DUSHANBE, February 29, Asia-Plus -- A meeting of representatives for counternarcotics agencies from Tajikistan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Uzbekistan as well as Russia has opened in the Kyrgyz city of Osh.  

According to the Drug Control Agency (DCA) at the President of Tajikistan, senior representatives from the DCA head office and its directorate in the Sughd province are representing Tajikistan at the meeting, which is considering issues related to preventing drug smuggling in Central Asia’s states and discovering channels through which narcotics are being smuggled from the Central Asian countries through border areas, including through the so-called Osh Knot to Russia and Europe. 

The meeting participants are considering mutual cooperation and coordination of actions to expose transnational criminal groups dealing with drug smuggling.  They are also discussing ways to boost cooperation both at regional and international, as well as interdepartmental levels to increase efficiency of the fight against drug trafficking.