VZCZCXYZ0002
RR RUEHWEB

DE RUEHNT #1958/01 3071426
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
R 031423Z NOV 09
FM AMEMBASSY TASHKENT
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 1481
INFO RUEHNT/AMEMBASSY TASHKENT

UNCLAS TASHKENT 001958 
 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: SNAR KCRM KJUS PGOV PREL UZ
SUBJECT: UZBEKISTAN: DRAFT 2009 INTERNATIONAL NARCOTICS CONTROL 
STRATEGY REPORT PART I, DRUGS AND CHEMICAL CONTROL 
 
REF: 09 STATE 97309 
 
¶1.      (U)  SUMMARY:  Uzbekistan is a geographically strategic 
crossroads between South Asia and Europe.  It is primarily a 
transit country for opiates originating in Afghanistan, with an 
estimated 95 tons of Afghan opiates passing through Central Asia 
each year. Well-established trade routes facilitate the transit of 
these narcotics to Russia and Europe. Although the vast majority of 
these drugs will never reach U.S. soil, local drug trafficking 
ultimately affects the security of the United States by threatening 
the security of U.S. friends and allies.  Throughout Central Asia, 
there are strong connections between narco-trafficking and 
terrorism.  Extremist groups often use the profits of the drug 
trade to undermine, destabilize, and corrupt government 
institutions.  The Government of Uzbekistan (GOU) has taken some 
independent steps to combat the narcotics trade but still relies 
heavily on multilateral and bilateral financial and technical 
resources. Uzbekistan is slowly reengaging the international 
community, including the United States Government (USG), after a 
period of comparative isolation.  In a major step towards more 
effective bilateral cooperation, the GOU accredited a 
"Counternarcotics Affairs Office" (CAO) staffed by the U.S. Drug 
Enforcement Administration (DEA).  However, greater efforts are 
needed to stem the flow of narcotics through Uzbek territory.  Law 
enforcement officers seized approximately 1,820 kilograms of 
illegal narcotics in the first six months of 2009, with opiates 
accounting for almost 84 percent of seizures. Uzbekistan is a party 
to the 1988 UN Drug Convention. END SUMMARY. 
 
 
 
STATUS OF COUNTRY 
 
---------------------------------- 
 
 
 
¶2.      (U)  As with many countries, illegal narcotics create 
serious social, health, and law enforcement problems in Uzbekistan. 
Dealing with these problems requires consistent and sustained 
efforts by the GOU and its international partners; the development 
of an integrated and comprehensive counternarcotics strategy will 
facilitate these efforts.  On the positive side, counternarcotics 
issues have been attracting the attention of some high-level Uzbek 
officials, along with increasing press coverage.  However, although 
there is political will to deal with local drug problems, 
implementation of programs is slow and bureaucratic.  Although 
Uzbek law enforcement officers seem eager to work with their 
international counterparts, they are not free to act without heavy 
political oversight.  The GOU is showing signs of greater openness 
to bilateral and multilateral cooperation.  However, without direct 
and regular access to Uzbek law enforcement components by 
Uzbekistan's international partners, efforts to develop a 
counternarcotics strategy will suffer, and pursuit of joint 
investigations will be difficult at best.  The newly reopened 
Counternarcotics Affairs Office seeks broad-based cooperation with 
all Uzbek law enforcement agencies, with a special focus on 
building Uzbek capacity to investigate and prosecute drug crimes. 
 
 
 
¶3.      (U)  While there is no significant drug production in 
Uzbekistan, several transshipment routes for opium, heroin, and 
hashish originate in Afghanistan and cross Uzbekistan for 
destinations in Russia and Europe. Seizures for the first half of 
2009 increased by approximately seven percent compared to the same 
time period in 2008, according to official statistics. (Seizures in 
2008 had increased by 54 percent in comparison with 2007.) 
Precursor chemicals have, in the past, traveled the same 
transshipment routes in reverse on their way to laboratories in 
Afghanistan and Pakistan. 
 
