Enhancing Border Control and Cross-Border Cooperation brochure 2021

The region of Central Asia borders Afghanistan, the world’s largest opium poppy producer, and the area serves as a hub for illicit drug trafficking. For a more effective response to such transnational organized crime, strengthening regional cooperation across borders and among law enforcement agencies in Central Asia is critical.  

The United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) has been supporting Central Asia’s vulnerable border areas against the trafficking of Afghan opiates, by strengthening border crossing points and establishing/enhancing intelligence-sharing and cross-border communication mechanisms through its project on enhancing the capacity of border crossing points and improving regional cross-border cooperation by promoting the Border Liaison Offices’ concept and the development of information and communication networks for border agencies. 

Border Liaison Offices (BLOs) have been set up in geographically remote and potentially vulnerable border crossing points in Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan.

BLOs promote improved communication and cooperation between different national law enforcement agencies working along borders. They aim to foster direct cross-border communication between operations staff and share real-time information on drug traffickers to enable fast and effective intervention by law enforcement officers on both sides of the border.

UNODC strengthens the capacities of BLO officers through training programmes and provides equipment and specialized analytical software to enhance database analysis and intelligence-sharing at the regional level.