Narco-Terrorism
Narco-Terrorism is a relatively new term in international relations. In 1983, Fernando Belaùnde Terry, the former president of Peru, described the terrorist attacks against his nation's counter narcotic police as narco-terrorism. In late 1980's and early 1990's, narco-terrorism was characterized by Pablo Escobar and Medellin Cartel, in Colombia. After that the usage of the term broadened. RAND Corporation and especially Brian Michael Jenkins used narco-terrorism in their studies. "In the original context, narco-terrorism is understood to mean the attempts of narcotics traffickers to influence the policies of a government or a society through violence and intimidation and to hinder the enforcement of the law and the administration of justice by the systematic threat or use of such violence." Central Asia in general and Uzbekistan in particular, suffers greatly from the involvement of the terrorist groups in narcotics trade. "A group's involvement in crime, of course, changes the equation of its relationship to the state and to society. Crime enriches the group, making it possible to acquire more sophisticated arms, to employ more fighters by paying them, to corrupt state officials, and to propagate its ideology to the population."
"In Uzbekistan, for instance, even long before the events of 11 September 2001, the officials were warning that transnational terrorism in the region represented a serious threat to international security. At the Tenth United Nations Congress on the Prevention of Crime and the Treatment of Offenders (Vienna, Austria 10-17 April 2000), Uzbek officials emphasized that terrorism in the region was often connected with other criminal activities, including the smuggling of firearms and drugs, from which terrorist groups financed their operations."
As we mentioned before, cutting all possible resources of terrorist groups is a must for Eurasian Security. And of course, it includes exposing the ties between the terrorists and drug trafficking in the region. "Uzbekistan plays an important role concerning this drug-terror connection since the Russian human rights observers estimate that 17.1 percent of the drugs enter the Russian Federation from Uzbekistan." "Despite the highly negative Muslim attitude toward the use of drugs and a ban on drug consumption that Islamist organizations of this type strictly observe, the use of drug-generated money for financing jihad is justified by the need to weaken the main enemy (that is, the West)."
The West is also taking some serious measures regarding to the drug-terror connection in Central Asia but "UNDCP estimates that unless they are able to seizure at least 75 percent of trafficked drugs, they will be unable to diminish the profitability of the drug trade." In 1996 the UNDCP estimated that they were seizing 5 to 10 percent of illicit drugs. However, in 2006 the number raised to 23 percent.

a) The Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan (IMU)
The origins of IMU can be traced back to early 1990's. Juma Namangani a former Soviet Union soldier who fought in Afghanistan and Tahir Yoldashev, the head of the Adolat (Justice) Party and an unofficial mullah came together to implement sharia law in the city of Namangan in the eastern part of Uzbekistan, Ferghana Valley. By the late 1990s, the IMU was formed. The IMU is the very first terrorist organization which aims to overthrow the government in Uzbekistan by assassinating the president Islam Karimov and has close ties with al-Qa'ida and the Taliban. Senior IMU leaders have held positions in the al-Qa'ida hierarchy. The IMU used Afghanistan and Pakistan as bases for launching forays into Central Asia, as well.
"The Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan (IMU), in particular, is believed to finance terrorist activities from drug trafficking, commodity smuggling and contributions from external sources." "Ralf Mutschke of the Criminal Intelligence Directorate of Interpol labeled the IMU ‘a hybrid organization in which criminal interests often take priority over ‘political' goals,' adding that ‘IMU leaders have a vested interest in ongoing unrest and instability in their area in order to secure the routes they use for the transportation of drugs.'" The IMU's funding sources include donations from sympathizers and al-Qa'ida as well as criminal activities like drug trafficking.
The IMU's involvement in drug trafficking is yet another problematic issue in Central Asia. In late 1990s and early 2000s the IMU was controlling the Afghanistan-Kyrgyzstan (Osh) drug route effectively. "Drug control experts concur with the estimate that the IMU in that period, controlled up to two-thirds of the opiates entering Kyrgyzstan." Furthermore "the organization was handling 70 percent of the heroin and opium traffic through Central Asia."
