The UN Country Office in Tashkent said with Afghanistan producing a vast majority of the world’s heroin supply, ensuring that this checkpoint is capable of preventing trafficking not only in the drug but also in precursor chemicals, the substances used to manufacture heroin, remains a UNODC priority. The project has improved the capacities of border guards, customs officials and law enforcement bodies posted at the checkpoint, a goal which has been achieved through the provision of training and specialised equipment.

In order to finalise this project, representatives of the UNODC Regional Office of Central Asia travelled to the Termez Border Crossing Point in December, in order to deliver a range of specialised equipment to the Uzbek State Customs and Border Protection Committee. These individuals included the UNODC Officer in Charge and Regional Representative Mr. Asif Majeed, the US Ambassador to Uzbekistan Mr. George Krol, and the head of the Sukhandarya region’s Uzbek State Customs Committee Mr. Tolib Saidov.

The ceremony saw the transferal of a quantity of specialised and non-specialised equipment to the Uzbek State Customs and Border Protection Committee representatives who operate the Termez River Port Checkpoint. The specialised equipment included diesel-powered generators, trailer-mounted x-ray scanners, both stationary and mounted USB radio and local telephone stations, and other necessary items. Likewise, the non-specialised equipment included computers, endoscopes, individual and crew toolkits, inspection probes, and both platform and electronic scales. This delivery represented a significant investment in the checkpoint, with a cost of more than $400,000.

Now at the project’s conclusion, law enforcement agencies at the Termez River Port have been strengthened through the provision of specialised equipment and training, while agencies have also operated effective coordination and cooperation mechanisms. The project has worked in cooperation with other regional UNODC projects, namely ‘Precursor Control in Central Asia’ and ‘Computer based drug law enforcement training in the member countries of the Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) on Sub-Regional Cooperation in Drug Control (Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Russia, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan)’. By coordinating with these initiatives, the Termez River Port Checkpoint project has ensured that all facets of the checkpoint’s operation have been addressed.

It is recognised by UNODC and the agency’s national counterparts that the Termez River Port Checkpoint is a site that experiences high levels of pressure in its role as one of the major crossing point between Afghanistan and Uzbekistan. This project has been conducted in order to ensure that the checkpoint can better fulfil its enormous responsibility in helping to prevent drug trafficking through Central Asian states.