AFGHANISTAN BORDERS OVERRUN BY DRUGS

YOL, Tajikistan -- It's another frustrating night for Warrant Officer
Amirali Niyozov. He has the unenviable job of hunting down the
smugglers who have turned the Tajik border into a favourite transit
point for drugs going to users in Russia and Europe.

Despite the mountainous terrain and dangers of minefields, traffickers
routinely sneak past Tajik and Russian border guards.

'NO WAY TO STOP THEM'

"There's no way to stop them," said Niyozov. "They will always find a
way."

The U.S.-led anti-terrorism campaign in neighbouring Afghanistan after
the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks caused a brief lull in drug traffic
through this Central Asian country.

But in the first six months of this year, law enforcement officers
seized nearly 5.7 tonnes of narcotics in Tajikistan, double the amount
for the same period in 2002. Experts estimate seizures are only about
10% of actual traffic.

Maj.-Gen. Rustam Nazarov, head of Tajikistan's UN-supported Drug
Control Agency, says the United States can't afford to ignore the drug
issue as it seeks to extinguish lingering threats from al-Qaida and
the Taliban in Afghanistan.

"Drugs, terrorism and Islamic extremism are all linked. You can't
fight against terrorism and then say you will fight drugs later," he
said in an interview. "If we don't solve this problem, then you can
worry about a bigger problem than what happened in New York," Nazarov
said, referring to the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks.

The drugs aren't just passing harmlessly through Tajikistan. The
number of addicts is on the rise - officially about 9,000, according
to Nazarov, but the actual number is believed to be 55,000 or more.

Increased drug use is also causing a spike in HIV cases, though
official figures are still small. The number of registered AIDS cases
is now 92, up from four a few years ago, Nazarov said.

UN drug officials say heroin production in Afghanistan is shifting to
the north to take advantage of trafficking routes through former
Soviet Central Asia and because of increased enforcement in
traditional opium growing areas in southern Afghanistan, where most
U.S. anti-terrorist operations are being conducted.

Northern Afghanistan is largely left to the control of regional
warlords, who Nazarov alleged are still involved in drug trafficking
to help fund their private armies, just as they were before
international troops arrived.

Tajikistan gets help policing its 1,200-km-long border with
Afghanistan from more than 10,000 Russian border guards, mostly Tajiks
working on contract under Russian supervision. A second line of
defence is formed by Tajik border guards.

Col. Saidato Merzoev, commander of the about 700 Tajik border guards
in Shurobod region, said traffickers use satellite phones to
co-ordinate drops, and often have night-vision equipment and wear
Russian uniforms to fool guards. Informants advise them when troops
are eating so they can time their illegal forays across the border.

ILL-EQUIPPED BORDER GUARDS

In contrast, the ill-equipped Tajik border guards don't even have
walkie-talkies to call their base for help while on patrol. At one
border post, guards were seen using an old gunsight to peer across the
Pyandzh River to Afghanistan because they have no binoculars.

Merzoev also faces challenges from the local population, many of whom
see the drug trade as one of the few ways to make money in this
impoverished country, one of the poorest in the world.

"Even if the Americans, French, Russians or whoever send troops here,
the traffic would still happen," said Safar Davlatov, who abandoned
the drug trade after being taken hostage in Afghanistan for three
weeks. "Reinforcing the border won't help unless they make the
conditions better here."

Still, Davlatov says he'd consider going back to drug dealing unless
his life improves. He says he barely gets by selling goats and picking
nuts in his village of Parvar and hasn't been able to afford sugar in
years.

"Of course, everyone here would do it," he said. "What's the
difference if the government shoots me? Either I'll die from illness
or from them."