OPIATE FLOWS THROUGH NORTHERN AFGHANISTAN AND CENTRAL ASIA

106 Pages·2012·2.38 MB·English

OPIATE FLOWS THROUGH
NORTHERN AFGHANISTAN
AND CENTRAL ASIA
A Threat Assessment
May 2012

OPIATE FLOWS THROUGH NORTHERN 

AFGHANISTAN AND CENTRAL ASIA: 

A THREAT ASSESSMENT

OPIATE FLOWS THROUGH NORTHERN AFGHANISTAN AND CENTRAL ASIA: A THREAT ASSESSMENT  

CONTENTS 
CONTENTS..............................................................................................................1
GLOSSARY...............................................................................................................3
INTRODUCTION ......................................................................................................5
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY............................................................................................9
I. OPIATE SUPPLY AND DEMAND IN NORTHERN AFGHANISTAN............................ 17
Consumption in northern Afghanistan............................................................17
Consumption volumes..........................................................................................18
What is the source of supply?.........................................................................20
Heroin manufacture.............................................................................................20
Opium production................................................................................................22
Stockpiles, a potential supply source...................................................................24
Trafficking.......................................................................................................25
Is opium trafficked to northern Afghanistan from other regions?......................25
What is the source of the heroin trafficked to northern Afghanistan?...............29
Internal flows........................................................................................................31
Seizures in northern Afghanistan.........................................................................33
Profits and beneficiaries.................................................................................35
Profits...................................................................................................................35
Beneficiaries.........................................................................................................36
Insurgency in northern Afghanistan................................................................39
II. TRAFFICKING FROM NORTHERN AFGHANISTAN INTO AND  
THROUGH CENTRAL ASIA.................................................................................. 45
Breaching the frontline...................................................................................45
Turkmenistan........................................................................................................49

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OPIATE FLOWS THROUGH NORTHERN AFGHANISTAN AND CENTRAL ASIA: A THREAT ASSESSMENT 
Uzbekistan............................................................................................................53

Tajikistan..............................................................................................................58
To Kyrgyzstan.......................................................................................................72
To Kazakhstan.......................................................................................................77
A general decreasing trend?................................................................................82
Profits and beneficiaries.................................................................................85
Profits...................................................................................................................85
Beneficiaries.........................................................................................................86
RESPONSE............................................................................................................. 91
The way forward.............................................................................................91
ANNEX.................................................................................................................. 95
I. Methodology...............................................................................................95
II. Uzbekistan Airways route network.............................................................96
III. Tajikistan international air routes..............................................................97
IV. Reported railway seizures in Uzbekistan, 2011..........................................98
V. Selected opium seizures in Afghanistan, 2010‐2011....................................99
VI. Selected heroin seizures in Afghanistan, 2010‐2011................................100

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OPIATE FLOWS THROUGH NORTHERN AFGHANISTAN AND CENTRAL ASIA: A THREAT ASSESSMENT  

GLOSSARY 

ADB Asian Development Bank
AGE Anti-Government Elements
AOTP Afghan Opiate Trade Project
AREU Afghanistan Research and Evaluation Unit
BCP Border Crossing Point
BOMCA Border Management Programme for Central Asia
CAREC Central Asia Regional Economic Cooperation
CARICC Central Asian Regional Information and Coordination Centre
CJTF Criminal Justice Task Force
CNPA Counter Narcotics Police of Afghanistan
CIS Commonwealth of Independent States
CSTO Collective Security Treaty Organization
DCA Drug Control Agency
EU European Union
EurAsEc Eurasian Economic Community
FDCS Federal Drug Control Service of the Russian Federation
GBAO Gorno-Badakhshan Autonomous Oblast

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OPIATE FLOWS THROUGH NORTHERN AFGHANISTAN AND CENTRAL ASIA: A THREAT ASSESSMENT 
GDP Gross Domestic Product

ISAF International Security Assistance Force
IMU Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan
ISAF International Security Assistance Force
OSCE Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe
ROCA Regional Office for Central Asia
SCO Shanghai Cooperation Organization
SSDC State Service on Drug Control (Kyrgyzstan and Turkmenistan)
TIR Transports Internationaux Routiers (International Road
Transport)
UNAMA United Nations Assistance Mission to Afghanistan
UNCTAD United Nations Conference on Trade and Development
UNDP United Nations Development Programme
UNDSS United Nations Department of Safety and Security
UNECE United Nations Economic Commission for Europe
UNESCAP United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia
and the Pacific
USAID United States Agency for International Development

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