Drug Crime and the Narcotics Market in Tajikistan

8/13/2019 Drug Crime and the Narcotics Market in Tajikistan

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Tis report is a short summary of the following book chapter published in the Russian language:Latypov, A. (2011). Drug dealers, drug lords and drug warriors-cum-traffickers: Drug crime and thenarcotics market in ajikistan. In Central Asian Drug Policy Center, Kyrgyzstan through the prism o

drug economy (pp. 271-319). Bishkek: Public Foundation Central Asian Drug Policy Center.

AcknowledgementsTe unding or this research was provided by the Central Asian Drug Policy Center (directed byAlexander Zelichenko) through a grant rom errorism, ransnational Crime and Corruption Center

( raCCC) (directed by Pro essor Louise Shelley), School o Public Policy, George Mason University.

Te author would like to express his special gratitude to people who participated in this researchin ajikistan or their trust and or providing valuable insights and in ormation, which made thepublication o this report possible.

Tis report was summarized and translated into English by imothy Dempsey, Eurasian ProjectsCoordinator, errorism, ransnational Crime, and Corruption Center ( raCCC), with nal comments rom the author.

Suggested citation: Latypov, A. (2011). Drug dealers, drug lords and drug warriors-cum-traffickers:Drug crime and the narcotics market in ajikistan (translated and summarized by . Dempsey).Vilnius: Eurasian Harm Reduction Network.

Design and Layout: Donaldas Andziulis, Ex Arte, Lithuania


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Eurasian Harm Reduction Network

Te Eurasian Harm Reduction Network (EHRN) is a regional network with a mission to promotehumane, evidence-based harm reduction approaches to drug use, with the aim o improving healthand protecting human rights at the individual, community, and societal level.

EHRN was established in 1997 and currently unites over 350 institutional and individual membersrom 29 countries o Central and Eastern Europe and Central Asia. Activities o the Network are

governed by its Steering Committee. Te Networks Secretariat is based in Vilnius, Lithuania.

Address:Svitrigailos 11B, Vilnius, L -03228, Lithuania

elephone: +370 5 269 1600Fax: +370 5 269 1601Email: in [email protected]: www.harm-reduction.org


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Executive Summary

his report presents research on the role played by the police, petty drug dealers and users inthe street level drug trade in ajikistan. Synthesizing in ormation received rom interviews with

individual ajik drug users, annual reports rom the ajik Drug Control Agency as well as lesser-known studies by local researchers, the study brings to light a number o interesting details o thestreet level drug trade in ajikistan and discusses their implications or drug policies in the region asa whole.

Te main ndings are:1) the drug trade is evolving and becoming more mobile whereby cellular communications are usedto arrange meetings or direct delivery o drugs to ones home by the dealer in lieu o the previouspractice o using specially-designated apartments or homes or the sale/purchase o drugs;2) there is an emerging tendency amongst dealers to have purchasers trans er money to their bankaccounts to acilitate larger drug sales;3) heroin in ajikistan is now more widely available, easier to acquire and o higher quality all owhich is consistent with changes in the prices o high purity heroin in the country in recent years;4) the current situation in those towns bordering A ghanistan indicates a strong correlation between

HIV risk behaviors and expanding HIV epidemics among injecting drug users;5) new types o drugs like pill- orm methadone rom Iran and cocaine and ecstasy rom China andRussia are available on the drug markets in ajikistan, with the latter becoming especially popular innight clubs requented by ajik youth;6) the ajik drug market is being connected to drug markets in other countries through new routesbetween ajikistan and China, with drugs moving in both directions, and ajikistan and Iran.

Tis research likewise illustrates the shocking state o corruption in ajik law en orcement agencies andpenitentiary acilities whereby police and prison officers directly acilitate the distribution o drugs.

