Tajik Bootleggers Sneak Booze into Afghanistan

While Central Asia is a well-worn trafficking route for heroin coming out of Afghanistan, another illicit substance heads the other way.

At recent meetings between representatives the Tajik and Afghan provinces both called Badakhshan, the focus was on increasing cross-border trade and curbing drug trafficking. The Afghans also called for tighter controls to prevent alcohol being smuggled in.

Trade between the two countries in on the increase, helped by new bridges across the Panj river that forms the frontier, and shared markets located on the border.

Alcohol is legal and freely available in Tajikistan, so it does not require much imagination to sneak some over the border to sell in a market where both its sale and consumption are banned.

Tajik border officials say the smugglers do not appear to have links with the drugs trade. They have instructed officers to inspect containers carefully – thermos flasks seem to be a favourite.

The audio programme, in Russian and Tajik, went out on national radio stations in Tajikistan, as part of IWPR project work funded by the Norwegian Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

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