On 21-25 October 2024, a delegation from the Secretariat of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO), at the invitation of the Drug Control Agency under the President of the Republic of Tajikistan, monitored the sub-regional anti-narcotics operation Channel-Vanguard, organised by member countries of the Collective Security Treaty Organisation (CSTO).
The operation involved the law enforcement personnel, border control and customs divisions, special services and financial intelligence bodies from the CSTO member states. Representatives of China, Iran, the SCO, the CIS and the UN Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) also took part in the operation.
Iskander Baitasov, an advisor to the SCO Secretariat, informed members of the international command centre in Dushanbe about SCO efforts to combat illicit drug trafficking, including those in collaboration with other international associations.
Following the operation Channel-Vanguard in the CSTO zone of responsibility, the authorities confiscated about 600 kg of narcotic drugs and psychotropic substances, recorded about 700 drug-related crimes and eliminated seven drug laboratories.
The relevant memorandum of understanding between the SCO and CSTO Secretariats was signed on 5 October 2007.