Law en orcement officials provide (conscated) heroin to avored dealers, arrest or harass competingdealers and exploit drug users in various ways or the sake o in ormation, money or sexual avors.Drug users are also routinely arrested, ofen by planting evidence on them, to meet arbitrary quotas,which all but ensures that the activities o larger criminal and drug trafficking organizations will go onunimpeded. Moreover, while the analysis o data rom the ajik Drug Control Agency suggests thatthe volume o opiates coming to or transiting ajikistan rom A ghanistan might, on the whole, havediminished over the past ew years, the reported decrease in opiate seizures appears to be misleadingas corruption in law en orcement has kept the country awash in heroin and other drugs. o addressthese challenges, this study suggests stepping up state prosecution o corrupt police and corrections

officers, re-visiting contemporary drug policies through the lens o human rights, introducing policiesthat discourage targeting and arresting drug users or the purpose o police per ormance assessment,and providing more harm reduction, drug treatment and legal aid opportunities to people who usedrugs both in community and prison settings.


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Introduction

While there have been many studies and reports on law en orcement agencies involvement inthe drug trade in Central Asia as well as on general issues o corruption amongst the police,such analyses o the ties between government structures and the illegal narcotics trade are ofen very generalized and do little to reveal the unctioning and mechanisms o the narcotics market in

ajikistan and neighboring countries. Furthermore, while interactions between members o the lawen orcement community, the barygy (the local slang word or petty drug dealers) and individualdrug users orm the lynchpin o the drug market as it exists on the street level in ajikistan and

other Central Asian countries, the upperworld-underworld dynamics cannot be ully explained bythe competitive nature o their relationships. As this study suggests, although in some Central Asiancountries law en orcement agents may now control a substantial proportion o retail illicit drug trade,they ofen seem to be willing to co-opt the underworld networks by allowing low-level dealers toengage in this unsavoury business in exchange or handsome patronage ees and in ormation ondrug users, whom they can target in order to extort more money or to ull arrest quotas.


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Overall, the emerging evidence rom post-Soviet Central Asian republics supports the conclusionsrom Nikos Passas recent study and demonstrates that the borders between the legal and the criminal

are uzzy and that the upperworld and underworld actors can operate against, with and or each

other, developing antithetical or symbiotic relationships along the legal-illegal continuum. Whatsome o these scholars make clear, however, is the need or more analytical work, solid empirical dataand research into the historical circumstances, which underpin the establishment and trans ormationo upperworld-underworld nexus. For without this, as Passas reminds us, we may not have thebasis on which to build better theories and sound policies and the tools to collapse inaccuracies,simplications, exaggerations and misconceptualizations.

What makes this study unique is its use o testimonies rom individual drug users to conrmand/or supplement existing reports and studies on the drug trade in ajikistan, particularly those

published by the ajik government and local researchers neither o which have received muchattention rom Western researchers and NGOs as o yet. Given the drug users key role in the drugtrade, they can provide researchers with a unique insight regarding certain aspects o the internalworkings o the drug market like availability, quality, prices and types o drugs consumed. Tis studyis important not only because o what it tells us about the drug trade and how it might in orm drugpolicy in ajikistan, but because it has implications or the whole region. Te Central Asian countriesterritories constitute much o the so-called Northern Route over which opiates rom A ghanistanare generally believed to transit to Russia and other ormer-Soviet countries and ofen urther on toEurope. How things stand in the matters o drug control in the Central Asian country that happens

to have the longest (and most porous) border with A ghanistan has obvious ramications or drugmarkets in cities ar rom ajikistan. Moreover, ajikistans law en orcement agencies receive romoreign donors substantial nancial and technical resources to aid them in the ght against drug

trafficking. Tere ore, an effective return on that investment depends on independent in ormationrom a variety o sources regarding the kinds o problems that exist within these structures.


