OSCE seminar discusses interagency co-operation in fighting illicit drugs in Turkmenistan
ASHGABAT, 9 November 2012 – Representatives from Turkmenistan’s law-enforcement agencies discussed mechanisms for effective interagency co-operation to fight illicit drugs, at an OSCE-supported working seminar that concluded in Ashgabat today.
The two-day event brought together participants from Turkmenistan’s State Service to Protect the Security of a Healthy Society, the Interior Ministry, Supreme Court and the Prosecutor’s Office as well as international experts from the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, the Central Asian Regional Information and Coordination Centre, Russian Interior Ministry and the OSCE Secretariat.
“In countering threats posed by drug trafficking, it is crucial to continuously improve mechanisms of co-operation among law-enforcement bodies at the national level and beyond to prevent, detect and apprehend illicit drug trafficking across borders,” said Ambassador Ivo Petrov, the Head of the OSCE Centre in Ashgabat in his opening speech. “This roundtable meeting offers a forum to discuss practical ways of strengthening law-enforcement interagency co-operation in counter-narcotics operations”.
The seminar participants discussed models of information sharing among international law-enforcement agencies, presented different counter-narcotics investigation techniques, and developed recommendations and strategies on enhancing interagency co-operation in this area.