DRUG TRAFFICKING IN CENTRAL ASIA SURVEYED.

In a report issued February 28 in Tashkent, the International Narcotics Control Board yesterday named Afghanistan and Pakistan as the main sources of narcotics being transported to Europe via Central Asia. In Central Asia itself, the Board identified five key areas of narcotics production, mainly opium: Badakhshan (southeastern Tajikistan), Penjikent (on the Kyrgyz-Tajik border), Taldy-Kurgan and Kyzyl-Orda (southern Kazakhstan), and Samarkand (Uzbekistan). The Board expressed concern that drug trafficking and production in Central Asia may continue to grow with the opening of new international air and rail lines and highways. It particularly commended Uzbekistan’s creation of an interdepartmental anti-drug authority and its annual "Black Poppy" operation to destroy drug-producing crops. (11)

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