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The Drug Market in Tajik Citiesthrough the Eyes of the Drug User

The General Situation with Drugs

Given the act that the vast majority o injecting drug users (IDU) in Central Asia are heroin usersand taking into consideration the various estimates that exist or the IDU population or our out othe ve countries o the region, it can be concluded that no less than a quarter o a million peoplein Central Asia are regularly using heroin. I we assume that every heroin user consumes about 0.5grams per day, one can calculate, very roughly, that the volume o domestic demand or heroin in

Central Asia may be about 125 kilos per day or about 45.6 tons per year (this gure, however, wouldbe somewhat overestimated, as it assumes that every drug user would consume heroin all year long).In ajikistan heroin is currently the dominant drug in the illegal drug market. It is also estimated thatthere are about 25,000 people who inject drugs in ajikistan. In addition to heroin, some new types odrugs are now appearing in the drug market in ajikistan. Te three in particular that are mentionedin the testimonies o users are methadone, cocaine and ecstasy. According to some respondents,cocaine arrives in ajikistan rom three countries: Russia, China and the Islamic Republic o Iran. Itis important to note that the methadone pills that are currently circulating in the ajik drug marketare also alleged to be smuggled in rom Iran, and are not rom the new substitution therapy programs

established by the government. Ecstasy pills are becoming more and more popular at night clubsrequented by ajik youth, where they etch a price o about 10 USD per pill. Te rst mention

o ecstasy in ajikistan was in the ajik Drug Control Agencys 2006 report, but, according to theUNODC, in November 2010, ajik police conscated 1880 pills that were allegedly smuggled in romthe Baltic countries via Russia. Interestingly enough, this past May (2011) police arrested a localman rom Kulyab who had 500 pills o ecstasy. He told the authorities that he gotthe pills rom an A ghan dealer and brought them toDushanbe to sell in local night clubs. Tis raises someimportant questions about how the ajik (and A ghan)

drug market itsel is changing.

Tis in ormation on the involvement o A ghan citizensin the distribution o ecstasy in ajikistan has importantimplications, as do the reports o methadone pills romIran and cocaine rom Iran, China and Russia. Whilemany experts have long expressed worries over the owo A ghan opiates through ajikistan to China (where theprice o heroin in the neighboring province o Xinjiang ismuch higher), the a orementioned reports seem to indicatethat drugs are traveling in both directions. Tese bilateralows should be urther investigated.


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Obtaining Drugs

Our ndings conrm those o other studies regarding ajik drug consumers pre erences or heroin

in its powder orm and their desire to obtain it without the use o middle men. Furthermore, ourinterviews with drug users support the claims o previous studies that users themselves are becomingmore involved in the small sale o heroin, ofen as middlemen, to support their own habit.

Over the last ew years, the drug market in certain cities o ajikistan has become more mobile.In Dushanbe, or example, the apartment or houses o small dealers are now rarely used as pointso purchase. Instead, the emerging tendency is or the dealer and buyer to arrange a meeting byphone, with the venue ofen being open-air produce, clothing or industrial markets (although hotels,dormitories and street corners are still common too). Dealers pre er more wholesale transactions

and, in the cases where larger amounts are involved, some buyers, reportedly, may trans er moneydirectly to the dealers bank account to reduce the risks o arrest. With larger transactions, dealers willsometimes deliver the product straight to the buyers home. As one interviewee explained:

Its different how we get drugs now. Dealers apartments are not used as points anymore.

These days in Dushanbe, for example, mobile points are used that is, mobile phones are

used to agree on a time and place, and the baryga, or a mediator sent by him, drives to the

place at the agreed time with the drugs. A lot of times the baryga uses his own car to make the

delivery. The barygy try to get people to buy large amounts (of heroin) at one time, since its less

risky and cheaper for them because there are few trips to make. In Dushanbe communication

with the dealers is done almost entirely by phone. Home delivery is possible for trusted clients

who arent buying one dose at a time. This is convenient for the baryga, since it means fewer

problems with the cops on the street

In the areas bordering A ghanistan, the price o heroin and other drugs is much lower than in the

capital. For instance, in Kulyab (in the southwest) and Khorog (in the southeast), the price o one doseo poor quality heroin is roughly 1 USD. Nevertheless, poverty is more widespread in these areas, sothe tendencies noted above in Dushanbe are not present in the same degree in places like Kulyab,where, according to one user, its not common that you can order by phone or get drugs deliveredright to your door, because [Kulyabis] are poor, and have a hard time getting money or a dose, which

orces them to go to thebarygas place and beg or a loan dose.

