Drug Situation in Kyrgyzstan

New geopolitical realities, which led to the fragmentation of the once unified Soviet state, exposed the borders of the newly formed republics of the southern flank of the post-Soviet space. The proximity to Afghanistan and the availability of a developed transport infrastructure predetermined the further development of drug trafficking coming from Afghanistan in the northern direction. Decades of Afghan drug trafficking have led to significant changes in the Kyrgyz Republic, having a direct impact on all spheres of life of the young state. The rapid growth of crimes related to the storage, transportation and sale of narcotic drugs, the strengthening of the drug mafia, obtaining political patronage in government and law enforcement agencies, a multiple increase in drug addicts, the spread of HIV/AIDS, threatening the gene pool of the republic, overnight elevated that issue to the rank of threats on a national scale. Exactly the same situation arose in neighboring countries, where the increase in criminality was accompanied by the emergence of new challenges and threats to state security from drug cartels financing the activities of terrorist and extremist organizations throughout the post-Soviet space. Under the circumstances, it was only through the collective efforts of States that it was possible to effectively contain the common threat posed by drug trafficking. International organizations that came to the region in the early 1990s and in the 2000s were able to turn the situation in their favor and prevent a further increase in drug expansion from the south.