Senior U.S. envoy to visit Central Asian states and Russia

He will preview with the four states the Central Asia Counternarcotics Initiative (CACI), a new program aiming to improve the ability of Central Asian countries, in coordination with counternarcotics efforts in Afghanistan, to disrupt drug trafficking originating from Afghanistan and dismantle related criminal organizations, the department said in a statement.

According to Xinhua, with government officials of the three Central Asian states, Brownfield will discuss regional cooperation and the potential establishment of vetted investigative units or task forces that will increase institutional capacity building through effective investigation, prosecution and conviction of mid- to high-level traffickers, the department said.

An important stop for the senior U.S. diplomat will be at the Central Asian Regional Information and Coordination Center in Almaty, Kazakhstan, where he will discuss the center's role in promoting regional law enforcement cooperation and intelligence- sharing in the fight against drug trafficking and how best to coordinate with the counternarcotics units in Afghanistan.

He will also visit the State Drug Control Service of the Kyrgyz Republic in Bishkek and the Tajikistan Drug Control Agency in Dushanbe to discuss current collaboration and the potential role of the agencies in the new initiative.

The envoy will visit the Tajik-Afghan border to dedicate a completed barracks facility at the Border Guard Detachment in Shurobod and a reconstructed Border Outpost at Yakhchi Pun. The State Department said the U.S.-funded facilities will help Tajik border guards in their fight on the frontlines to reduce the flow of illegal narcotics and enhance the overall security of Tajikistan's border with Afghanistan.

While in Moscow, he will consult with Russian officials on counternarcotics strategies in Central Asia and discuss how the United States and Russia can effectively cooperate to combat narcotics in the region, including through regional and multilateral organizations, the department said.

Afghanistan produces about 90 percent of the world's opium, which is used to make heroin. U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton told a Senate committee on Thursday that opium production is down in Afghanistan while economic growth is up, as the three- track U.S. strategy involving military, civilian and diplomatic means simultaneously is working, enabling President Barack Obama to announce this week a phased drawdown of U.S. forces from that country.

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