DUSHANBE/PANJI POYON, Tajikistan -- The U.S. ambassador to Tajikistan said Washington's investment in a customs post on the Tajik-Afghan border shows its interest in battling drug trafficking, RFE/RL's Tajik Service reports.
Ambassador Kenneth Gross said at the opening of the new Panji Poyon border post on July 21 that the United States invested $12 million into the project. He said the new customs post is a large complex of administrative and customs offices, a hotel, and even a restaurant for border guards and customs officials.
Nemat Rahmatov, Tajikistan's first deputy head of customs services, told RFE/RL the United States has also provided modern equipment such as the Radiscan, a device that can scan and detect drugs in a vehicle without any contact by border guards.
Shohizatullo Davlatov, an official with the joint Italian-Omani-Tajik company that constructed and equipped the new customs post, said such high-tech equipment will allow up to 100 vehicles per day to be fully examined. He said that previously only 10-12 vehicles could be thoroughly checked daily by officials.
In addition to the new customs post, the U.S. Defense Department also funded and oversaw construction of five bridges along the Tajik-Afghan border. It also invested millions of dollars in new equipment for border guards.
Ambassador Kenneth Gross said at the opening of the new Panji Poyon border post on July 21 that the United States invested $12 million into the project. He said the new customs post is a large complex of administrative and customs offices, a hotel, and even a restaurant for border guards and customs officials.
Nemat Rahmatov, Tajikistan's first deputy head of customs services, told RFE/RL the United States has also provided modern equipment such as the Radiscan, a device that can scan and detect drugs in a vehicle without any contact by border guards.
Shohizatullo Davlatov, an official with the joint Italian-Omani-Tajik company that constructed and equipped the new customs post, said such high-tech equipment will allow up to 100 vehicles per day to be fully examined. He said that previously only 10-12 vehicles could be thoroughly checked daily by officials.
In addition to the new customs post, the U.S. Defense Department also funded and oversaw construction of five bridges along the Tajik-Afghan border. It also invested millions of dollars in new equipment for border guards.
