Northern Route of Afghan opiates trafficking

The working meeting on the Northern Route of Afghan opiates trafficking was held on 27-28 June 2013 in Almaty, Kazakhstan. The meeting was organized by UNODC and the Central Asian Regional Information and Coordination Centre for combating illicit trafficking of narcotic drugs, psychotropic substances and their precursors (CARICC) within the framework of the Afghan Opiate Trade Monitoring Project with the support of the UNODC Regional Programme for Afghanistan and neighboring countries.

Heads of analytical units of the competent authorities of the Central Asian countries, Afghanistan, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Russia, Ukraine, as well as representatives of the competent authorities of China, France, Germany, Turkey, UK, USA, and such regional and international organizations as EU/UNDP BOMCA Project, CSTO, OSCE and RATS of SCO attended the meeting. 

The meeting was organized in an informal format and presented an opportunity for the participants to discuss the latest analytical developments and most recent trends in combating illegal trafficking of Afghan opiates, in particular, the current drug situation in the countries located on the Northern Route, post-2014 scenarios and implications for the Central Asian counter-narcotics community as well as issues of the regional cooperation, reports and findings of the Afghan Opiate Trade Monitoring Project of UNODC.

The participants noted the importance of the closer interaction and cooperation among the law enforcement agencies by timely exchanging information, conducting international controlled delivery operations and other joint actions to combat illegal drug trafficking. The workshop participants also agreed on conducting further expert researches by UNODC and CARICC.