On 7 and 8 July 2020, the Central Asian Regional Information and Coordination Centre for Combating Illicit Trafficking of Narcotic Drugs, Psychotropic Substances and their Precursors and the UNODC Regional Office for Central Asia organized two webinars bringing together representatives of competent authorities of CARICC Member States and international organizations, including UNODC and OSCE.

Mrs. Ashita Mittal, UNODC Regional Representative for Central Asia, and Mr. Rustam Miralizoda, Director of the Centre, addressed the audience with welcoming remarks.

International coordinators of UNODC programmes in Central Asia and CARICC experts were main speakers.

The webinar on 7 July 2020 was dedicated to main findings of the World Drug Report, published by UNODC on 26 June 2020. Mr. Naweed Riaz, Head of UNODC Programme Office in the Republic of Kazakhstan, informed about key points of the report.

Ms. Alevtina Tiurina, Senior Analyst of CARICC Information and Analytical Unit (IAP), made a presentation on some trends in combating drug trafficking in the space of CARICC Member States.

Mr. Yusuf Kurbonov, Head of the Subprogramme “Countering Transnational Organized Crime, Illicit Drug Trafficking and Terrorism”, in his presentation briefed participants on the work carried out and contribution of the programme on strengthening borders of Central Asian countries, as well as results of the Interagency mobile teams project implementation in the Republic of Uzbekistan.

The webinar held on 8 July also featured several presentations.

Mr. Yury Chikalov, Acting Head of CARICC IAP, delivered a presentation on results of efforts of competent authorities of CARICC Member States in the 1st quarter of 2020. Ms. Tatiana Evdokimova, Analyst of CARICC IAP, announced a study on container transportation for cross-border drug trafficking in 2018-2020 performed by CARICC employees.

Mr. Batyr Geldiev, Head of UNODC Container Programme in Central Asia, also offered a presentation on the work in progress during the webinar.

In addition, Mr. Naweed Riaz, Head of UNODC Programme Office in the Republic of Kazakhstan, gave a presentation on strategic response to drug trafficking and transnational criminal activity, organized through targeted intelligence and international operations to deter, disrupt and prosecute organized criminal networks.

Participants stressed the importance of organizing events in this format and the opportunity to share information in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic.