The meeting of the Director of the Central Asian Regional Information and Coordination Centre for combating illicit trafficking of narcotic drugs, psychotropic substances and their precursors, Major-General of Militia R.A. Miralizoda and the Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of Turkmenistan in the Republic of Kazakhstan B.D. Rejepov was held on October 13, 2021 in Almaty.

In the course of the meeting it was discussed practical cooperation in the fight against drug trafficking, information exchange, conducting international joint operations with the competent bodies of Turkmenistan, as well as other issues of CARICC activities.

Mr. R.A. Miralizoda has greeted the Turkmen part and informed them that in spite of the difficult situation in the world related to the pandemic, the Center had been actively functioning. Contest for the recruitment of vacant positions was held, staff from the professional employees of the competent bodies of the member states were selected. Over the past year, several international operations were conducted, including the "controlled delivery" method along the "northern route," during which hundreds of kilograms of heavy drugs were seized.  

In addition, the Centre is undergoing repair work. It was also noted that a lot of work has been done to maintain the financial sustainability of the Centre. For this purpose, several high-level meetings were held with CARICC member-states, as well as with donor countries, and there are positive results achieved in this respect.  The Director of the Centre also expressed readiness to carry out the necessary procedures, according to the normative documents, on rotation of the Director's position.

Mr. B.D. Rejepov thanked Mr. R.A. Miralizoda for the opportunity to organize the meeting, and noted that the Government of Turkmenistan attaches great importance to the activities of CARICC as a regional international organization for combating drug trafficking. Turkmenistan also actively operates in the field of countering illicit drug trafficking. In this regard Turkmenistan attaches great value to the activities of CARICC. 

The Centre is a unique project, which has not only achieved certain results, but also has great prospects for expanding international cooperation in combating drug trafficking.  During the meeting the Centre's headship rotation issues has been discussed as well.

As a result of the meeting, there was reached an agreement on further expansion of close international cooperation in countering illicit drug trafficking.

The meeting took place in the manner of a friendly and meaningful conversation.