Our data clearly indicate that heroin is widely available and the most dominant drug in the Kulyabdrug market, where its price is very low. Tis, along with very high prevalence o risky injecting

behaviours, does much to explain the act that HIV prevalence among people who inject drugs[PWID] has increased dramatically in Kulyab, having grown considerably in recent years rom 18%in 2007 to 34.5% in 2009. According to a survey o seven cities in ajikistan conducted in 2009, thelevel o HIV prevalence among IDUs in Kulyab was the highest in the country.


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It is requently reported that women usually need to proceed through intermediaries and have topay more as a result. Women drug users are highly exploited and abused by the police, who solicitsexual avors or rape them. While earlier studies among IDUs reported a notable paucity o emalerespondents in Kulyab (and Khorog), our data also indicates, however, that there are some womeninvolved in street level drug sale in Kulyab.

Price, Types, Availability and Quality

able 1. Approximate wholesale prices or raw opium and heroin o both high and low purityin Dushanbe , by year, or 2005, 2008 and 2009 (in U.S. dollars per 1 kg)

ype of Opiate andLevel of Purity

2005 2008 2009

Heroin, high purity 45004700 38004500 37004200

Heroin, low purity 12001500 18002200 18002500

Raw opium 420450 700800 450550

able 2. Approximate wholesale prices or raw opium and heroin o both high and low purity in theKhatlon region, by year, or 2005, 2008 and 2009 (in U.S. dollars per 1 kg)


2005 2008 2009



Raw opium 400450 300350 300350


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able 3. Approximate wholesale prices or raw opium and heroin o both high and low purityin Gorno-Badakhshan Autonomous Region , by year, or 2005, 2008 and 2009 (in U.S. dollarsper 1 kg)


2005 2008 2009



Raw opium 200300 200300 200300

able 4. Approximate wholesale prices or raw opium and heroin o both high and low purityin Soghd , by year, or 2005, 2008 and 2009 (in U.S. dollars per 1 kg)


2005 2008 2009



Raw opium 7003000 8001000 600800

According to the in ormation that was collected through ocus group discussions with drug users inDushanbe and Kulyab/Khatlon region, we can add that the retail street price o high quality heroinin 2005 amounted to 10-15 USD per 1 gram in Dushanbe, 5-7 USD per 1 gram in Kulyab; i.e. about1.3 - 3 times higher than the wholesale price. From the above table it is clear that over the years inDushanbe there has been a steady decline in wholesale prices o high-purity heroin, the price o low-

purity heroin has risen somewhat, and the price o raw opium increased dramatically in 2008, butthen dropped to the price level slightly higher than that o 2005. At the same time, in the Khatlonregion, as well as in Dushanbe, the wholesale price o high-purity heroin in 2008 and 2009 was lowerthan 2005 prices and the price o low-purity heroin has increased. Meanwhile, in 2008 in the Khatlonregion, there was no jump in prices or raw opium. In 2008 and then in 2009 they ell below the 2005prices. In Gorno-Badakhshan Autonomous Oblast the price o high purity heroin in 2009 was alsolower than it was in 2005, and the price o low-purity heroin a little higher. Te price o raw opiumhas not changed throughout the time period between 2005 and 2009. Te most signicant priceuctuations were registered in Soghd, but i we take the lower limit o the price range as the base line,

then one can observe the same trend that we see in other regions o the republic: the price o high-purity heroin in 2009 was lower than it was in 2005, while the price o low-purity heroin has risensomewhat.


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In this regard, the act that heroin has become more affordable, cleaner and cheaper, as reported byour respondents, does agree with the trend decline in wholesale prices o high-purity heroin, whichis observed by the law en orcement agencies in ajikistan. Moreover, according to our respondents

rom Dushanbe, high-purity heroin can be purchased at the average wholesale price o 3000 USD to4000 USD or a kilogram, which is below the 2005 price as well as that o 2009. Tis downward trendin prices o high-purity heroin in ajikistan is consistent with changes that occurred in the A ghandrug market, where average prices or heroin in 2009 were below those o 2006.

