Countering the trafficking of Afghan opiates

 The Japanese Government allocated $1,500,000 for the establishment of four Border Liaison Offices on the borders of Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Uzbekistan and Afghanistan

 The official signing ceremony of the Grant Agreement was held in Bishkek on 22 October 2013 between the Japanese Agency for International Cooperation (JICA), the Embassy of Japan to the Kyrgyz Republic and United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC). The purpose is the extension of UNODC's regional project "Countering the trafficking of Afghan opiates via the northern route by enhancing the capacity of key border crossings points (BCPs) and through the establishment of Border Liaison Offices (BLOs)". The Grant Agreement was signed by Mr. Takayuki OYAMA, Chief Representative of JICA in the Kyrgyz Republic and  Mr. Takayuki Koike, Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of Japan to the Kyrgyz Republic and Mr. Alexander Fedulov, Head of UNODC Programme Office in the Kyrgyz Republic. Deputy Foreign Ministers of Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan and as well as Senior Officials of Kyrgyz law enforcement agencies took part in the signing ceremony.

 The Grant Amount is JPY 141, 000,000, and will be used to establish four additional BLOs at the Kyrgyz-Uzbek, Tajik-Afghan and Uzbek Afghan BCPs in the Kyrgyz Republic, Republic of Tajikistan  and Republic of Uzbekistan.

The ongoing UNODC regional project "Countering the trafficking of Afghan opiates via the northern route by enhancing the capacity of key border crossings points (BCPs) and through the establishment of Border Liaison Offices (BLOs)" is designed to enhance border crossing facilities with established lines of communication and intelligence-sharing across borders, in order to detect and intercept contraband, including narcotic drugs, psychotropic substances and precursor chemicals.