US embassy cable - 05ALMATY4354

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 07 ALMATY 004354 
 
SIPDIS 
 
STATE FOR INL PRAHAR, MCCOWAN, HOOKER; EUR/ACE (MLONGI); 
EUR/CACEN (JMUDGE) 
 
JUSTICE FOR OIA, AFMLS, AND NDDS 
 
TREASURY FOR FINCEN AND OTA 
 
DEA FOR OILS AND OFFICE OF DIVERSION CONTROL 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: SNAR, KZ, Narcotics, Law Enforcement 
SUBJECT: KAZAKHSTAN: 2005-2006 INTERNATIONAL NARCOTICS 
CONTROL STRATEGY REPORT, PART 1 
 
REF: STATE 209561 
 
1. In response to reftel instructions, the text of Part 1 of 
the 2005 International Narcotics Control Strategy Report for 
Kazakhstan follows: 
 
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SUMMARY 
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2. Despite the efforts of law enforcement agencies, 
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 heroin will move through Kazakhstan 
this year via the northern Afghan route (Uzbekistan- 
Kyrgyzstan-Kazakhstan).  It is also estimated that 
approximately 10% 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.  END SUMMARY 
 
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STATUS OF COUNTRY 
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3. While there is some 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's 
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 announced this 
year. 
 
4. According to the Committee for National Security (KNB), 
its operations have 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 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 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 
that had been transferred abroad.  The KNB is currently 
working on investigating the international ring and freezing 
its assets abroad. 
 
 
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III. COUNTRY ACTIONS AGAINST DRUGS IN 2005 
------------------------------------------- 
 
5. POLICY INITIATIVES: Presently, Kazakhstan is in its 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 
statues pertaining to the narcotics problem in Kazakhstan, 
interacts with the mass media and the press to inform the 
public on counter-narcotics efforts taken by the Committee 
and other governmental agencies, and engages with 
international counterparts through the national branch of 
Interpol.  The Committee's staff is comprised of 580 
officers. 
 
6. 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 
serious investigative work related to the elimination of 
major narcotics channels.  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.  To help the Committee to effectively conduct counter- 
narcotics efforts, the Prime Minister of the Republic of 
Kazakhstan suggested increasing the Committee's staff by 171 
officers and to fund this staff increase out of next year's 
MIA budget.  The MIA requested $16.5 million for its new 
three-year counter-narcotics program including over $5 
million for first-year operations in 2006. 
 
7. In a November 2005 interview with the Kazakhstankaya 
Pravda newspaper, Vice Minister Vyborov called for urgent 
legal reform to assist the Committee in its work.  According 
to Vyborov, the country 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. 
 
8. 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. 
 
9. This legislative initiative is part of the first stage of 
the Government's anti-narcotics 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.  According to Vice Minister Vyborov, 
substantial quantities of narcotics rarely enter or leave 
the country via official state border crossings, but they 
almost always cross the country via major highways. 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. Three of the checkpoints are partially funded by 
INL. 
 
10. 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 American 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 anti- 
narcotics 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. 
 
11.  ACCOMPLISHMENTS:  Kazakhstan continues to comply with 
UN conventions on combating illicit narcotics cultivation 
and production within its borders.  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 
Committee works closely with UNODC. 
 
12.  Accurate crime statistics in Central Asia are sparse, 
but they are necessary to address narcotics trafficking 
regionally.  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 counter-narcotics 
efforts between Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Russia, 
Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, and Uzbekistan. The Center will 
house a shared database of regional intelligence and will 
produce operational intelligence and strategic assessments 
concerning narcotics trafficking and related crimes.  The 
CARICC project team and associated technical experts meet 
monthly in Tashkent, and GOK officials have been active 
participants.  While the location of the center is still 
undetermined, the GOK has made an official offer to house 
the Center in Almaty. 
 
13.  LAW ENFORCEMENT EFFORTS:  The GOK continues to actively 
combat narcotics.  The majority of narcotics seizures have 
been undertaken by the Committee on Combating and 
Controlling Narcotics (para. 5), which actively employs 
undercover tactics to eliminate major narcotics channels. 
More than 19 tons of various narcotics, including 130 
kilograms of heroin, were seized in the first nine months of 
2005. 
 
14.  Since the beginning of this year, 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 was 
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. 
 
15.  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% 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% 
increase over last year (2,134 cases in 2004). 
 
16.  In an April 2, 2005, interview with the Kazakhstanskaya 
Pravda newspaper, the Head of the KNB stated that there are 
no opium-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 anti-narcotics 
efforts.  In March 2005, after two years of cooperation with 
Tajik and Russian colleagues, the KNB liquidated 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.  In Shymkent alone, 238 kilograms of 
opium and 36 kilograms of heroin were seized.  Furthermore, 
the KNB 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.  Likewise, the number of narcotics addicts in the 
southern region increased by 100% 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. 
 
17.  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. 
While the appearance of amphetamines is increasing, the KNB 
Head noted that all amphetamines seized in the country were 
produced outside of Kazakhstan.  Despite this increase in 
non-opiate narcotics, heroin still remains the drug of 
choice in Kazakhstan.  In cooperation with Russia's 
Committee on Combating Narcotics, KNB operatives detected 94 
kilograms of heroin transiting from Tajikistan through 
Uzbekistan and Kazakhstan to Russia.  The heroin was seized 
in the Russian city of Chelyabinsk by Russian operatives. 
As a result of this international cooperation, the leader 
and several members of an international criminal group that 
had operated in Russia and Central Asia for several years 
were imprisoned for 17 years.  Overall, since the beginning 
of 2005, KNB eliminated 13 narcotics groups (15 in 2004), 
seized 214 kilograms of heroin (225 kilograms in 2004), and 
apprehended 581 kilograms of opium (106 kilograms of seized 
opium in 2004). 
 
