Source: 2006
Released by the Bureau for International Narcotics and Law Enforcement Affairs
I. Summary
Kazakhstan continues to be an important narcotics transit country, especially for drugs coming out of Afghanistan. The Ministry of the Interior's Committee on Combating and Controlling Narcotics estimates that approximately 1,400 tons of Afghanistan's opium will move through Kazakhstan this year via the northern Afghan route (Uzbekistan-Kyrgyzstan-Kazakhstan). It is also estimated that approximately 10 percent of these drugs will be sold in Kazakhstan. According to data provided by the Committee, more than 19 tons of narcotics, including 130 kilograms of heroin, have been seized since the beginning of this year. Kazakhstan is a party to the 1988 UN Drug Convention.
II. Status of Country
While there is some cultivation of narcotic crops and production of narcotics in Kazakhstan, it is primarily a transit country. Although Kazakhstan's existing small-scale cultivation of marijuana and opium suggest that it could become a major producer of narcotics in the future, evidence continues to suggest that local production is minimal at present. The Committee on Combating and Controlling Narcotics' statistics for the first nine months of 2005 show that the annual "Operation Poppy" campaign only eradicated approximately 15,271 square meters of illicit poppy and marijuana cultivation. There were no discoveries of laboratories for the production of narcotics.
The Committee for National Security (KNB) has uncovered two new routes of movement for opiates and heroin transiting the country: Kyrgyzstan-Kazakhstan-China-Australia and Afghanistan-Tajikistan-Kazakhstan-Russia-Japan. In addition, the KNB continues to monitor the long established route through Kazakhstan-Russia to western Europe. During the KNB's operation "Trap" this year, more than 1,250 kilograms of opium and more than 200 kilograms of heroin were seized from an internationally operated narcotics ring led by a Kazakhstani citizen of Tajik decent. The ring laundered the proceeds received from the sale of narcotics by creating fictitious contracts supposedly related to the sale of wheat and flour. The KNB traced this laundered money to bank accounts in Germany and the Baltic countries. In an August 2005 article published in a Izvestiya-Kazakhstan newspaper, a KNB official was quoted as saying that the investigation of only one of these bank accounts turned up more than $1.6 million from the sale of narcotics, which had been transferred abroad. The KNB continues to investigate the international narcotics and money laundering ring.
III. Country Actions Against Drugs in 2005
Policy Initiatives. Presently, Kazakhstan is in the fifth year of its five-year plan to fight drug trafficking. On March 3, 2004, the President signed a decree that established the Committee on Combating and Controlling Narcotics within the Ministry of the Interior. This DEA-like office coordinates efforts among law enforcement entities, analyzes developing trends in the trafficking and consumption of narcotics, initiates legal reform and drafts statutes pertaining to the narcotics problem in Kazakhstan, interacts with the mass media and the press to inform the public on counternarcotics efforts taken by the Committee and other governmental agencies, and engages with international counterparts through the local branch of Interpol. The Committee's staff is comprised of 580 officers. The Committee has been operational for more than a year, and it is already responsible for more than its present staff can handle. According to the Head of the Committee, Vice Minister Vyborov, only 13 officers are engaged in significant investigative work related to the elimination of major narcotics trafficking. Vice Minister Vyborov also noted that the work of the Committee over the last year has increased five times and that the Committee's staff must tackle a variety of tasks ranging from submitting tenders for narcotics search equipment to conducting undercover work. The MIA requested $16.5 million for its new three-year counternarcotics program including over $5 million for first-year operations in 2006.
