Tajikistan gets help policing its 1,200km border with Afghanistan from more than 10,000 Russian border guards, mostly Tajiks working on contract under Russian supervision. A second line of defense is formed by Tajik border guards.
Colonel Saidato Merzoev, commander of the more than 700 Tajik border guards in Shurobod region, said traffickers use satellite phones to coordinate drops, and often have night-vision equipment and wear Russian uniforms to fool guards. Informants advise them when troops are eating so they can time their illegal forays across the border.
In contrast, the ill-equipped Tajik border guards don't even have walkie-talkies to call their base for help while on patrol. At one border post, guards were seen using an old gun sight to peer across the Pyandzh River to Afghanistan because they have no binoculars.
Merzoev also faces challenges from the local population, many of whom see the drug trade as one of the few ways to make money in this impoverished country, one of the poorest in the world.
"Even if the Americans, French, Russians or whoever send troops here, the traffic would still happen," he said.
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