Source: 2005
Released by the Bureau for International Narcotics and Law Enforcement Affairs
I. Summary
The Kyrgyz Republic is a transit route for heroin and other opiates from Afghanistan destined for Russian, Western European and American markets. Several of the main drug trafficking routes out of Afghanistan run directly through the Kyrgyz Republic. There is minimal internal production of illicit narcotics or precursor chemicals. During the calendar year 2004, the Government of the Kyrgyz Republic (GOKG) attempted, with limited resources, to combat drug trafficking and locate and prosecute offenders. The GOKG has been supportive of international and regional efforts to limit drug trafficking and has begun major initiatives to address its own domestic drug abuse problems. The GOKG recognizes that the drug trade is a serious threat to its own stability and is continuing efforts to focus on secondary and tertiary drug-related issues such as money laundering, drug-related street crime, and corruption within its own government ranks. Drug abuse is a continuing and escalating problem that has placed a burden on law enforcement and the health care system. The Ministry of Health reports that ninety percent of known HIV and AIDS cases are related to intravenous drug use.
Public confidence is continuing to be eroded as it relates to the GOKG's ability to address important concerns of its citizens such as unemployment, unpaid salaries, inadequate health care, and rising crime. The result has been public apathy towards government initiatives such as counternarcotics programs, toleration of government corruption, and a growing dependency on a shadow economy that includes drug trafficking, street sales, and usage. While the GOKG has been a supporter of counternarcotics programs, it is still struggling to deliver a clear and consistent counternarcotics strategy to either the Kyrgyz people or the international community. The former State Commission for Drug Control and the newly established Kyrgyz Drug Control Agency (DCA) (a counternarcotics agency sponsored by the USG and managed by UNODC) have been fighting a losing battle against drug trafficking. Particularly in the city of Osh and its surrounding regions, the drug trafficking has become an ever-increasing source of income and employment. There is hope the establishment of the DCA will mark a new beginning in the Kyrgyz Republic's efforts to minimize drug trafficking and reestablish the public's confidence.
II. Status of Country
The Kyrgyz Republic shares a common border with China, Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, and Tajikistan. Mountainous terrain, poor road conditions, and an inhospitable climate for much of the year make detection and apprehension of drug traffickers difficult. Border stations located on mountain passes on the Chinese and Tajik borders are snow covered and uninhabited for up to four months of the year. These isolated passes are some of the most heavily used routes for drug traffickers. Government outposts and interdiction forces rarely have electricity, running water or modern amenities to support their counternarcotics efforts.
The Kyrgyz Republic is one of the poorest successor states of the former Soviet Union, relying on a crumbling infrastructure and suffering from a lack of natural resources or significant industry. Unlike some of its Central Asian neighbors, the Kyrgyz Republic does not have a productive oil industry or significant energy reserves. The south and southwest regions--the Osh and Batken districts are primary trafficking routes used for drug shipments from Afghanistan. The city of Osh, in particular, is the main crossroads for road and air traffic and a primary transfer point for narcotics into Uzbekistan and Kazakhstan and on to markets in Russia, Western Europe and the United States. The Kyrgyz Republic is not a major producer of narcotics, however, cannabis, ephedra and poppy do grow wild in many areas.
Agreements and Treaties. The Kyrgyz Republic is a party to the 1988 UN Drug Convention, the 1961 UN Single Convention on Narcotic Drugs, as amended by the 1972 Protocol, and the 1971 UN Convention on Psychotropic Substances. The Kyrgyz Republic has signed bilateral and multilateral agreements concerning narcotics control with all CIS countries as well as Pakistan, Germany, Austria, China, Iran, Bulgaria, and the Czech Republic. The Kyrgyz Republic is a party to the UN Convention against Transnational Organized Crime.
III. Country Actions Against Drugs in 2004
Policy Initiatives. The GOKG has instituted various national programs and legislation to combat drug trafficking and drug abuse. Projects currently underway include Regional Precursor Control in Central Asia; Strengthening Drug Capacities in Data and Information Collection Project; Diversification of HIV Prevention and Drug Treatment Services for Intravenous Drug Users.
