BISHKEK -- The United Nations has announced that it will give $3.4 million to the Kyrgyz government to combat drug trafficking, RFE/RL's Kyrgyz Service reports.
Yuri Fedotov, executive director of the UN Office on Drugs and Crime, made the announcement in Bishkek.
Kyrgyzstan's drug control agency said it has identified more than 70 groups involved in narco-trafficking in Kyrgyzstan.
Timur Madiarov, deputy director of Kyrgyzstan's drug control agency, said some 27 tons of illegal drugs have been seized in the country since August, when the new agency was reestablished. It had been dissolved under former President Kurmanbek Bakiev.
Kyrgyz officials said the UN aid will be used to buy chemical-detection equipment, vehicles, and pay for staff training. UN experts estimate that Kyrgyz authorities are currently able to confiscate about 10 percent of all the drugs being trafficked from their origin in Afghanistan through Kyrgyzstan to Russia and Europe.
Yuri Fedotov, executive director of the UN Office on Drugs and Crime, made the announcement in Bishkek.
Kyrgyzstan's drug control agency said it has identified more than 70 groups involved in narco-trafficking in Kyrgyzstan.
Timur Madiarov, deputy director of Kyrgyzstan's drug control agency, said some 27 tons of illegal drugs have been seized in the country since August, when the new agency was reestablished. It had been dissolved under former President Kurmanbek Bakiev.
Kyrgyz officials said the UN aid will be used to buy chemical-detection equipment, vehicles, and pay for staff training. UN experts estimate that Kyrgyz authorities are currently able to confiscate about 10 percent of all the drugs being trafficked from their origin in Afghanistan through Kyrgyzstan to Russia and Europe.