View of the city of Kabul in Afghanistan. Archival photoMOSCOW, May 27.The volume of drug trafficking from Afghanistan to the countries of Central Asia doubled in 2021, said Army General Vladimir Kulishov, First Deputy Director — Head of the Border Service of the FSB of Russia.
" At present, the situation in Afghanistan remains difficult. In addition to political and economic reasons, its development is significantly influenced by the presence in the republic of various groups of international terrorist organizations that seek to strengthen their positions in power structures, including by confronting the current authorities,» Kulishov said in an interview &# 34;Rossiyskaya Gazeta" on the occasion of the upcoming Day of the Border Guard.
These circumstances, with the growing humanitarian crisis in Afghanistan, contribute to the intensification of the activities of criminal groups specializing in the production and smuggling of drugs to neighboring countries, and also create the risk of international terrorists entering the countries of the Central Asian region in the flow of refugees and Russia, Kulishov added. «In 2021, the volume of drugs moved from Afghanistan to the CAR countries doubled. More than 3.5 tons of narcotic drugs were seized from illicit trafficking in the Republic of Tajikistan alone against 1.7 tons in 2020,» the general said. According to him, Russian border guards maintain close cooperation with Tajik, Kyrgyz and Kazakh partners, in some cases, carrying out joint preventive and operational-search activities aimed at combating drug trafficking.
Medvedev called the situation in Afghanistan very difficult