian route accounts for 95 percent of this flow, with 
commercial trucks and horses serving as the mode of transportation 
across the border.  Drugs are then smuggled through Azerbaijan to 
Russia, and finally on to Central and Western Europe.  Efforts by 
Turkey to increase enforcement along its border with Iran may have 
contributed to increased transit through Azerbaijan. 
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. 
In 2008, Azerbaijan created 50 new border guard outposts and coast 
guard bases and a canine training center. Smugglers are increasingly 
trafficking by air, during the year the number of seizures at 
airports increased. Additionally the Government of Azerbaijan is 
currently in the process of ratifying a new customs code which has 
not been modernized since Soviet times which should assist in 
eradicating the drug transit issue.  In April 2008, the Ministry of 
Internal Affairs signed an agreement with the Russian Federal Drug 
Control Service that facilitates joint operations, cooperative 
training and the sharing of interdiction techniques.  This joint 
operation has lead to the seizure of approximately 200 kg of 
narcotics. 
Domestic Programs.  In 2009, the GOAJ discontinued its 
anti-narcotics public service announcement program that used kiosks 
and billboards downtown Baku.  In its place, the GOAJ has created a 
new antidrug campaign that primarily focused on students. Lesson 
plans and homework have been created for primary school children. On 
university campuses the GOAJ funded NGOs to receive training on 
narcotics, create on campus antidrug advertisements, and have drug 
specialists meet with students. Azerbaijan is also focusing 
anti-narcotic campaigns on prison inmates. Information is being 
disseminated to inmates about narcotics, and a database of prisoners 
that abuse narcotics is being created. Journalists also received 
guidelines on how to write reports that deal with narcotics. 
IV. U.S. Policy Initiatives and Programs 
Bilateral Cooperation. In 2009, 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) and 
other GOAJ agencies involved in export control and related border 
security. EXBS training and assistance efforts, while aimed at the 
nonproliferation of weapons of mass destruction and their delivery 
systems, directly enhanced Azerbaijan's ability to control its 
borders and to interdict contraband, including narcotics. During the 
year, EXBS sponsored border control and management courses for SBS 
and SCC officers. The focus of these courses was advanced cargo 
inspection methods and border control tactics for ports of entry, or 
green borders.  Others efforts were aimed at improving the Border 
Guard's control of Azerbaijan's southern green border. The U.S. 
donation of search tools and related equipment, such as all terrain 
vehicles, and watchtower construction materials significantly 
enhanced the Border Guards' ability to hamper illegal penetrations 
of Azerbaijan's southern border. The donation of x-ray metal 
analyzers and x-ray machines improved State Customs Committee 
Contraband Teams' detection capabilities. Several SCC officers were 
trained on the use of VACIS x-ray machines for scanning vehicles at 
the main ports of entry into Azerbaijan. 
During the year EXBS continued negotiations for U.S. technical 
assistance for a National Targeting Center being constructed as SCC 
HQ in Baku, and in July officials from the State Customs Committee 
visited the US national targeting centers.  Additionally, the EXBS 
program continued increasing AJ Coast Guard capabilities with vessel 
and land-based radar systems, long term training of AJCG officers at 
US Coast Guard facilities in the US, and mobile USCG training teams 
to Azerbaijan. During 2006, DTRA and EXBS helped equip a maritime 
base near Azerbaijan's southern border in Astara. The base now hosts 
two patrol boats and two fast response boats, and is also used for 
extende