DRUG TRAFFICKING ACROSS TAJIK-AFGHAN BORDER- GREAT PROBLEM.

DUSHANBE, January 24 (Itar-Tass) - A stable rise in illegal drug
trafficking across the Tajik-Afghan border to smuggle narcotics to other
CIS countries and Western Europe is a serious threat to the common
interests of the Russian Federation and Tajikistan, Lieutenant-General
Nikolai Reznichenko, commander of Russian border troops in Tajikistan,
told a news conference here on Sunday.

To substantiate his words, the Russian general noted that 135 attempts at
crossing the border, mostly by smugglers, were thwarted by borderguards.
The number of armed clashes increased as compared with the last year. In
1998, 35 transgressors were killed and seven wounded as a result of 40
armed clashes with smugglers.

According to Reznicheko, the Moskovsky and Pyandzh sections of the
Tajik-Afghan border remain the main areas for smuggling narcotics.
According to borderguards, several dozen tonnes of drugs, including about
two tonnes of pure heroin, are hoarded at these sections on the Afghan
territory. The general stressed that borderguards detain smugglers at
these sections almost every day.

Afghan drug barons now send threats to commanders of border posts,
promising to murder them if borderguards continue sealing off smuggling
paths. In this connection, the general claimed that it is very important
to reinforce the Moskovsky and Pyandzh sections by shifting there reserve
groups from other areas of the Tajik-Afghan border.

Reznichenko praised the fact of involving international organisations,
including the United Nations, in tackling the problem of drug control.

Following a recent visit to Tajikistan, U.N. representatives decided to
appropriate several millions of U.S. dollars to create a security zone
around Afghanistan which has now become not only a producer but also a
transshipment point of drug smuggling from Pakistan to CIS countries and
Western Europe.