DUSHANBE, August 29, 2008, Asia-Plus  -- Russian Minister of Interiors Rashid Nurgaliyev today bestowed medal “For Battle Commonwealth” on two Tajik police officers, Colonel Zafar Salimov and Major Fazyiddin Mahmadaliyev.  

They were awarded the Russian decoration for seizing a large amount of narcotic drug in the territory of the Russian Federation.

Russian minister noted that on August 23, Salimov and Mahmadaliyev participated in an operation to detain Tajik drug peddlers with nearly 20 kilograms of heroin. 

Nurgaliyev highly appraised contribution of Tajik law enforcement agencies to the fight against illicit drug trafficking. 

He reminded that member nations of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) signed an agreement on combating trafficking in weapons, ammunition and explosive and procedure of organization of joint anti-terrorist drills in Dushanbe yesterday.  According to him, such drills promote strengthening of interaction between the law enforcement agencies n the region.   

For his part, Tajik Minister of Interiors Mahmadnazar Solehov noted that more than 4,000 kilograms of drugs have been seized by Tajik law enforcement agencies since the beginning of this year alone.    

During the meeting, it was also noted that the next meeting of the CIS heads of law enforcement agencies will be held in Dushanbe from September 18-20.  The meeting is supposed to consider issues related to strengthen interaction between the countries of the region in fighting international crimes.