An organizational meeting on the anti-narcotics operation “Canal-Intercept” under the auspices of the Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO) was completed in Almaty. The operation will be carried out in September of this year on the territory of the member states of the CSTO with the participation of competent authorities to combat illegal drug trafficking, Turanews.kz reports.
Interaction and coordination of the actions of the law enforcement agencies of the participating countries will be carried out by the International Coordination Headquarters, located in Almaty on the site of the Central Asian Regional Information Coordination Center for Combating Illegal Trafficking in Narcotic Drugs, Psychotropic Substances and Their Precursors.
Representatives of law enforcement agencies of India, Iran, China, Mongolia, Syria, Turkmenistan, and Uzbekistan, as well as a number of international organizations, plan to participate as observers in the operation. These organizations include the Eurasian Group to Counter the Legalization of Criminal Proceeds and the Financing of Terrorism, the UN Regional Office on Narcotics and Crime, the Regional Anti-Terrorist Structure of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization, and the Committee of Heads of Law Enforcement Subdivisions of Customs Services of the CIS.
The main tasks of the operation are to:
- Suppress the circulation of new psychoactive substances.
- Liquidate channels of smuggling of Afghan opiates from Afghanistan and Iran to the territory of the CSTO member states.
- Suppress the activities of transnational drug gangs and legalization of drug proceeds.
- Seize weapons, ammunition, and explosives from illegal circulation.
The operation is a significant step in the fight against drug trafficking in the CSTO region. It is expected to have a major impact on the availability of drugs in the region and to disrupt the activities of drug traffickers.