Te tendency o opiates to increase in availability and the price o high-purity heroin to decline shouldhave great signicance or any uture studies o the correlation between the amount o opiates seizedby law en orcement agencies o ajikistan and the level o opium production in A ghanistan. Tis isbecause local law en orcement experts explain that the sharp decline in seizures o opiates in ajikistan

rom 2008-2010 is largely due to three actors: 1) the intensication o law en orcement and securityorces in A ghanistan; 2) the increased role o the Northern Black Sea ()

route in the transportation o drugs rom A ghanistan; and 3) the reduction o opium productionin A ghanistan. aken altogether, these three actors ultimately mean one thing; namely that the volume o opiate seizures in ajikistan has declined due to the lower total ow o A ghan drugs romA ghanistan to or through ajikistan.

Such a conclusion, however, seems to directly contradict the price and availability dynamic o opiatesthat we have documented in our study. Afer all, according to many o our respondents, heroin in

ajikistan has increased in availability, in addition to being cheaper and easier to acquire. How canwe possibly explain this undamental contradiction? We suggest that the activities o law en orcementhave much to do with it.


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Law Enforcement Agents Rolein the Street Level Drug Trade

As was pointed out in a study on police corruption in Kyrgyzstan, members o the law en orcementcommunity not only provide protection to, but are actually replacing drug dealers. Drug userscomplain that the police orce them to buy or sell conscated drugs. Moreover, red heroin [the namegiven to that which is sold by the law en orcement agents] is not only sold within the domestic marketbut also exported abroad. As to the role o ajik law en orcement agencies in the local drug trade,our respondents provided a number o vivid accounts, which largely correspond with the ndings osundry other reports and investigations by international organizations.

As one user explained, law enforcement agencies do in fact supervise a drug policy in thecountry one where they provide the dealers with heroin. Ofentimes the police provide protectionto their avored dealers while arresting his competitors. Another user disclosed that, almost allthe barygy operate in the plain view o police, it is very rare that a baryga is selling drugs, and thecops do not know it. With various reasons or contacts between the two, the relationship is almostcontractual:

The cops need to meet quotas, which means

that they need to arrest people, so the baryga

provides a drug user; the cops need money, so

the baryga provides a kickback; the cops need

more money so the baryga turns over someone

else and he pays; they need drugs to plant on an

addict so the baryga provides some drugs; If

the baryga has problems with some other cops,

his cops will solve them. If they come looking for

information about a drug addict the baryga

will provide it. In other words, the cops are very

involved in this business.

Impunity has reached such levels that one interviewee reported how corrupt police officers wouldcome to their favored dealers home to sit and have lunch. He reported that When you come to

buy, they obviously see everything, and yet you can buy and then leave undisturbed.


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One drug user offered the ollowing evaluation:

Id say that 85% of law enforcement is involved in the supply and sale of heroin. There is no waythey could buy the kind of fancy cars they ride around in on their salaries. They are taking drugs

from the evidence lockers in their departments. They supply the heroin to the dealers, provide

them protection, and then arrest the would-be buyers. Sometimes the heroin just circulates

like that in one spot. And practically all the police departments in Dushanbe and other cities

are involved in this. They say that their Internal Oversight Service catches them, but do they jail

them for it? I nd that hard to believe probably they just let them go, or just remove them from

their positions... All public officials and employees - from reghters to staffers [employees of

local municipalities] are involved in the national drug policy.

Many o the drug users who were interviewed repeatedly cited episodes o police exploitation opeople who use drugs. Te ollowing is perhaps the most emblematic:

I once worked in a hotel as a security guard. I have seen with my own eyes how the police

dealt with drug addicts and prostitutes. Addicts are often given heroin to sell, and they used

prostitutes to lure in would-be customers and then shook them down for money. If they ever

caught female drug addicts, they would demand sexual favors in return for their freedom.

