United States Counternarcotics Assistance in Central Asia from the 2013 INCSR

03/20/14
Aleksandra Zaytseva
Central Eurasia
U.S. Policy, Drug Policy, Politics and Security

The State Department’s 2014 International Narcotics Control Strategy Report (INCSR) was published earlier in March, featuring general trends in the international narcotics situation. The INCSR provides a descriptive look at United States counternarcotics assistance to various regions, as well as the state of drug trends, policies and corruption for each individual country in 2013. Below are some examples of U.S. counternarcotics assistance to the Central Asia States as described in the INCSR: 

Joint Operations

  • The 2014 INCSR reported that the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) and the Kyrgyz State Drug Control Service (SDCS) conducted a number of high profile joint operations since the DEA opened offices in the country in 2012, which led to large-scale seizures and the prosecution of high-level individuals. While the 2013 INCSR detailed the memorandum of understanding between the SDCS and the DEA, the current INCSR provides the first mention of these joint operations.

 

Tangible Assistance

  • In Kazakhstan, the U.S. funded the development of canine facilities and drug seizure operations as part of a drug detection canine program.
  • The U.S. provided $4 million to the Kyrgyz State Border Guard Service in 2013, in addition to a combined $10 million in equipment and facilities, to support a Communication Sharing program. This is more than three times the $3 million in support provided to Kyrgyzstan that was reported in the previous year’s INCSR.
  • Tajikistan’s Drug Control Agency (DCA) established a vetted unit funded by the U.S., the first of its kind in the region. The U.S. also provided salary supplements to the DCA. Both were provided under the Central Asia Counternarcotics Initiative (CACI), which was launched in 2011. Since 2003, the U.S. has distributed $11.3 million to Tajikistan’s DCA.
  • U.S. assistance to Uzbekistan in 2013 allowed for the development of its forensic laboratory capabilities, in addition to providing Uzbek border-control agencies with equipment and training to increase its drug interdiction ability.

 

Classroom Training

  • The U.S. conducted five interagency workshops on drug-related investigations for counternarcotics officers in Kazakhstan. In 2012, there were six such trainings.
  • The U.S. trained customs officials in Tajikistan to use U.S.-provided vehicle scanners at a border-crossing point on the Tajik-Afghan border.
  • In Turkmenistan, a number of trainings were implemented along a range of programs. For example, twenty-three officers finished the seventh round of English language training courses for law enforcement officials. A sum of $100,000 was approved in July to continue funding for the English courses until 2017.
  • Also in Turkmenistan, twenty-five Turkmen drug unit commanders and twenty-five medical examiners underwent advanced drug enforcement seminars in Ashgabat, conducted by experts from the DEA Regional training team in Kazakhstan.
  • In Uzbekistan, the U.S. conducted a number of specialized trainings related to drug enforcement for police officers from the Ministry of Internal Affairs and National Security Service (NSS).

 

Field Training & Exercises

  • Through the continued funding of the Kazakhstan-based DEA Central Asia Regional Training Team (CARTT), the U.S. has provided training in counternarcotics law enforcement to Uzbekistan and other Central Asian law enforcement agencies.
  • In Kyrgyzstan, the U.S. funded a joint training exercise of law enforcement agents, drug service investigators and prosecutors, in order to deepen working relationships between counter-narcotics officials.

 

In addition to the detailed descriptions of U.S. counternarcotics activities in the region provided by the INCSR, U.S. counternarcotics priorities in the region are manifest in U.S. spending there. A look at the actual counternarcotics assistance to Central Asia on the Security Assistance Monitor shows an overall trend of increased assistance over the last few years. In particular, while the INCSR noted that the Tajik DCA received $11.3 million from the U.S. since 2003, the country as a whole received nearly $100 million from U.S. counternarcotics accounts between 2003 and 2012.

For the full 2014 INCSR, click here. To read additional analysis about our data, click here.