VZCZCXRO1645
PP RUEHIK
DE RUEHAH #0019 0061226
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
P 061226Z JAN 10
FM AMEMBASSY ASHGABAT
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 4018
INFO RUCNCLS/ALL SOUTH AND CENTRAL ASIA COLLECTIVE PRIORITY
RUCNCIS/CIS COLLECTIVE PRIORITY
RUCNMEM/EU MEMBER STATES COLLECTIVE PRIORITY
RUEHAK/AMEMBASSY ANKARA PRIORITY 6083
RUEHBJ/AMEMBASSY BEIJING PRIORITY 3776
RUEHKO/AMEMBASSY TOKYO PRIORITY 3635
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 4325
RUEABND/DEA HQS WASHINGTON DC
RUEKJCS/SECDEF WASHDC

UNCLAS ASHGABAT 000019 
 
SENSITIVE 
 
SIPDIS 
 
STATE FOR SCA/CEN, INL/AAE BUHLER 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: SNAR KCRM PGOV SOCI TX IR
SUBJECT:  TURKMENISTAN: SOLDIER ARRESTED WITH 50 KILOS 
OF OPIUM 
 
¶1. (SBU) Sensitive but unclassified.  Not for public 
Internet. 
 
¶2. (SBU) SUMMARY:  A first sergeant in a military unit 
in Serdar district near the Iran border was reportedly 
arrested for drug smuggling last week.  Immediately 
following the incident, the Minister of Defense 
gathered all military unit commanders and singled out 
the Serdar unit commander with a reprimand.  The 
involvement of military officers and border guards in 
drug trafficking continues to be a problem in 
Turkmenistan.  END SUMMARY. 
 
¶3. (SBU) A military officer from unit 20016 (Honor 
Guards) of Ashgabat who is the sister-in-law of an 
Embassy LES reported that a "starshyna" (rank 
equivalent to a first sergeant) from the Serdar 
military unit (a district close to the Turkmen - 
Iranian border) of Balkan Province was arrested for 
smuggling 50 kilograms of opium at the end of 
December.  The incident was disclosed by the Ministry 
of Defense (MOD) during the all Military Unit 
Commanders meeting that was held in Ashgabat on 
January 2.  MOD Major General Berdiyev was said to be 
"very angry" at the meeting, reportedly yelling at the 
commander of the Serdar Military Unit  "How come you 
don't know your personnel or what they are doing!" 
The commander in question had been appointed only 
three days before the incident, which was apparently 
why he was not summarily dismissed and instead was given a 
written reprimand. 
 
¶4. (SBU) One Embassy contact, a former State Border 
Service captain who recently left his position, said 
he doubted that the amount was actually 50 kilos.  "50 
kilos is a whole lot for a soldier to smuggle alone 
across the border.  Low-ranking soldiers would not 
smuggle such an amount on their own.  If he actually 
had that amount, he must have done it on the orders of 
somebody above him, or he was just a scapegoat," said 
the ex-Captain, and added that the soldier must have 
been caught not on the border, but at a civilian 
location.  He added that "usually, Iranians get the 
drugs across the border and pass it to soldiers for 
resale.  Iranians like to do business with military 
men," he said, because soldiers are more reliable than 
civilians.  Civilians might take the drugs and promise 
to pay them after the drugs are sold and then run 
away.  By contrast, soldiers are tied to their units 
and unlikely to abscond.  They also have the added 
advantage of being able to pass easily through 
checkpoints, he said. 
 
¶5.  (SBU) COMMENT:  The involvement of military and 
border officers in the drug trade is reportedly common 
in Turkmenistan.  Low salaries, delays in the payment 
of salaries and poor working conditions at remote 
military units can push soldiers to engage in the 
illegal drug trade.  In addition, connections at the 
check points and military identity documents help 
them to pass through with minimal scrutiny.  END 
COMMENT. 
 
CURRAN