According to Vice Minister Vyborov, Kazakhstan needs stricter legal punishments for those involved in drug trafficking and the sale of narcotics, especially to minors. During a Governmental meeting chaired by the Prime Minister, the Minister of the Interior announced that 2,626 people had been convicted of narcotics-related charges in 2004, but one in every four was given a suspended sentence. He also stressed the prevalence of repeat offenders, noting that every fifth offence was committed by a previously-convicted criminal. Furthermore, he noted that only one of the 316 criminals convicted in 2004 for serious narcotics offenses received the maximum sentence of 15 years of imprisonment. On average, narcotics dealers only receive a sentence of three years imprisonment. Moreover, a majority of convicted criminals are paroled and released early without serving a complete sentence. In order to address these shortcomings, the MIA initiated changes to the Law of the Republic of Kazakhstan on "Narcotics, psychotropic substances, precursors, and countermeasures to illegal consumption" in 2005. More specifically, the Committee's recommendations include stricter sentences for narcotics barons and narcotics dealers, as well as more regulated procedures for the destruction of seized narcotics to eliminate its leakage back into the market. The Prime Minister supported these proposed changes and promised the MIA that the GOK will expedite the amendments to the legislation. This legislative initiative is part of the first stage of the Government's counternarcotics program for 2006-2014.
Another major policy initiative taken by the Committee is the creation of an internal narcotics checkpoint system entitled "Narcotics Boundaries." The Committee plans to establish six checkpoints to search vehicles on six major highway intersections and three checkpoints at railroad stations. Construction of the structures at these checkpoints will be directly funded by INL or via an INL grant to UNODC. The GOK has allocated more than $700,000 for the "Narcotics Boundaries" program. According to Vyborov, each of the nine "Boundary" posts will be manned by a Committee officer, a road patrol officer, a migration police officer, and a dog handler.
On July 8, 2005, the GOK signed the "Additional Protocol to the Memorandum of Understanding on Narcotics Control and Law Enforcement between the Government of the United States of America and the Government of the Republic of Kazakhstan" (ALOA). This agreement established a framework for the implementation of projects designated to improve the capacity of Kazakhstani law enforcement agencies to combat narcotics trafficking and organized crime. The agreement includes the provision of technical assistance aimed at improving the ability of the Ministry of the Interior's counternarcotics forces to apprehend narcotics and other contraband transiting through Kazakhstan and to improve the collection and reporting of crime statistics with an emphasis on those statistics and regions germane to the evaluation of GOK progress in the fight against narcotics trafficking.
Accomplishments. The Committee on Combating Narcotics, whose sole responsibility is fighting narcotics, is in the final stages of adopting a "Master Plan for the Control of Illicit Drugs and Organized Crime." The Central Asia Regional Information Coordination Center (CARICC) is a $6.5 million, four-year, UNODC project. The Center's main objective is to develop and promote regional cooperation in counternarcotics efforts between Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Russia, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, and Uzbekistan. The Center, which will be based in Almaty, will house a shared database of regional intelligence and will produce operational intelligence and strategic assessments concerning narcotics trafficking and related crimes.
Law Enforcement Efforts. The GOK claims to have seized more than 19 tons of various narcotics (raw marijuana, etc.), including 130 kilograms of heroin. Seizures are for the first nine months of 2005. Since the beginning of 2005, more than 15 undercover operations were led by the Committee. Seven major organized criminal groups and four smuggling rings with ties to other organized crime groups in the Southern-Kazakhstan region, the Eastern-Kazakhstan region, and the city of Almaty were apprehended and charged with illicit narcotics activities. More than 64 kilograms of heroin were seized from one of these groups in April 2005. After a six-month covert operation, Committee officers seized a substantial load of heroin, its largest seizure of 2005, hidden in a truck transporting tomatoes. In August 2005, the Committee also seized four loads of marijuana, each weighing more than a ton. The annual project "Operation Poppy," which combines intelligence collection, interdiction of smugglers, eradication of cultivation, and demand reduction was conducted from May 20 until October 20, 2005. More than 1,800 officers from the Ministry of the Interior, 141 officers from Customs, and 99 officers from the Committee for National Security combined their efforts in undertaking the operation. As a result, 3,803 individuals, including 88 CIS citizens from outside Kazakhstan, were detained for the production, processing, and trafficking of narcotics. "Operation Poppy" also concentrated on the control and seizure of psychotropic substances and precursors. Overall, this operation led to 83 criminal convictions related to the abuse of psychotropic and controlled substances, which represents almost a 25 percent increase over 2004. In addition to these arrests, more than 15,271 square meters of illicit poppy and marijuana were eradicated, and 4,607 other drug related arrests were made, which is more than a 100 percent increase over last year (2,134 cases in 2004).
