SCO countries play key role in fight against Afghan drug threat - secretary general

BEIJING, November 28. /TASS/. The Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) member-states play a crucial role in countering drug trafficking from Afghanistan’s territory, SCO Secretary General Vladimir Norov told TASS on Thursday. "The SCO member-states are at the forefront of the fight against the drug threat from Afghanistan," Norov said following meeting of the Paris Pact Initiative Expert Working Group in Shanghai. "After the expansion of our organization in 2017, the total length of its borders with that country has amounted to about 4,000 kilometers. Our countries almost completely surround Afghanistan from the Central and South Asia regions. That predetermines the Shanghai Cooperation Organization’s role in countering global drug expansionism from Afghan soil." "We have witnessed since 2001 that the Afghan drug traffic not only contributes to creating corresponding routes through the neighboring countries in Central and South Asia. It is also an additional factor in the production and consumption of narcotic substances on their territories and outside the region, which has lethal effect on public health and undermines the safety and stability of societies and states," he noted. Illegal drug business and terrorism The fact that the production and smuggling of illegal drugs in Afghanistan, according to different estimates, account for up to 65% of local armed groups’ profits gives rise to serious concern of the SCO member-states. "Terrorist organizations try to gain control of drug trafficking, using it not only as a source of income, but also studying smuggling routes for transporting foreign terrorists to neighboring countries. A recent attack by Islamic State (IS, terror group, outlawed in Russia - TASS) fighters at a border post in Tajikistan has confirmed once again that the terrorist threat in the region is real," he stressed. About the meeting The meeting, which was held with the assistance of the SCO Secretariat at Shanghai University of Political Science and Law, brought together over 40 delegates from 15 countries, the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime and some other specialized international organizations. Russia was represented by Deputy Director of the Russian Foreign Ministry’s Department for New Challenges and Threats Alexei Rogov. Read more