Countering Drug Trafficking in the CSTO Countries Discussed in Minsk

On October 24, Minsk hosted the 25th meeting of the Coordination Council of the Heads of the CSTO Member States’ competent authorities.

The meeting was attended by heads of agencies and representatives of anti-drug units of the Ministries of Internal Affairs of Armenia, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Russia, the Drug Control Agency under the President of Tajikistan and the CSTO Secretariat.

Valery Semerikov, deputy CSTO Secretary General, made a welcoming speech to meeting participants. He drew attention to the complex military and political situation in the Organization’s area of responsibility and its impact on the fulfilment of tasks related to countering challenges and threats to the security of the CSTO States, including those related to illicit drug trafficking.

The meeting considered a report on the results of the activities of the Coordination Council of the heads of the competent authorities to counter drug trafficking in 2023, heard information from the heads of the competent authorities of the anti-drug agencies of the CSTO Member States on the work done and discussed other issues related to improving the effectiveness of countering drug trafficking and the functioning of the Coordination Council.

As you may recall, on May 18, 2023, the Council of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Collective Security Treaty Organization adopted the Statement on Preventing Drug Use Among Children and Young People.