DUSHANBE, March 6, Asia-Plus  -- Senior representatives from the Central Asian Regional Information and Coordination Center (CARICC) for combating drug trafficking are expected to arrive in Dushanbe on March 16 for a three-day working visit, Asia-plus has learned from the CARICC representative in Tajikistan, Colonel Siyar Ramazonov,. 

According to him, during its stay in Tajikistan, the CARICC delegation led by its acting director Mukhtarbek Madybayev is scheduled to hold talks with senior representatives from president’s executive office, the lower house of the parliament, ministries of foreign affair and interior as the counternarcotics agency to discuss issues related to interaction among relevant agencies of member nations of the Center in combating drug trafficking.

Established in November 2007 under financial support of the UN Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC), CARICC is headquartered in Almaty, Kazakhstan.   The center was established under an agreement signed by the presidents of Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Russia, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan.  

According to UNODC website, during the past decade, there has been an increase in the smuggling of the illicit Afghan opium and heroin through Central Asia.  As part of the UNODC response to assist the law enforcement agencies of the Central Asian States to introduce an intelligence approach to counter the problem of drug trafficking and organized crime and to improve cooperation between these agencies, UNODC has assisted in establishing a Central Asian Regional Information and Coordination Center (CARICC).

In order to ensure that information regarding cross border criminal activities is acted upon swiftly, the Centre is staffed by liaison officers from law enforcement agencies of the member states. The Center serves as a regional focal point for communication, analysis and exchange of operational information in "real time" on cross-border crime, as well as a centre for organization and coordination of joint operations.