From: Justin Burke (JBurke@sorosny.org)
Date: Wed May 24 2000 - 11:03:55 EDT
TAJIK TRADE REPRESENTATIVE ARRESTED IN KAZAKH DRUGS HAUL
Kazakh security officials arrested Tajikistan's trade
representative in Almaty on 23 May after 10 kilograms of
heroin was found in his garage and 14 kilograms in an
apartment where he had previously lived, Reuters and Interfax
reported. Two days earlier, 62 kilograms of heroin had been
confiscated from two cars, one of which belonged to
Tajikistan's ambassador to Kazakhstan. Almaty Oblast National Security Committee
chief
Rakhat Aliev, who is President Nursultan Nazarbaev's son-in-
law, told journalists on 23 May that the smuggling of drugs
from Afghanistan via the states of Central Asia is "an
international problem" that undermines Kazakhstan's security.
He expressed "understanding" for Russian presidential
spokesman Sergei Yastrzhembskii's warning that Russia may
consider pre-emptive air strikes against Afghanistan (see
above). LF
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