Drug Flow/Transit. The GOKG and the State Commission for Drug Control (SCDC) had previously identified four separate routes for drug trafficking: the Kyzyl-Art route across the southernmost part of the Kyrgyz Republic and onward to Osh and the Ferghana Valley and Uzbekistan; the Batken Route stretching to the far western and most remote areas bordering Tajikistan and Uzbekistan; the Altyn-Mazar route that follows a similar path into the Ferghana Valley; and a fourth route overlapping some of these routes and beginning in the city of Khojand on the Tajik border. All of these routes originate somewhere on the 1000-kilometer Tajik border and consist of footpaths, minor roads, and only a few major thoroughfares. The GOKG estimates that there may be over 100 different paths smugglers use to move narcotics and contraband across Kyrgyz borders.
Domestic street values of heroin have shown a steady increase over the past four years, returning to 1997 levels. In 2001 the price for a kilogram of heroin in the northern region was approximately $6,000. In the southern regions it was closer to $3,000. In August 2003, a kilogram of heroin could be purchased in Bishkek for approximately $8,000, depending on purity of drugs. One year later, a kilogram of heroin with the same purity level is now selling for up to $10,000. In Kyrgyz Republic's southern regions it has increased from a high-end of $4,500 to nearly $5,000 per kilogram over this same one-year period. However, the price of a street-dose (0.1 gm.) of heroin has remained fairly stable in the northern regions of the country and risen proportionately in the southern regions. By contrast, raw opium has shown a dramatic increase in cost over the last four years in both regions of the Kyrgyz Republic. In 2001 a kilogram of opium was selling in the range of $400-$500 in the northern region and $300-$400 in the southern. In 2004 that cost has risen to nearly $1,500-$1,900 in the northern region and $1,000-$1,500 in the southern. This might be caused by a shortage of opium, as more Afghan opium is being refined in Afghanistan and shipped as a refined opiate (heroin and morphine base), since this product is much less bulky than opium. The upward trend in heroin prices could reflect competition for available heroin with richer "customers" in Russia and Western Europe
While the street-price of marijuana has followed the same trend as opium, hashish has shown a slight reduction in price over this four-year period.
Law Enforcement Efforts. The GOKG's State Commission for Drug Control, which has existed since 1993 with only 16 staff members, was replaced in 2004 by the creation of the Kyrgyz Drug Control Agency (DCA) with a staff of 240. The DCA became operational in March 2004. The DCA estimates that, based on its own internal reporting and that of the other law enforcement agencies, there were 3,760 kilograms of illicit narcotics seized, compared to 3,355 kilograms during the same reporting period in 2003. Additionally, in 2004 the DCA was successful in initiating a controlled delivery of one kilo of heroin that originated in Tajikistan and traversed the Kyrgyz Republic, Russia, and Latvia and terminated in Germany with the identification and arrest of several drug traffickers. This was the first transnational operation for the DCA, which culminated in Western Europe. The GOKG and the DCA have had difficulty gathering information and controlling resources in some of the remote regions, particularly in the Osh and southern districts.
Corruption. The DCA openly admits that some Kyrgyz officials are involved in the drug trade, including members of the MVD, and SNB (National Security Service --- successor to the Soviet-era KGB). The Osh region remains an unwieldy and volatile drug trafficking region that the DCA has declared a high priority target for its counternarcotics efforts and has identified as the location for the DCA southern-branch headquarters.
Domestic Demand. As of January 2004, the Kyrgyz Republic's National Narcology Center reported 6,350 registered drug addicts, which is an increase of 739 from its July 2003 figures. While there was still an increase in the number of registered addicts, the percent of increase declined in 2004. Best estimates are the actual number of drug abusers is likely to be 10-15 times this amount. The DCA has reported that the number of drug related crimes reported in 2004 is 2,764 versus 2,771 in 2003, a decrease of 0.2 percent. The number of investigated drug related crimes was 2761 versus 2722 in 2003 and increase of 1.4 percent.
IV. U.S. Policy Initiatives and Programs
Bilateral Cooperation. In December 2001, the GOKG and the U.S. Embassy in Bishkek, on behalf of the State Department's Bureau for International Narcotics and Law Enforcement Affairs (INL), signed a Letter of Agreement (LOA) to construct a Model Customs Post in the village of Kyzyl-Art on the Tajik border. This $250,000 project will seek to serve as a model, which can be replicated for efforts to counter the narcotics traffic on what has been identified as one of the Kyrgyz Republic busiest drug-trafficking routes. This post will be equipped with modern detection equipment and manned on a 24-hour basis. The U.S. also provided other GOKG law enforcement bodies with counternarcotics equipment --- including vehicles, office, laboratory and communications equipment.
