Monday, May 21, 2012 -
Authorities in Tajikistan arrested a border post commander on charges of drug smuggling, local media reported on Monday.
Captain Nizomiddin Yakubov was caught in the possession of 44 pounds of hashish at a Khatlon region customs post on the Tajik-Afghan border.
The drugs were passed to him by the commander of the Afghan border troops on the other side, the Asia-Plus news agency reported Monday.
In related border security news, customs troops manning the Tajik-Kyrgyz border took time out last week to study better detection of forged identification papers in the Tajik capital of Dushanbe.
The mountainous frontier is frequently crossed by smugglers of drugs, petroleum, and a range of other goods.
The three-day workshop, held for front-line and mid-rank officers of both countries whose primary task is travel document management and security, was backed by the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE).
"This workshop assisted the border and customs agencies in strengthening their professional capacity in their day-to-day work in the identification of forged and counterfeit travel documents,” an OSCE statement reported Tajik border management officer Erdal Duzdaban as saying.
Experts explained to participants about the security features of travel documents, as well as showing how IDs are falsified, and ways of detection.
The course is the latest in a series of seminars for border agencies of Central and South Asian countries.
The course wrapped up Friday.