It is not a secret that the Tadzhikistan authorities are not able to stop illegal drug trade from neighboring Afghanistan. Moreover, it was announced in Afghanistan at the high level that the Tajik border guards are helping drug smugglers. This information was provided by the commander of border troops of Northern Afghanistan General Saidhel Habibi in an interview with the radio «Ozodi» («Freedom»).
According to another source - my friend, who lives in Tadzhikistan, to get a position of security checkpoint chief at the Tajik-Afghan border «the bosses» need to be paid 200 thousand dollars. It is possible to get money back by patronizing the business in 1-2 years or less.
The NATO troops in Afghanistan do nothing to stop drug smuggling. This issue is not presented in the brand-new Alliance concept either. Large scale operations against Afghan drug syndicates are rarely carried out. There is one question in connection with this: should Russia be asked to return its border troops to the Tajik-Afghan border? Nobody has done this work better than Russians did.
