On November 29 this year, a meeting was held between the Director of the Institute for Strategic and Regional Studies (ISRS) under the President of the Republic of Uzbekistan Eldor Aripov and the Regional Representative of the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) for Central Asia, Afghanistan, Pakistan and Iran Oliver Stolpe.

Eldor Aripov congratulated Oliver Stolpe on his appointment as UNODC Regional Representative and expressed confidence that his experience and skills will enable him to make a feasible contribution to solving urgent problems of ensuring security and stability in Central and South Asia.

During the talks, the parties discussed key trends related to the situation in the area of ​​drug trafficking and organized crime, threats of terrorism and violent extremism in Central Asia.

Particular attention was paid to the increasing presence in Central Asian countries of new psychoactive substances and pharmaceutical drugs that enter the market via the Internet, in particular the darknet.

In this regard, the parties expressed mutual interest in conducting joint research in the area of ​​identifying trends emerging in the area of ​​distribution and use of new psychoactive substances in Central Asia, and developing recommendations to improve the effectiveness of measures being implemented to counter them, including through international cooperation.