Azernews.Az

The Armenia-occupied Nagorno Karabakh region of Azerbaijan is an uncontrolled territory being used to grow, sell and smuggle drugs as well as to commit trans-national crimes, Azerbaijani Deputy Prime Minister Ali Hasanov has said.

Hasanov, who heads the state body on fighting drug addiction and proliferation of narcotics, told an international conference in Baku on Monday that Azerbaijani territory’s being attractive for drug lords necessitates tough combat against the spread of drugs in the country.

"Azerbaijan has a conducive location at the crossroads of Asia, where drugs are produced, and Europe, where they are consumed, therefore, drug dealers are seeking to increase the volume of drugs smuggled through the country by road, water basins, air and railways.

"As a result of Armenian armed forces’ occupying 20 percent of Azerbaijan’s land, this territory and the 132 km section of Azerbaijan-Iran border have, in fact, turned into an uncontrolled zone, which creates suitable conditions for drug dealers," Hasanov said.

The deputy prime minister said incoming information confirms that these uncontrolled territories are also used for illegal arms trade, human trafficking, refuge for terrorists and other international crimes.

On the Azerbaijani government’s anti-drug efforts, he said 7,108 kg of narcotics were impounded and 9,346 criminal cases opened on drug-related charges in 2008-2010.

Hasanov expressed concern that the proliferation of heroin increased in Azerbaijan. 581 kg of heroin were confiscated in this period, or nearly double the volume reported in the previous three years. Also, 5,150 kg of hashish and 498 kg of opium were removed from circulation, he said.

Hasanov said 25,489 drug addicts were registered in Azerbaijan in 2010, but experts say their number is much bigger.

According to him, 60 percent of the 2,723 HIV-infected people registered in the country last year are drug addicts.

Yury Fedotov, the Executive Director of the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, confirmed that the occupied Azerbaijani territories are being used for drug transit. He told reporters that like a number of countries, Azerbaijan may face an influx of narcotics smuggled from Afghanistan.

Fedotov said the production of opium has surged 61 percent in Afghanistan, with the number of regions not producing narcotics decreasing to 17 from the previous 20.

"The income of Afghan villagers from growing poppies accounts for about 10 percent of the country’s gross domestic product."

The Baku conference was joined by 90 representatives of 42 countries and seven international organizations. The event was organized by the World Customs Organization, Azerbaijan’s State Customs Committee and the UN.