"IMU leader, Juma Namangani was actively involved in drug smuggling through Tajikistan, and used his network of IMU militants in Central Asia and his links with the Chechen militants to increase his trade. Namangani with the assistance of other drug traffickers had also set up laboratories to refine heroin largely coming from Afghanistan. It was further alleged that there was a transshipment base in Khojent, situated in the Sogd region, which was under the control of respective field commanders of IMU. Bolot Dzhanuzakov, the head of the National Security Service of Kyrgyzstan, in an interview to Slovo Kyrgyzstana alleged that IMU controlled the northern section of the drug traffic route from Afghanistan."
IMU's involvement in drug trade was also highlighted by Makarenko :
The only group significantly involved in trafficking Afghan opiates was the Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan (IMU). However, given the organization and operations of the IMU prior to September 11, it appears that they were driven more by criminal interests than by political or religious purposes. Unlike other insurgent or terrorist groups operating in Afghanistan-identified by their political motivations-the IMU is the only group that encompasses the entire range of the crime-terror nexus. It is both criminal and terrorist in nature: criminal because of its direct involvement in the drug trade, and terrorist because of its explicit (even if only rhetorical) political declarations.
"IMU carried out incursions in 1999-2000 to create instability and chaos in the region so that they can smoothly operate their drug trade. As efforts were made to control drug trafficking through the Osh-Khorog route, IMU militants chose the Batken route situated closely to the Uzbekistan and Tajikistan border." IMU militants carried out incursions in August 1999 just after the harvesting of opium, keeping in view the fact that during winter the passes through which the traffickers operated their trade remained inaccessible to heavy snowfall.
IMU suffered a setback subsequent to the 2001 US-led military operation against the Taliban and al-Qa'ida forces in and around Afghanistan. Juma Namangani was reportedly killed during the operation. However, press reports suggested the regrouping of IMU. Russian newspaper Pravda stated that IMU changed its name to Islamic Movement of Turkestan and terrorists from Chechnya, Afghanistan, Central Asia and Xinjiang joined its ranks. The ability of the radical forces, under whichever name, to target state authorities in Central Asia became evident from the terrorist attacks in April 2004 and in Andijan in May 2005.
According to Makarenko:
Several aspects of the modalities of the IMU incursions suggest that they were in fact conditioned to a great extent by the drug trade. These include both the geographical areas targeted, the timing of the attacks, as well as the tactics used. That drugs transit Central Asia is no novel phenomenon. It has in fact been an increasing problem since the mid-1990s, as traffickers increasingly faced efforts by the Iranian government to curtail trafficking through Iran-the erstwhile chief smuggling route. As trafficking through Iran became dangerous and therefore expensive, Central Asian states-with their porous borders, newly established state authorities and corrupt climate- became a major new trafficking route.
"It should be noted that the IMU never lived up to the reputation of a monolithic, hierarchically structured organization. Most studies of the movement seem to indicate at least two focal points coexisting, not without friction, within the IMU: the more guerrilla-oriented and criminal part of the organization led by Namangani, and the more religious part controlled by Yoldashev." To conclude this chapter, finally we may refer to Frederick Starr. Starr has pointed out that the IMU is best understood as an ‘‘amalgam of personal vendetta, Islamism, drugs, geopolitics, and terrorism.''

b) Other Terrorist Organizations
There are several other terrorist groups operating in Central Asia and particularly Uzbekistan, most of them are connected directly with the drug trade in the region. Al-Qa'ida, probably the world's most notorious terrorist organization correlates with narcotics trafficking. The group is involved in narco-terrorism, especially in Afghanistan and in certain parts of Pakistan, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan. In the last few years the organization became a conflux of crime and terror.