18.  CORRUPTION: Kazakhstan was rated 107 on this year's 
Transparency International Corruption Perception list 
(Transparency International charts perceived levels of 
corruption in 146 countries).  While it is difficult to 
determine the extent to which corruption is associated with 
narcotics trafficking, 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.  According to Vice Minister Vyborov, 
corruption charges were brought against 15 individuals from 
the Ministry of the Interior for illegal actions involving 
their operations with narcotics.  The biggest temptation for 
law enforcement officials to become involved in narcotics 
trafficking, according to Vyborov, is the 16 tons of seized 
narcotics stored in the Committee's storage facility. 
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. 
 
19.  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. 
20.  The GOK does not encourage or facilitate either the 
illicit production or distribution of narcotics, 
psychotropic drugs, and other controlled substances or the 
laundering of proceeds from illegal drug transactions. 
There is no evidence to suggest that any senior GOK 
officials are involved in such activities or that any INL- 
provided equipment is being misused. 
21.  AGREEMENTS AND TREATIES:  Kazakhstan and the United 
States signed a Memorandum of Understanding on narcotics 
control and law enforcement in December 2002, allowing INL 
to begin implementing its first bilateral programs. 
 
22.  Kazakhstan is party to the 1988 UN Drug Convention and 
has signed the Central Asian counter-narcotics Memorandum of 
Understanding with UNODC.  The Kazakhstan national anti- 
narcotics law, passed in 1998, specifically gives the 
provisions of international anti-narcotics agreements 
precedent over national law (Article 3.2).  Kazakhstan, 
Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, and Uzbekistan signed an agreement 
in September 1999 on cooperation in combating transnational 
crime, including narcotics trafficking.  The five Central 
Asia countries, Azerbaijan, Georgia, Iran, Pakistan, and 
Turkey are members of the Economic Coordination Mechanism 
supported by the UNODC. 
 
23.  Kazakhstan is party to the Commonwealth of Independent 
States' multilateral extradition and mutual legal assistance 
agreements and has bilateral agreements with several other 
states.  It is also actively negotiating mutual legal 
assistance and anti-narcotics agreements with the 
governments of Croatia, Greece, Turkey, Poland, Spain, 
Thailand and Cuba.  The GOK also has numerous cooperative 
agreements throughout the region governing narcotics 
trafficking and other narcotics-related issues. 
 
24.  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 approximately 97% 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.  On August 16, 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.  On August 21, another ton of marijuana 
was seized from a separate Chu Valley resident.  These cases 
were the biggest marijuana seizures this year. 
 
25.  According to Vice Minister Vyborov, Kazakhstani 
botanists are working on cultivating a special sort of 
cannabis devoid of narcotic effects to replace the marijuana 
presently growing in the Chu Valley.  The scientists hope 
that within five years, the planting of this non-narcotic 
cannabis will force the indigenous marijuana out of the Chu 
Valley. 
 
26.  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% 
of transiting heroin will remain in Kazakhstan. 
 
27.  The main routes for narcotics coming into Kazakhstan 
continue to run through Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan. 
 
28.  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 threat to Kazakhstan than does the 
country's ever-expanding heroin problem.  Likely due to the 
large amount of heroin and opium transiting Kazakhstan, 
opiate addiction continues to increase in the country. 
During the first nine months of 2005, it was estimated that 
there were approximately 52,137 drug addicts in Kazakhstan 
(47,000 in 2004). 
 
29.  The GOK has sponsored several drug awareness programs 
since the beginning of this year.  These included anti-drug 
programs initiated as part of a pilot project on combating 
narcotics among the underage and teenage population at 
18,000 sports clubs, 131 sports schools, 50 clubs, and 627 
after-school programs. 
----------------------------------------- 
IV.  U.S.POLICY INITIATIVES AND PROGRAMS 
----------------------------------------- 
 
30.  Despite its continued problems of drug trafficking and 
abuse, Kazakhstan has made considerable progress, especially 
compared to the rest of the region.  Given Kazakhstan's 
great potential as a partner in the fight against narcotics, 
our overall goal 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 
of our assistance provided this past year is intended to 
further this larger long-term goal. 
 
31.  To allow for the more efficient inspection of trucks 
and vehicles, INL provided an inspection hangar at the Ulken 
counter-narcotics 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.  INL acquired 
and transferred the equipment needed to search vehicles at 
the Ulken checkpoint.  Ulken will serve as a model for two 
internal MIA checkpoints in Kyzyltu and Beineu which INL 
will equip, and for the remaining five checkpoints which 
UNODC will construct with INL funds. 
 
32.  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 on the long stretch of 
the Russian-Kazakhstani border. 
 
33.  THE ROAD AHEAD: Despite its current problems, 
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 anti-narcotics 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. 
 
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V.   STATISTICAL TABLES 
------------------------ 
 
34.  Not available. 
 
 
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VI.  CHEMICAL CONTROL 
---------------------- 
 
35.  Based on currently available data, Kazakhstan is not a 
producer of chemical precursors used in narcotics 
production.  Most of the precursors available in the country 
are meant to be used in the oil refining industry. 
According to the Statistics Committee of the Prosecutor 
General's Office, during the first nine months of 2005, more 
than 88 liters of liquid precursors were seized.  The 
Statistics Committee, however, did not release any 
additional information about this seizure. 
 
ORDWAY