US announces $1 million aid for UNODC

WASHINGTON (PAN and Central Asia, the US has announced a financial assistance of id=”mce_marker” million to the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC).

 “UNODC’s work under the Regional Programme is expected to complement the United States’ efforts to increase the presence of US Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) officers in the region and working closely with national counterparts in each country,” the State Department said.

The DEA’s work is to promote the development of specialised, sensitive investigative units within existing national drug control agencies, services and departments in the region, the department said.

The DEA already works with similar units in Afghanistan and one of the goals of the US initiative, known as the Central Asian Counternarcotic Initiative (CACI) is to promote information-sharing and cooperation between Afghan and Central Asian investigative units.

The regional initiative will augment existing US counternarcotic-related assistance to Central Asian governments by increasing the focus on effective investigations and prosecutions of significant drug traffickers, it said.

The approach will provide additional counternarcotic assistance to Central Asian governments, including, where requested, the establishment of specialised units focusing exclusively on narcotics law enforcement, and promotion of regional cooperation through the work of UNODC under its regional program and the Central Asian Regional Information and Coordination Center (CARICC), based in Almaty.

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