In the border regions, the corruption can be particularly extreme. In the words o one respondentrom Kulyab:

Each baryga has a cop-protector and relatives who live near the border and can provideheroin. The police officers that occupy high positions tend to catch those with lower ranks that

have their own barygy. There are some barygy who try to operate independently, but they are

usually arrested and jailed. In Kulyab the places where you buy drugs are called offices, where,

in addition to the cops, there are also border guards (officers), who stand guard outside.


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Who do They Arrest (and notArrest) and Prosecute for Drugs?

According to a recent overview o the drug situation in ajikistan in 2010, those who have beenarrested or drug-related crimes (or, more precisely, on suspicion o having committed drug-related crimes) tend to be over the age o 30 (67%), and are unemployed (83.8%). Women made up5.3% o those who were arrested or drug-related crimes in 2010 and accounted or 5.8% o thoseprosecuted or drug-related crimes. In previous years, the proportion o women prosecuted or drugcrimes accounted or 5.8% in 2009, 5.4% in 2008, 10.5% in 2007, 9.1% in 2006 and 8.4% in 2005.

In 2010, 43 oreign nationals were arrested on drug charges, the bulk o whom were the citizens o

A ghanistan. O those prosecuted or drug crimes in 2010, 64.7% were unemployed and not studying.Almost a quarter o the convicted (24.8%) in 2010 had prior convictions. Tirteen percent o thoseconvicted or drug-related crimes in 2010 had a diagnosis o drug addiction. Previously, the rate was7.7% in 2009, 17.4% in 2008, 10.9% in 2007 and 8.2% in 2006.


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Judging rom the ratio o convictions or drug-related crimes to the number o registered drug-relatedcrimes we can see that rom 2001 to 2006, 0.93 to 1.49 persons were convicted on average or eachidentied drug-related crime.

Data regarding the disproportionate ratio of drug-related crime convictions to the number ofregistered drug-related crimes is a strong evidence of the fact that in most cases the resultinginvestigation of the crime does not lead to the arrest and prosecution of criminal rings who arebehind it. Instead the investigation and prosecution is limited to drug couriers or individualdealers, who are replaced on the streets almost immediately.

Tere are, o course, occasional cases where large organized crime groups with internationalconnections are dismantled and prosecuted, but such instances are rare exceptions. In any event,

as noted in a recent report by the Global Commission on Drug Policy, even the largest and mostsuccess ul operations against organized criminals (that take years to plan and implement) have beenshown to have, at best, a marginal and short-lived impact on drug prices and availability.

Instead o bringing the organizing elements to justice, law en orcement agencies have ofen beensatised to simply arrest and prosecute individual drug users or mere possession. Moreover, manyo these arrests occur due to the police planting drugs or other paraphernalia on their targets. As oneo the interviewees reported:

If the police stop you, even if they cant nd anything, they will usually detain and torment you

for two or three hours. If you have no relatives [or money], then they will plant something on

you and make a quota arrest. [I saw] how they gave another guy two to the head. Afterward

he wouldnt take grams, but a kilogram. Also they tried to extort information [from me] about

who sells drugs to me. This is not new. An acquaintance drug user of mine had an empty syringe

planted on him, and then after a while I found out that he died in jail.

Tese arrests are part and parcel o the kind o schemes that were outlined in the above section. Sincethe police are so busy running their own business, however, they are being distracted fromcarrying out more intensive investigations of organized crime groups. Te fact that many lawenforcement agents have direct ties to these groups also presents a major obstacle to stoppingtheir operations.


