DUSHANBE, December 7, 2012, Asia-Plus  -- A joint operation by Tajik and Afghan drug control authorities has reportedly led to shutting down a large channel, through which Afghan narcotics were being smuggled to Central Asia’s countries, Russia and Europe.

An official source at the Drug Control Agency (DCA) under the President of Tajikistan says a multistage operation has been jointly conducted y Afghan and tajik drug control officers in Afghan Badakhshan Province during several months.

“As a result of the operation, 420 kilograms of narcotics and several firearms have been seized and thirteen drug traffickers have been arrested,” said the source.  “Six officers from the Afghan Interior Ministry have been wounded, one of them has died.  Besides, the brother of one of leaders of the organized criminal drug trafficking group, who was an active member of the group, was killed in the operation.”

Meanwhile, in a report released at a press conference in Kabul, Baz Mohammad Ahmadi, deputy minister of counternarcotics at the Interior Ministry of Afghanistan, noted that the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) had assessed that operation as one of the largest achievements in fight against drug trafficking in both countries.    

Established in 1999, the Drug Control Agency of Tajikistan was founded to help combat the drug trafficking through the country from Afghanistan, and is one of the most active anti-narcotics bodies operating in Asia.  According to some international media sources, it is estimated that upwards of 20% of Afghanistan''s opiates travel through Tajikistan.  The Tajik counternarcotics agency has established liaison officers’ network in northern Afghanistan since 2004 and joint operations with the Counter Narcotics Police of Afghanistan (CNPA) have been successfully conducted.