 
 
COUNTRY ACTIONS AGAINST DRUGS IN 2009 
 
--------------------------------------------- ---------------------- 
--- 
 
 
 
POLICY INITIATIVES 
 
 
 
¶4.      (U)  The accreditation of the Counternarcotics Affairs 
Office is just one signal of Uzbekistan's increasing willingness to 
cooperate with international partners in its efforts to combat 
illegal narcotics.  In 2009, Uzbekistan took important steps 
 
 
towards improving its counternarcotics capacity and law enforcement 
institutions by participating in international programs and taking 
advantage of training opportunities.  Uzbek Customs officials 
developed a local canine (K-9) training center with assistance from 
the State Department Bureau of International Narcotics and Law 
Enforcement Affairs (INL).  In March 2009, Uzbek Customs officers 
participated in an INL-sponsored K-9 conference in Kazakhstan. 
Such training offers long-term benefits not only to Uzbekistan, but 
to the entire region-Uzbek officials have already begun to share 
their expertise with customs officials of neighboring countries. 
The Government of Uzbekistan also cooperates with neighboring 
countries through its participation in the Central Asia Regional 
Information and Coordination Center (CARICC), and the Border 
Management Assistance Program-Central Asia Border Security 
Initiative (BOMCA-CABSI) sponsored by the European Union (EU) and 
the United Nations Development Program (UNDP).  An Uzbek 
representative attended the regional 2009 International Drug 
Enforcement Conference (IDEC) at the invitation of the USG, and GOU 
officials have been invited to attend the 2010 IDEC in Brazil. 
Uzbekistan participated in the regional training event Operation 
TARCET II, which was sponsored by the United Nations Office on 
Drugs and Crime (UNODC) and designed to focus regional and 
international manpower, intelligence, and operational resources on 
identifying and intercepting precursor chemicals bounds for 
Afghanistan.  The UNODC continues to implement projects focusing on 
improvements in law enforcement, precursor chemical control, border 
security, and drug demand reduction.  UNODC has reported that 
cooperation with Uzbek law enforcement agencies is steadily 
improving. 
 
 
 
¶5.      (U)  Uzbekistan continues to work toward the goals of the 
1988 UN Drug Convention on combating illicit cultivation and 
production. The annual "Black Poppy" eradication campaign has 
virtually eliminated illicit poppy cultivation within the borders 
of Uzbekistan.  In addition, the GOU has created counternarcotics 
task forces at airports and border checkpoints.  However, efforts 
to achieve convention goals are still hampered by the lack of 
effective laws, programs, money, appropriate international 
agreements, and coordination among law enforcement agencies.  The 
GOU focuses its law enforcement efforts almost exclusively on drug 
seizures and arrests of minor drug traffickers.  The CAO hopes to 
work with the GOU to expand its capacity for conducting 
investigations and prosecuting crimes, providing comprehensive 
mentor support, training, and enhanced investigation intelligence. 
 
 
 
LAW ENFORCEMENT EFFORTS 
 
 
 
¶6.      (U)  Preliminary statistics provided by the GOU show that 
in the first half of 2009, Uzbek law enforcement seized a total of 
1,820 kilograms of illicit drugs, a seven percent increase from the 
same period last year. Opium poppy straw accounted for 35 percent 
of the total, heroin for 28 percent, opium for 20 percent, cannabis 
for 15 percent, and hashish for about one percent.  For the first 
six months of 2008 authorities reported 5,737 narcotics-related 
criminal cases, including 176 arrests for drug smuggling and 3,219 
for drug distribution.  During the first six months of 2009, 
Uzbekistan reported 4,712 criminal cases pertaining to narcotics, 
including 174 arrests for drug smuggling and 2,350 for drug 
distribution.   Although the number of criminal cases for the first 
half of 2009 represents an eighteen percent decrease compared with 
the same period in 2008, this apparently negative indicator may 
mean that these statistics have not been manipulated-which would 
actually be a positive sign. 
 
 
 
¶7.      (U)  Four agencies with separate jurisdictions have 
counternarcotics responsibilities: the Ministry of Internal Affairs 
(MVD), the National Security Service (NSS), the State Customs 
Committee and the Office of the Prosecutor General.  (The Ministry 
of Defense also plays a role in general border security.)  The MVD 
concentrates on domestic crime, the NSS (which includes the Border 
Guards) handles international organized crime (in addition to its 
intelligence role), and Customs works at the border 
(interdiction/seizures at the border are also carried out by the 
Border Guards during their normal course of duties). The CAO 
intends to conduct broad-based cooperation with all of these law 
enforcement agencies.  Despite the delineation of responsibilities, 
a lack of intelligence sharing and operational coordination 
diminishes the effectiveness of counternarcotics efforts. The 
National Center for Drug Control was designed to minimize mistrust, 
rivalry and duplication of effort among the agencies, but the 
Center continues to have difficulty accomplishing this goal. Its 
 
 
role is purely administrative; it synchronizes the statistics of 
the various agencies, but has no control over budget or policy 
decisions. However, the National Center for Drug Control readily 
shares data with the U.S. Government and other international 
entities.  The NSS plays a pivotal role in the operations of all 
GOU agencies. 
 