In an April 2, 2005, interview with the Kazakhstanskaya Pravda newspaper, the Head of the KNB stated that there are no heroin-producing laboratories operating on the territory of Kazakhstan. He also noted that southern Kazakhstan has become a new hub for narcotics trafficking and one of the most critical regions in the country's counternarcotics efforts. In March 2005, after two years of cooperation with Tajik and Russian colleagues, the KNB dismantled an international narcotics trafficking ring based in the southern Kazakhstan city of Shymkent. As a result, 268 kilograms of raw opium and 66 kilograms of heroin were seized. The KNB Head added that the group had utilized a warehouse in Shymkent to store heroin entering Kazakhstan from Uzbekistan and Kyrgyzstan. After being re-packaged in the warehouse, the heroin was transported in hidden car compartments to Russia. The KNB also raided several auto shops in Shymkent that had begun specializing in the construction of hidden compartments for vehicles. During the first three months of 2005, law enforcement officials in southern Kazakhstan seized 238 kilograms of opium, and 37 kilograms of heroin. During the same time period in 2004, officials in the region only apprehended 31 kilograms of opium and 45 kilograms of heroin. Similarly, the number of narcotics addicts in the southern region increased by 100 percent in the last year. Most of these drug addicts are young, with the average age of addicts being 14-15 years old. The youngest drug addict presently going through a rehabilitation program in the region is eight years old.
Law enforcement circles in Kazakhstan are also seriously concerned about the expansion of synthetic drugs. In 2005, the KNB seized more than 36,000 ecstasy pills. All synthetic drugs seized in the country were produced outside of Kazakhstan. Despite this increase in nonopiate narcotics, heroin still remains the drug of choice in Kazakhstan.
Corruption. The significant corruption in Kazakhstan inevitably is a factor hampering the country's war on drugs. Nonetheless, there appears to be an increasing effort to apprehend law enforcement officials involved in corruption. Corruption charges were brought against 15 individuals from the Ministry of the Interior for illegal actions involving their operations with narcotics. Police officers are required to destroy all narcotics after their use as court evidence, but it is likely that much of these seized narcotics return to circulation via corrupt law enforcement officials. During the first eight months of 2005, 29 out of 39 state officials accused of corruption were convicted based on evidence provided by KNB. Among the accused are a district mayor, three judges, 23 police officers, and two Financial Police officers. In all cases, the perpetrators were sentenced to jail terms and were immediately terminated from their government positions. One of these cases involved a former police officer from the western region of Kazakhstan who was arrested for selling heroin and sentenced to ten years imprisonment in a maximum-security prison. While these efforts demonstrate that the GOK is at least beginning to address corruption among law enforcement officials combating narcotics, given the money involved in drug trafficking, it is likely that corruption will continue to be an issue of grave concern. Kazakhstan is not a party to the UN Convention Against Corruption.
Agreements and Treaties. Kazakhstan is party to the 1988 UN Drug Convention, 1961 UN Single Convention as amended by the 1972 Protocol, and the 1971 UN Convention on Psychotropic Substances. Kazakhstan also is a party to the UN Convention Against Transnational Organized Crime. Kazakhstan has signed the Central Asian counternarcotics Memorandum of Understanding with UNODC. The Kazakhstan national counternarcotics law, passed in 1998, specifically gives the provisions of international counternarcotics agreements precedent over national law (Article 3.2).
