The Fifty-fifth Session of the Subcommission on Illicit Drug Trafficking and Related Matters in the Near and Middle East in Ashgabat, Turkmenistan

Dmitry Shlapachenko, the UN Resident Coordinator in Turkmenistan, Ashita Mittal, UNODC Regional Representative for Central Asia, H. E. Mokhammet Khydyrov, Minister of Internal Affairs of Turkmenistan, are taking part in the meeting as well as representatives of law enforcement agencies from Bahrain, France, India, Islamic Republic of Iran, Jordan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, the Russian Federation, Saudi Arabia, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, Turkey, Uzbekistan and international organizations.  

The focus of this Subcomission is as follows:

- Current situation with respect to regional and subregional cooperation. 

- Consideration of topics by working groups:   

(a) Trends in drug trafficking and concealment methods, and in intelligence - led international cooperation;

(b) Synthetic drug production and trafficking, including the safe handling and disposal of synthetic drugs and their precursors;

(c) Alternatives to conviction and punishment for drug-related offences;

(d) Exchange of actionable intelligence and the role of regional cooperation platforms in facilitating such exchange.

- Follow-up on the implementation at the national, regional, and international levels of all commitments, as reflected in the Ministerial Declaration of 2019, to address and counter the world drug problem, and preparations for the midterm review in 2024.

- Adoption of the report of the Subcommission on its fifty-fifth session.  

More detailed information on the issues discussed is here. 

For further information please contact:   

Arifa Fatikhova  

Communications and External Relations Officer

United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) 

Regional Office for Central Asia

Mobile: (+998 93) 505-05-58 | Email: arifa.fatikhova[at]un.org