 
 
¶8.      (U)  According to National Center reports, most smuggling 
incidents involve one to two individuals. Large, sophisticated 
"priority targets" are few, but there are many small, independent 
smuggling organizations operating between Afghanistan, Tajikistan, 
and Uzbekistan.  Poor border controls allow drug traffickers to 
cross between the countries with relative ease. Resource and legal 
constraints have limited the GOU's ability to investigate these 
cases, and lack of training and equipment continues to hamper all 
Uzbek agencies. Basic necessities, even replacements for aging 
Soviet era equipment, remain in short supply or seem 
administratively difficult to obtain. Uzbekistan has relied heavily 
on international assistance from UNODC, the U.S., the UK, the EU, 
and others to supplement its own thinly-funded programs. 
 
 
 
CORRUPTION 
 
 
 
¶9.      (U)  As a matter of policy the GOU does not encourage or 
facilitate illicit production or distribution of narcotic or 
psychotropic drugs or other controlled substances. However, 
corruption is endemic at all levels of government, and the paying 
of bribes is an accepted practice. Drug profits contribute to 
corruption throughout Central Asia.  One of the principal obstacles 
to a sustained counternarcotics strategy is the intervention of 
corrupt officials.  Salaries of law enforcement officers are 
generally very low, and there are anecdotal accounts of customs and 
border officials supplementing their incomes by accepting bribes to 
ignore narcotics shipments. It is likely that some government 
officials are involved with narcotics trafficking organizations. 
Conspiracy laws in Uzbekistan are ineffective, and corruption cases 
usually target low or mid-level officers.  However, the GOU is 
implementing anti-corruption programs with the assistance of the 
international community.  In one example, the Ministry of Internal 
Affairs (MVD) recently introduced an automated phone system which 
allows callers to officially report crimes; the recorded 
information that callers provide cannot be deleted by law 
enforcement officers or any other internal employees.  With this 
program, the MVD aims to reduce corruption by making it more 
difficult for GOU employees to conceal crimes. 
 
 
 
¶10.  (U)  The Uzbek criminal justice system continues to suffer 
from a lack of modernization and reform, mainly judicial and 
procedural reform, and standards remain below international norms. 
The Uzbek criminal justice system is largely inherited from the 
Soviet Union. The Executive Branch and Prosecutor General's Office 
are powerful entities, and the judiciary is not independent. The 
outcomes of court cases are usually predetermined, and conviction 
rates approach 100 percent. Prosecutions often rely on coerced 
confessions by the defendants, and conviction is typical even in 
the absence of evidence. Corruption at all levels of the criminal 
justice system is rampant. 
 
 
 
AGREEMENTS AND TREATIES 
 
 
 
¶11.  (U)  Uzbekistan is a party to the 1988 UN Drug Convention, the 
1971 UN Convention on Psychotropic Substances, and the 1961 UN 
Single Convention as amended by the 1972 Protocol. Uzbekistan is 
also a party to the UN Convention against Transnational Organized 
Crime and has signed but not ratified the protocol on Migrant 
Smuggling. In July 2008 Uzbekistan adopted the UN Convention 
Against Corruption, a development which should help long-term 
efforts to increase transparency.  Uzbekistan has signed the 
Central Asian Counternarcotics Memorandum of Understanding with the 
UNODC.  In 2006, Uzbekistan formally agreed to the establishment of 
a Central Asian Regional Information and Coordination Center 
(CARICC) to coordinate information sharing and joint 
counternarcotics efforts in Central Asia, but is the only member 
country that has not yet ratified the CARICC agreement. Kazakhstan, 
the Kyrgyz Republic, Tajikistan, and Uzbekistan signed an agreement 
in September 1999 on cooperation in combating transnational crime, 
including narcotics trafficking. The five Central Asian countries, 
 
 
as well as Azerbaijan, Georgia, Iran, Pakistan, and Turkey, are 
members of the Economic Coordination Mechanism supported by the 
UNODC. The GOU also signed agreements on increased counternarcotics 
cooperation in 2006 in the context of its membership in the 
Shanghai Cooperation Organization and the Collective Security 
Treaty Organization. However, to date, these agreements appear to 
have resulted in few tangible results. 
 