Cultivation/Production. Marijuana grows wild on about 1.2 million hectares of southern Kazakhstan, with the largest single location being in the Chu Valley. It is estimated that 97 percent of the marijuana sold in Central Asia originates in Kazakhstan. The production of opium and heroin remains minimal. In the first nine months of 2005, the Committee on Combating Narcotics identified 164 cases of the illicit cultivation of opium poppies and marijuana. In August 2005 operatives from the Committee on Combating Narcotics apprehended a 40 year old resident of the Chu Valley who had harvested more than one ton of marijuana for sale, and seized another ton of marijuana from a separate Chu Valley resident. These cases were the biggest marijuana seizures this year.
Drug Flow/Transit. Kazakhstan continues to be an important transit country, especially for drugs coming out of Afghanistan. The law enforcement officials of Kazakhstan estimate that one-third of Afghanistan's 4,200 tons of heroin will pass through Kazakhstan this year and that 10 percent of this heroin will remain in Kazakhstan to be consumed by local addicts. The main routes for narcotics coming into Kazakhstan continue to run through Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan.
Domestic Programs. Kazakhstan's increasing prosperity has also created a new market for artificial drugs, particularly ecstasy and amphetamines. These drugs are particularly popular among the patrons of the country's 700 night clubs. Nonetheless, the growing popularity of these drugs poses much less a threat to Kazakhstan than does the country's ever-expanding heroin problem. Opiate addiction continues to increase in the country, likely due to the large amount of heroin and opium transiting Kazakhstan,. During the first nine months of 2005, it was estimated that there were approximately 52,137 drug addicts in Kazakhstan (47,000 in 2004). The GOK has sponsored several drug awareness programs since the beginning of this year. These programs were initiated as part of a pilot project on combating narcotics among the underage and teenage population.
IV. U.S. Policy Initiatives and Programs
Despite its continued problems of drug trafficking and drug abuse, Kazakhstan has made considerable progress. Given Kazakhstan's great potential as a partner in the fight against narcotics, the overall goal of the United States is to develop a long-term cooperative relationship between the police and investigative services of the United States and those of Kazakhstan. This relationship will enhance the professional skills of officers and improve the organization and management of GOK law enforcement services thereby increasing their effectiveness in the fight against illegal narcotics. All assistance provided by the U.S. in 2005 was intended to further this larger long-term goal. To allow for the more efficient inspection of trucks and vehicles, State Department Counternarcotics assistance (INL) provided an inspection hangar at the Ulken counternarcotics checkpoint this year. The Ulken checkpoint is approximately 400 km northeast of Almaty. The construction was completed in October 2005 and is located on a major highway with a constant flow of trucks and vehicles from Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, and Uzbekistan. Ulken will serve as a model for two internal MIA checkpoints in Kyzyltu and Beineu that INL will equip, and for the remaining five checkpoints which UNODC will construct with INL funds. INL continued to cooperate with the Border Guard Service. As part of a larger project aimed at combating narcotics trafficking in Kazakhstan, INL provided search equipment for the Aul and Zheshkent Border Guard posts on the Russian-Kazakhstani border. During joint discussions of funds and projects for 2006, the Border Guards requested that we change our focus from working on the Russian-Kazakhstani border to working on the Kyrgyz-Kazakhstani border. The Border Guards felt that it made more sense to concentrate on controlling the traffic of incoming narcotics from Kyrgyzstan as opposed to controlling the outflow of narcotics from Kazakhstan to Russia.
The Road Ahead. Kazakhstan is making serious efforts to end its status as a narcotics transit country. The GOK is working to refine its laws related to narcotics, to develop its police services and to cooperate with the international community and regional partners. Furthermore, it is better targeting its approach to counternarcotics work, is trying to curb corrupt law enforcement officials, and is establishing stricter punishments for drug-related crimes. Corruption, failure to devote sufficient resources to training and equipment, and a weak infrastructure remain serious problems, but trends are encouraging