DUSHANBE. Feb 3 (Interfax) - While the Taliban (a terrorist organization banned in Russia), which has controlled Afghanistan since August 2021, has claimed its determination to counter illegal drug trafficking, the amount of illicit drugs produced in and smuggled from that country keeps growing, Habibullo Vohidzoda, director of the Drug Control Agency under Tajikistan's president, said at a press conference in Dushanbe.
The amount of narcotic drugs seized in the past two years in Tajikistan, especially in its border areas, increased from 4,083 kilos in 2021 to 4,165 in 2022, Vohidzoda said.
Tajik law enforcement agencies are actively cooperating with their counterparts from neighboring states, including Russia, in opposing illegal drug trafficking, he said.
As many as 694 Tajik citizens were detained outside of Tajikistan on charges of committing crimes involving illegal drug trafficking in 2022, and 464 kilos of drugs was seized from them, he said.
"The absolute majority of those Tajik citizens, namely 611 who committed crimes involving illegal drug trafficking, were detained last year in Russian territory, and 84 kilos of drugs was seized from them," he said.
Vohidzoda also cited statistics from the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crimes showing that the farmlands allotted for planting drugs in Afghanistan grew by 56,000 hectares from 177,000 hectares in 2021 to 233,000 hectares in 2022.
The growing scope of drug smuggling from Afghanistan to Tajikistan has also led to an increase in the number of Afghan citizens detained in Tajikistan on suspicion of drug smuggling from 8 in 2021 to 19 in 2022, Vohidzoda said.
In 2022, Tajikistan detained a total of 24 foreigners, including citizens of Pakistan, Iran, and Kyrgyzstan, for crimes involving illegal drug trafficking and seized 367 kilos of drugs from them.