Commander Urges Caspian Sea States' Coordination on Drug Campaign

TEHRAN (FNA)- Commander of the anti-narcotic squad of Iran's Law Enforcement Police General Hamid Reza Hossein-Abadi warned about the growing trend of drug-trafficking in the region, and called on the Caspian Sea littoral states to act coordinately in their war on narcotics.
The issue was raised at the Anti-Drugs Campaign Meeting of the Caspian States' Police underway in Iran's Northern port city of Bandar Anzali on Friday.

He regretted that over recent years, the Caspian Sea region has turned into sport absorbing smugglers, so well coordinated campaign by regional states is needed to control smuggle and transit of drugs in the region.

He said drugs smuggling in the region is on the rise and the production exceeding the consumption has doubled problems and smuggling as a result.

He said the Caspian states can gain more success in the field in terms of their rich cultural record and very good ties.

The five Caspian Sea littoral states' counter-narcotics bodies started a meeting in Iran's Northern port city of Bandar Anzali today to explore ways to boost cooperation against illicit drugs.

The 'Caspian Anti-Drug Five', which incorporates the counter-narcotics departments of Iran, Kazakhstan, Russia, Turkmenistan and Azerbaijan, is expected to discuss inter-state law enforcement at the meeting.

The five drug enforcing states aim to further coordinate their agencies' efforts in a bid to eliminate international drug trafficking channels and to have better anti-drug policy sharing.

The first such meeting was held in Russia's Caspian shore city of Astrakhan in 2009.