Georgia, Azerbaijan Fight Drug Trafficking

The heads of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of the Georgia and Azerbaijan discussed issues of regional security, the movement of tourist flows, and the trafficking of heroin from Iran, Georgian Interior Minister Giorgi Gakharia said after meeting with his Azerbaijani counterpart, Ramil Usubov, in Baku.

During the Echowaves festival of electronic music, which took place in the resort village of Anaklia, Interior Ministry officers detained 22 people on charges of illegal acquisition, storage and sale of drugs, five of whom were citizens of Iran.

"We discussed management of the border. Control of drug trafficking is crucial for us, and there are very big challenges in this direction, especially given the Iran factor, and we jointly plan to deal specifically with the trafficking of heroin from Iran. This is a serious challenge, and I think the solution is cross-border cooperation, otherwise it will be very difficult for individual states to effectively fight such transit "-said Gakharia.

The head of the MIA of Georgia is in Azerbaijan as part of a delegation headed by the country's Prime Minister Mamuka Bakhtadze.

Diplomatic relations between Georgia and Azerbaijan were established on November 18, 1992. Since then, the countries have closely cooperated in various fields, including energy and trade. Azerbaijan today is one of the largest trading partners of Georgia - the trade turnover between the countries for seven months of the current year has made more than $584 mln.

By Shawn Wayne