From: Justin Burke (JBurke@sorosny.org)
Date: Thu May 25 2000 - 11:44:24 EDT
Kazakh security chief promises to break every drug-running cover
So far 86 kg of drugs have been found in vehicles and in the garage of a
representative of Tajikistan's trade mission to Kazakhstan and more finds
are likely, Kazakh TV reported on 24th May. The chief of the National
Security Committee department for southern Kazakhstan's Almaty city and
Region told a briefing for the press that the committee would "do its
utmost" to ensure the city was free of drugs and would break every cover
under which drug trafficking was operating. The following is the text of
the report by Kazakh Khabar TV on 24th May:
[Presenter] We are starting with an event which threatens to become a
diplomatic scandal. Eighty-six kilograms of powerful drugs have been found
in vehicles and the garage of the trade representative of the Republic of
Tajikistan so far. And it appears that this is not the last.
[Presenter as correspondent, over view of packages with white substance;
people tearing off panelling from a door of a car and removing packages]
Twenty-four more kilograms of heroin were seized by officers of the
National Security Committee in the garage of the trade representative of
the Republic of Tajikistan in Kazakhstan who was detained last Sunday [21st
May]. The operatives intend to put up a strong barrier to the drug
epidemics in the area and to seek to do this by all possible means,
regardless of the rank, post and departmental membership of those
circulating the drugs. The chief of the National Security Committee
department in Almaty and [Almaty] Region, Rakhat Aliyev, told journalists
at a briefing:
[Aliyev, name captioned, surrounded by correspondents in the shade of trees]
Drug dealers have simply become impudent and are making use of the
patronage of various covers. I want to emphasize once again, irrespective
of whether this is diplomatic cover, the cover of the customs directorate,
the cover of the police, the militia and so on, we will break all these
covers and, then, do our utmost to ensure that our city is free and safe.
[correspondent, over view of cars, a cheque and warrant] At first the
security agents brought to light the consumers of the heroin, then the
small-fry - retail traders, then wholesale traffickers and only later did
it become clear that the trafficking by the drug cartel operated under the
cover of diplomatic immunity. Two cars with red number plates showing their
owners' immunity crossed two borders of Uzbekistan and Kazakhstan unimpeded
and were detained only at the entry to Almaty.
Aliyev said that the expert examination showed that a bank cheque for the
sum of 1,261,000 pounds Sterling seized in the vehicles was issued for the
firm Trafalgar Marketing Ltd. It is backed by cash and was issued by the
London-based Netbank. This account will be frozen. I will remind you that
in addition to drugs and the cheque, 54,000 dollars in cash were seized in
the vehicles. It is not clear as yet if the Tajik ambassador to Kazakhstan
knew what cargo his department's cars was conveying. It is only known that
he issued a warrant for driving an office car to the driver-cum-bursar so
that the latter could take his family to Dushanbe. The Foreign Ministry of
Kazakhstan considers that all the necessary formalities have been observed
while the Jeep and Toyota of the diplomats were detained.
[Amangeldy Tashenov, name captioned, head of the press service of the
Foreign Ministry, sitting at the table] The Foreign Ministry received the
appropriate letter and gave its consent to the examination of this car.
During the examination, both representatives of the Foreign Ministry of
Kazakhstan and representatives of Tajikistan's embassy were present. I
think a fuller assessement of this incident can be given only following the
completion of the investigation.
[correspondent, over the view of the custody, detainees and police] All five
detainees are citizens of Tajikistan. None of them enjoys diplomatic
immunity. They are being kept in the custody of the Almaty National
Security Committee.
[Aliyev, talking to correspondents] Proceedings have been instituted under
two articles of the criminal code, this is, drugs smuggling by an organized
criminal group and illegal drugs trafficking by an organized criminal
group. According to our data, then, around 5,000 tonnes of heroin are on
the territory of Afghanistan.
[correspondent, over view of cars and people taking packages out of a tyre]
The chief of the Almaty National Security Committee said that he empathizes
with the Russian authorities' statement on possible preventive strikes at
camps of Afghan terrorists and factories producing heroin.
According to the special services, part of the drugs seized was waiting to
be trafficked in Kazakhstan and the rest, the cartel directed to Russia and
farther to Western Europe. The drugs seized have a value of 1m dollars on
the Almaty black market. In several days the operation to stop the drugs
traffick will be fully completed.
Source: Khabar TV, Almaty, in Russian 0500 gmt 24 May 00
BBC Mon CAU 240500/** JF/KA
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