In June 2003, the GOKG and the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) signed a Project Document on the establishment of the DCA. The only donor to this $6.3 million project is the U.S. Government. The USG together with GOKG and UNODC work to reduce corruption and foster transparency in the GOKG's struggle against drug trafficking and its effects. During a lengthy hiring process for the DCA, the UNODC and USG have insisted in a strict vetting process to reduce the likelihood of criminals or corrupt officials being included in the organization. One hundred and seventy (170) positions have been filled and although only partially staffed and equipped, the DCA has conducted several successful counternarcotics operations resulting in drug seizures and arrests. Construction and renovation of the DCA's government donated headquarters building in Bishkek has been completed and is operational. The OSH headquarters building has been identified and renovation has begun with a completion date of mid-year 2005. Additional operational equipment has been procured and will be distributed early in 2005.
In November 2003, the GOKG and the International Organization for Migration (IOM) Bishkek Office signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) to establish a new International Passport system in the Kyrgyz Republic. This project is of great importance for the Kyrgyz because their current passport fails to meet International security standards. The Passport Project was scheduled to be completed by June 2004. However, governmental bureaucracy has delayed the issuance of the passports, which is now scheduled for early in 2005. The USG is the sole donor of this $1.6 million project.
The Road Ahead. The USG will continue to assist the GOKG in their counternarcotics efforts through prosecutorial, customs and law enforcement training and logistical support. The USG will continue working with the GOKG to provide direct support and training to their law enforcement and customs canine services.
The Kyrgyz Republic is not a regional financial center. Money laundering is still not classified as a crime under present Kyrgyz legislation. The Kyrgyz banking system remains comparatively underdeveloped. Like other countries in this region, the Kyrgyz Republic,s alternative remittance systems are susceptible to money laundering activity or trade-based fraud. The smuggling of consumer goods, tax and tariff evasion, official corruption and narcotics-trafficking continue as the major sources of illegal proceeds within the Kyrgyz Republic.
In 2004 the Kyrgyz legislature drafted a fairly comprehensive law on "Combating Terrorism and Illicit Money Laundering". On December 9, 2004, the bill passed its first reading in the Parliament. It will need to pass an additional reading before being sent to the President for signature. The proposed law defines predicate offenses and criminalizes income obtained as a result of a criminal action. It also includes the mandatory reporting of suspicious transactions by all Kyrgyz financial institutions. Because of Parliamentary elections scheduled for late February, it is expected that the second reading will not take place until the second quarter of 2005. At present, the Kyrgyz Republic has no other laws or draft laws on money laundering.
The National Bank has provisions that require customer identification procedures and make an exception to bank privacy rules for suspicious transaction reporting, but these provisions are reported to be mostly ignored by the commercial banks. Currently, several National Bank restrictions prohibiting banking operations with certain offshore financial institutions and a number of identified suspicious organizations serve to regulate the anti-money laundering process. Oversight of the banking sector, however, remains generally weak, and Kyrgyz law enforcement agencies lack the expertise and resources necessary to effectively monitor and investigate financial irregularities.
On October 6, 2004 the Kyrgyz Republic, along with Russia, China, Belarus, Tajikistan, and Kazakhstan, formed the Eurasian Group for Counteraction to the Legalization of Illegal Incomes and Terrorism Financing. The Kyrgyz Republic is a party to the 1988 UN Drug Convention, the UN Convention against Transnational Organized Crime and the UN International Convention for the Suppression of the Financing of Terrorism. The Kyrgyz Republic has signed, but not yet ratified, the UN Convention against Corruption.
The Kyrgyz Government has agreed to participate in a United States-sponsored "Needs Assessment" on money laundering and financial investigations scheduled for February 2005. This review is designed to identify the vulnerabilities or deficiencies in legislation to combat money laundering and financial crimes. It will also identify training needs for all Kyrgyz law enforcement agencies responsible for investigations of these crimes.
The Government of the Kyrgyz Republic should adopt the legislation necessary to implement a comprehensive anti-money laundering regime capable of thwarting terrorist financing and should provide the necessary resources to implement such a program. The Kyrgyz Government should also remain vigilant in its efforts to combat money laundering activities that circumvent the financial institutions.