DUSHANBE -- Tajik and Russian officials signed an agreement in Dushanbe today to fight drug-related crime, RFE/RL's Tajik Service reports.
The agreement was signed by the head of Tajikistan's antidrug agency, Lieutenant General Rustam Nazarov, and Russian Ambassador to Tajikistan Yury Popov.
Nazarov said after signing the agreement that it creates a new framework for joint efforts to fight drug trafficking and to rehabilitate drug addicts.
Popov said it opens new ways for various Russian and Tajik ministries to crack down on drug-related businesses.
The Tajik Interior Ministry told RFE/RL that officials have confiscated some 4,200 kilograms of illegal drugs, including 1,046 kilograms of heroin this year.
Some Tajik analysts told RFE/RL that they hope the agreement will help remove Russian stereotypes about Tajiks and their involvement in drugs.