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Supply, Acquisition andUse of Drugs in Tajik Prisons

he prison population o ajikistan is estimated to be roughly 10,000 inmates. According tothe Office o Correctional Affairs o the Ministry o Justice, the number o prisoners (special

contingent) in ajikistan dropped rom 12,500 in 2005 to 8,000 in 2009. Tese prisoners are heldin 19 prisons, including a acility or juveniles, an institution or women, a central hospital and aninstitution, where ormer members o the administrative and law en orcement agencies serve outtheir terms. In ajikistan, judging on the basis o visual in ormation presented in the annual reportso the ajik Drug Control Agency, an average o about 12 thousand crimes (about 14 thousand in2010) are annually registered, with the proportion o drug-related crimes varying between 5.4% and6.8%. Over the past three years, rom 2008 to 2010, the total number o convicted people per yearwas 7-8,000 people, o whom 12% -13% were involved in crimes related to drugs. In 2001, however,almost a quarter (24.4%) [o all people sentenced in ajikistan during that year] had been convicted

or drug-related crimes.

In the past ve years, the prevalence o HIV in ection among inmates in two cities (Dushanbe andKhudjand) in the Republic o ajikistan was: 6.2% in 2005 and 8.4% in 2006, 6.8% in 2007, 7.8% in2008, and 8.6% in 2009. Tis HIV epidemic in prisons is driven by the shared use o unsterile drugequipment. Drugs are widely available in prisons. In act, selling drugs in penitentiaries may be evensa er than on the streets, due to the act that virtually all the drug trafficking takes place under theauspices o correctional officers and the prison administration.One ormer inmate described the situation in the jails up in this way:

I was in jail for four years in Dushanbe. In prison its no problem to get drugs. In prison, its

even easier than on the outside. There is no fear, even if you sell, what are they going to do?

They dont add anything to your term. 70% of prisoners use drugs while in jail - thats for sure.

Theres hashish, marijuana, heroin, opiumThey have access through the staff. Employees

bring them in and sell them.

According to another ormer inmate, however, it was not always like this:

I was in jail for long time back in 1992. At that time there were almost no [hard] drugs except

opium, which was brought in by the same people who worked there. We smoked marijuanaand hashish without any harassment. Now in prison it is all heroin. My friends in prison now

use drugs. They say something like 80% of the inmates use heroin there.


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As one might expect, the price o drugs, particularly heroin, are much higher than on the streets.

In prison, the price increases by two or three times. When you are in jail, drugs are naturally prohibited, so therefore prices rise. In prison, the same barygy whom they jailed for selling in the

rst place were the ones selling in there as well. What they did on the outside, they do in prison

too. And the staff are their suppliers. They all sell. The barygy get the heroin through the staff,

who get their share in turn. Everyone knows everything, yet they dont say anything. And then

they distribute it throughout the prison. Any drug can be purchased in jail heroin, marijuana

and pills. It kind of feels like everybody is involved in drug business, both in community and

prison settings. I cant give facts, but I think so. Because everything is available, everybody

knows about it, but silent. Even when overdoses occur, they shut up. Everyone knows

One curious phenomenon was that some ormer inmates noted the presence o certain religiousgures in the prisons who maintained a strict moral command over the other prisoners. As they wereconcerned about all the overdosing, they effectively banned the intravenous use o heroin, which wasobserved by the prisoners.

Tus it seems that the contemporary Central Asian prisons ofen turn into narco-zones (with zonebeing a Russian slang or prison), where the situation is completely inverted in terms o the roleso the players involved: the prison administration controls the delivery o drugs and is interestedin stimulating the demand or drugs among prisoners, whereas the in ormal community leaders,who are traditionally regarded as criminals, prohibit the consumption o hard drugs and moredangerous injecting practices o drug use in an effort to prevent overdose deaths and promote healthyli estyles and religious-spiritual cleanliness.


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Concluding Remarksand Recommendations

1 Tis study suggests that barygy play an important role on the ajik drug markets, enabling drugusers access to drugs and serving as a link between drug users and wholesalers. At the same time,many barygy use drugs themselves. It is there ore recommended, as this has been implementedin Switzerland, to target them with opioid substitution therapy, which may have multiple effectsboth on the drug market in general and on the lives o petty drug users/dealers.

