TAJIKISTAN: BORDER DISTRICT VICTIMIZED BY AFGHAN DRUG TRADE

PRAGUE. In Tajikistan's southern Shuroabad district, the narcotics trade
from neighboring Afghanistan is jeopardizing the lives of local residents.
Addiction is not the problem. Instead, many Tajiks say they have become the
victims of Afghan drug dealers who rob them, kidnap family members, and
sometimes even resort to murder -- all in an attempt to persuade the
residents to aid in the narcotics business.

The problem has existed for nearly a decade, but Shuroabad Tajiks say the
violence has worsened in recent months. Since May, four people have been
killed, more than 20 reported kidnapped, and scores of livestock stolen.
The situation has grown so bad that many residents are leaving the area.
Others are asking how -- with the area's heavily publicized border control
- -- Afghans are continuing to enter their villages at will.

The United Nations has estimated that some three-quarters of the world's
heroin supply originate in the poppy fields of Afghanistan. As the drugs
begin their trip to markets in Western Europe, Asia, and North America,
their first stopover is usually Tajikistan's mountainous Shuroabad district.

Shuroabad's key location has made its residents an easy target of Afghan
dealers looking for Tajiks to carry the drugs on to the next point of
transit -- the capital Dushanbe, or even a location outside the country.
The involuntary couriers are given a strict selling price for the drugs
they are conveying. If the money they bring home is insufficient, the
Afghan dealers may seize property or even a family member until the balance
is paid. Some dealers have reportedly kidnapped relatives to ensure that
the family will take their instructions seriously.

One local resident said he was leaving the district because he does not
feel safe:

"Our village was attacked by these Afghans last autumn. We are always
afraid. Our borders are not secure. In Soviet days, not even a fly would
dare cross the border [with Afghanistan]. Now groups of Afghans cross back
and forth and no one says anything."

In poverty-stricken Tajikistan, the problem has left residents destitute.
Since the start of May, some villagers estimate, Afghan dealers have taken
about $50,000 worth of property -- primarily cows and sheep, which
represent virtually the only source of income for Shuroabad residents. A
number of village homes have been taken over by Afghans.

Local Tajik security officials say they are aware of the problem. Safar
Majikdov, the head of the Shuroabad district's security committee, can give
a precise count of the number of livestock stolen in early May:

"On the first of May this year, a group of armed Afghan drug dealers stole
67 head of livestock from the village of Pariharyon. On 3 May, in the
Chasma Saeb region, 64 head of livestock [were taken] from the village of
Syrdara."

Many villagers in Shuroabad wonder how the situation has been allowed to
spin out of control. Thousands of Russian border guards are stationed along
the mountainous Afghan-Tajik border, in a highly publicized attempt to
fight drugs and weapons smuggling from Afghanistan. Reinforcing them are
soldiers from Russia's 201st division, Tajik border guards, and Tajik
Security Ministry troops.

But Majikdov says that crossing the border is still relatively easy:

"The checkpoints along the border are seven to 10 kilometers apart. That
allows [the Afghans] entering and conducting their illegal activities."

Jumakhan Olimi, a political analyst at Tajikistan's International
University in Kulob, told RFE/RL that porous borders are not the only
reason for the steady flow of Afghan drug dealers into the country: "It's a
society where the authorities are corrupt. According to our information,
anyone who pays $50 can cross the border. So how can you talk about security?"

Some estimates indicate that Shuroabad villagers already owe Afghan drug
dealers hundreds of thousands of dollars in drug-sale deficits -- an
insurmountable debt in a country where the average monthly wage is just
$10. Without improvements to the border-security system, the drug business
is likely to continue growing, and with it the chronic cycle of violence
and poverty in Shuroabad.