 
 
CULTIVATION AND PRODUCTION 
 
 
 
¶12.  (U)  Uzbekistan continues to work toward the goals of the 1988 
UN Drug Convention on combating illicit cultivation and production 
within its borders. The annual "Operation Black Poppy" is one of 
the GOU's counternarcotics success stories, having all but 
eliminated illicit opium poppy cultivation in Uzbekistan. 
Authorities log between 600-800 hours of flying time in the course 
of the annual operation.  However, the operation is hampered by 
such basic problems as an aging helicopter fleet and lack of fuel 
for the helicopters.  Officials have reported in the past that two 
of their three helicopters were grounded due to these problems. 
 
 
 
DRUG FLOW AND TRANSIT 
 
 
 
¶13.  (U)  Several major transnational trade routes facilitate the 
transportation of opiates and cannabis from Afghanistan through 
Uzbekistan to Russia and Europe. The border crossing point at 
Termez remains a point of concern due to insufficient border 
control measures.  However, a UNODC-implemented border security 
project at the road and rail crossing has resulted in improved 
control over the border crossing with Afghanistan, and an 
INL-funded UNODC project will focus on improving the control regime 
at the river port. Containers crossing the border from Uzbekistan 
to Afghanistan are generally not searched, and Uzbeks have 
requested scanning equipment to help ensure that contraband, 
including precursor chemicals, does not reach Afghanistan. The 
National Center and UNODC report that trafficking also continues 
along traditional smuggling routes and by conventional methods, 
mainly from Afghanistan into Surkhandarya Province and from 
Afghanistan via Tajikistan and the Kyrgyz Republic into Uzbekistan. 
The primary regions in Uzbekistan for the transit of drugs are 
Tashkent, Termez, the Fergana Valley, Samarkand and Syrdarya. 
 
 
 
DOMESTIC PROGRAMS 
 
 
 
¶14.  (U)  According to the National Drug Control Center, at the 
beginning of 2009, there were 21,089 registered drug addicts in 
Uzbekistan, of which approximately 69 percent were heroin users. 
This represents a slight decrease from the number of registered 
drug addicts at the beginning of 2008.  In contrast with the 
official statistics, the Ministry of Internal Affairs estimates 
there are 35,000 drug addicts in Uzbekistan.  However, observers in 
the international community believe the official number of 
registered addicts is believed to reflect only 10-15 percent of the 
actual drug addicts in Uzbekistan; the actual number is probably 
over 200,000.  Hospitals with drug dependency recovery programs are 
inadequate to meet the increasing need for detoxification and 
treatment, although the government is making an effort to open new 
treatment facilities. The Ministry of Health and National Drug 
Control Center have recognized the need to focus increased 
attention on the drug problem, but do not have sufficient funds to 
do so adequately. Drug awareness programs are administered in 
cooperation with NGOs, schools, women and youth groups, religious 
organizations, national radio, and the mahalla (neighborhood) 
support system.  In 2007 UNODC completed an INL-funded drug demand 
reduction project that demonstrated increased drug abuse awareness 
among school children, and additional INL funds have already been 
allocated for the second phase of this drug demand reduction 
project.  A USAID drug demand reduction project which focused on 
key points along drug trafficking routes to prevent at-risk young 
people from becoming injecting drug users ended in 2008; some of 
the activities are continuing under the auspices of local NGOs or 
health facilities. 
 
