OSCE Centre trains Turkmenistan's law-enforcement officials in drug search and identification

ASHGABAD, 20 July 2007 - More than fifty officials from Turkmenistan's State Border and Customs Services, the Interior Ministry and the Ministry of National Security have taken part in a series of three-day practical training courses in drug search, detection and identification, the last of which will conclude tomorrow.

Organized by the OSCE Centre in Ashgabad in co-operation with Turkmenistan's Foreign Ministry, the courses aimed to enhance professional skills of Turkmenistan's law enforcement officials to respond to the threat posed by drug trafficking.

Two experts from the German Customs Service and one Turkmen expert from the Ashgabad office of the United Nations Office for Drugs and Crime (UNODC) trained the participants in modern techniques to find drugs hidden in railway cars, trucks, containers and on ships. Special emphasis was put on drug testing and identification techniques. The training courses were held in Turkmenbashy sea port, in Ashgabad and in Serakhs, near the border with Iran.

"Turkmenistan lies on a major trafficking route that transports illegal drugs from Afghanistan northwards through Kazakhstan to Russia and westwards through Iran and over the Caspian Sea. Therefore such practical trainings are of great significance, especially now when Turkmenistan is strengthening its anti-drugs activities and the country needs highly professional personnel capable to interdict drug trafficking," said Dieter Matthei, the OSCE Centre's Political Officer.

The Centre plans to continue and expand its co-operation with Turkmenistan's law-enforcement authorities and international donors to combat drug trafficking.