2 Given the enduring abuses o people who use drugs by the police and the latters use o barygy

to enrich themselves through the drug trade, it is recommended that law en orcement agenciesconsider engaging with the barygy and nancially rewarding them to expose and condemn lawen orcement agents who have turned rom drug ghters to drug dealers.

3 While resolving the problem o corruption o law en orcement agencies may not be easible in short-term perspective, some action is urgently needed to address the issue o unjustied imprisonmento drug users and all the abuses that stem rom it in ajikistan, in an attempt to somewhat mitigatethe consequences o this injustice. It is recommended that drug treatment by court order be madean alternative to incarceration. In addition, it is recommended that the practices o consideringarrests o drug users as results be prohibited and police operations be redirected to arrestinglarger players in the drug market. Furthermore, in light o police abuse o emale drug users in

ajikistan it is recommended that the government works out special mechanisms that would allowwomen drug users who have been abused by law en orcement officials to report such cases without

ear or risk o re-abuse, and that would ensure punishment o offenders.

4 As it has recently been suggested by Sarang and her colleagues, law en orcement practices, suchas the ones documented by this study in ajikistan, generate an atmosphere o ear and terrorcontribute to the reproduction and experience o stigma, and linked to this, a sense o atalistic

acceptance o risk, which may become crucial in shaping health behavior, including HIVprevention. Teir excellent analysis o policing practices, coupled with the ndings o our study,leads us to conclude that there is a growing body o evidence calling or a global drug policyre orm. In the words o the authors o the above quote, this re orm may require undamentalstructural change toward establishing legal protection o citizenship and human rights.

5 While the ndings o our study clearly indicate that drug use may be widespread in ajikpenitentiary acilities, the national penitentiary authorities have so ar been very slow andreluctant in recognizing this phenomenon. Against the backdrop o state officials unwillingness

to admit drug use in prisons, ormer inmates report that it is ar more difficult to nd a syringethere [in prisons] than heroin At the same time, the prevalence rates o HIV and otherblood-borne in ections among inmates in ajik correctional acilities are highly alarming. It isthere ore recommended that needle and syringe programs, opioid substitution therapy and other


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harm reduction and drug treatment interventions are introduced in ajik penitentiary acilitiesas urgently and widely as possible. Te introduction o opioid substitution therapy may alsohave other positive effects in ajik prisons, including: reducing the number o atal and non-

atal overdoses; reducing demand or illicit drugs; reducing the volume o drug proceeds owinginto the hands o corrupt officials and their associates both inside and outside o penitentiary

acilities.

6 Considering the serious abuses o authority by law en orcement agents, the level o theirinvolvement in drug trade, and the general state o impunity that has arisen in regard to theiractions, it is recommended that policy makers ensure more requent use o criminal penaltiesinvolving the conscation o property in the case o law en orcement and prison officials convictedo crimes related to drugs. Te unds that remain with the state afer the sale o conscatedproperty should be directed to the development o programs or the treatment and prevention odrug dependence, including opioid substitution therapy. Tis will help reduce demand or illegaldrugs, and, accordingly, would urther reduce the amount o income received by corrupt lawen orcement officials and penal institutions.

7 According to our respondents, everybody knows about the involvement o law en orcementand prison officials in drug trafficking, but it seems that very ofen policy makers and otherauthorities pretend not to notice. Instead, we are constantly being told that these are terroristsand extremists who stand behind the drug evil in Central Asia. Tere ore, our nal

recommendation is, as soon as possible, to recognize that governmentofficials are behind many unprosecuted drug crimes and, to ocuscounternarcotics efforts on exposing such links and preventingthe urther merger o state structures with the drug industry.

As David Lewis writes, compared to its neighbors,ajikistan could be considered a bright spot it has the

highest level of drug interdiction in Central Asia andthe DCA is one of the most professional law enforcementoutts in the region. If we follow the logic of these words andassume that the situations with the involvement of law enforcementofficers and penitentiary authorities in the neighbouring Central Asianrepublics might be even worse, then the recommendations of this studymay be equally applicable for the entire region.


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Drug Crime and the Narcotics Market in Tajikistan