 
 
U.S. POLICY INITIATIVES AND PROGRAMS 
 
 
--------------------------------------------- --------------------- 
 
 
 
BILATERAL COOPERATION 
 
 
 
¶15.  (U)  Building a strong counternarcotics strategy requires 
regional and international partners, funding, viable training, and 
a long-term commitment.  A legal framework for bilateral 
cooperation between Uzbekistan and the United States already exists 
under the 2001 U.S.-Uzbekistan Narcotics Control and Law 
Enforcement Agreement and its amendments.  These agreements provide 
for U.S. assistance to Uzbekistan to enhance the capability of 
Uzbek law enforcement agencies in their efforts to fight narcotics 
trafficking and organized crime.  This assistance is most often 
provided in the form of technical assistance, training, and limited 
equipment donations.  The new Counternarcotics Affairs Office (CAO) 
is in the process of assessing the current counternarcotics 
strategy, with the goal of developing a sound and comprehensive 
program that will foster bilateral relations and augment (but not 
duplicate) existing programs.  In March of 2007, DEA was forced to 
temporarily suspend its operations in Uzbekistan when visas for DEA 
personnel were not renewed.  However, in June 2009 the GOU 
accredited the CAO, which is staffed by DEA.  A full-time 
Counternarcotics Liaison arrived in Uzbekistan in October 2009. 
The CAO will focus its efforts on strengthening Uzbek institutions 
and building the operational and investigative capacity of Uzbek 
law enforcement agencies.  In particular, the CAO hopes to assist 
the GOU in establishing a centralized law enforcement database that 
would assist those agencies in their investigations and allow them 
to operate more effectively.  The CAO will also encourage 
Uzbekistan to work more closely with its neighbors, including 
Afghanistan, to develop investigative intelligence targeting 
international drug, precursor, and money-laundering organizations. 
 
 
 
 
¶16.  (U)  The State Department Bureau of International Narcotics 
and Law Enforcement Affairs (INL), with support from the Department 
of Justice Criminal Investigative Training Assistance Program 
(ICITAP), continues to support the GOU in its efforts to improve 
its forensics laboratories.  This successful project, which aims to 
bring Uzbekistan's forensic laboratories up to international 
standards, has included equipment donation, visits to U.S. 
laboratories, and a conference for scientists, prosecutors and 
judges.  INL has also provided much-needed basic equipment to 
border guards in the crucial Surkhandarya Province.  The State 
Department's Bureau of Export and Related Border Security (EXBS) 
increased its activities in Uzbekistan in 2009 as cooperation with 
the GOU improved.  In April 2009, Uzbek officials from Customs and 
the Ministry for Foreign Economic Relations, Investment and Trade 
attended a course on International Export Control Policy at the 
University of Georgia Export Control Academy.  The Customs and 
Border Protection agency of the Department of Homeland Security 
also conducted a successful joint International Rail Interdiction 
Training/International Border Interdiction Training with Uzbek 
Customs officials and Border Guards at the Termez border crossing 
in April.  The Department of Energy International Nonproliferation 
Export Control Program (INECP) successfully conducted Commodity 
Identification Training (CIT) at the Uzbek Customs Academy in May. 
Uzbek officials participated in the Defense Threat Reduction 
Agency-North Atlantic Treaty Organization (DTRA-NATO) Advanced 
Training Course on Nonproliferation in October.  The USG is also 
providing funding to repair and upgrade the Termez river port. 
 
 
 
THE ROAD AHEAD 
 
 
 
¶17.  (U)  The U.S. remains committed to working with Uzbekistan to 
create strong partnerships in areas of mutual interest, including 
reduction of drug supply, reduction of demand for drugs, treatment 
of drug addiction, educational programs, anti-corruption programs, 
and border security.  The USG continues to support the GOU in its 
efforts to establish a balanced and comprehensive counternarcotics 
strategy, and to enhance investigative and operational capacity. 
The new Counternarcotics Affairs Office will assist appropriate 
Uzbek agencies to improve narcotics detection and drug interdiction 
capabilities, and will leverage its presence in Uzbekistan for 
direct and regular access to Uzbek law enforcement officials in 
order to maximize joint efforts.  In particular, the CAO will focus 
on building Uzbek capacity to investigate and prosecute crimes, 
thus aiming at the root of the illegal narcotics problem in 
Uzbekistan.  The U.S. will continue to encourage Uzbekistan to 
 
 
engage with the international community, especially its neighbors. 
 
 
 
 
DATA TABLES 
 
----------------------- 
 
 
 
Drug seizure statistics for the first six months of 2008 and the 
same period in 2009: 
 
 
 
                                                2008 
2009 
 
Heroin (kg)                              771.4               515.4 
 
Opium (kg)                              432.5               370.9 
 
Cannabis (kg)                          324.8               268.0 
 
Hashish (kg)                            55.8                 23.7 
 
Opium Poppy Straw (kg)        120.0               642.0 
NORLAND