Taliban is yet another terrorist organization which is heavily involved in drug producing and trafficking in Eurasia. Its actions alarmed the governments of neighboring countries in recent years. "Under the Taliban, Afghanistan became an extremist sanctuary and base of operations for rebel incursions into nearby states. Central Asia and the Ferghana valley in particular, became the nexus for an unsavory mix of ethnic disputes, drug trafficking and Islamist terrorism."
Apart from these groups, there are two other major terrorist organizations operating in Uzbekistan: The Islamic Jihad Union and Hizb-ut Tahrir (Party of Liberation). The IJU is a splinter group of IMU. It is formed in Pakistan, in 2002. There are two founders of IJU; Najmiddin Jalolov (also known as Abu Yahya Muhammed Fath) and Suhayl Buranov (also known as Abu Huzayfa).
Hizb-ut Tahrir aims to build the Islamic Caliphate and is popular among ethnic Uzbeks. Although their connection with drug trade is at low levels, it is still believed that the Hizb-ut Tahrir is involved in trafficking of illicit narcotics in the region.
The United States led war against terror, however, caused dissolutions among the terrorist organizations. Especially the operation "Enduring Freedom" in November 2001 resulted with a relative success. Many members of the above mentioned terrorist groups, including Taliban, al-Qa'ida and IMU, reportedly have been killed or captured.

Recent Trends and Government Efforts
After the collapse of the Soviet Union, newly independent states have born. "Along with the newly independent countries came new borders that had to be patrolled and new border guards who had to be trained. These new borders remained virtually transparent until new national customs services were created in 1993-1994. This was one of the reasons that international drug traffickers took a strong interest in the region."
"The Government of Uzbekistan and independent analysts have argued that the most significant threats that Uzbekistan currently faces are related to complex linkages between terrorism, trafficking in drugs and firearms and persons, and corruption, in particular where the proceeds of transnational organized crime are used to fund terrorism." The government is taking serious steps to prevent further damage to the state. It is essential to point out that, "Uzbekistan is a signatory to most major conventions relating to drug control, including the 1961 UN Single Convention on Narcotics, the 1971 UN Convention on Psychotropic Substances, and the 1989 UN Convention on illicit traffic in Narcotic Drug and Psychotropic substances."
After the independence, "the Government of Uzbekistan has repeatedly emphasized the importance of international cooperation in the fight against drugs and transnational organized crime, and has made efforts to integrate the country in the system of international cooperation." "Uzbekistan has signed more than 20 bilateral and multilateral agreements on cooperation in fighting illicit drug trafficking with its Central Asian neighbors, and also with Azerbaijan, Bulgaria, Czech Republic, Georgia, Germany, Iran, Italy, Pakistan, Russia, Turkey, and Ukraine." In 1994 Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, and Uzbekistan formed the Central Asian Economic Commission and pledged to cooperate in the battle against illegal drugs.
Furthermore, "a Memorandum of Understanding on Sub-Regional Drug Control Cooperation was signed in Tashkent in May 1996 by the governments of the five Central Asian republics and the UNODC." The Russian Federation and the Aga Khan Foundation joined on 16 January 1998. Later on, Azerbaijan also signed the treaty, in 2001. Meanwhile, "at the June 1999 summit of the Central Asian Economic Community, presidents of the member states noted the necessity to combat terrorism, religious and political extremism, and illegal circulation of drugs, weapons, and explosives. President Islam Karimov of Uzbekistan has made any number of public speeches on this problem."
As Mohapatra states;
To curb the production and illicit transfer of drugs and other substances, the Uzbek law enforcement agency carried out an operation widely known as ‘Poppy-99' in 1999. The volume of narcotics confiscated increased from 113 kg to 1.5 tons in five years from 1994 to 1999. The law-enforcement machinery of Uzbekistan also at the same time detained over 480 drug couriers and confiscated 1,949 kg of narcotics from them during 1998-99. Uzbekistan informed the UN Drug Control Programme that during the same period drug trafficking through Uzbekistan increased to a staggering high of 600 per cent.
"In November 1999 Uzbekistan became the first Central Asian state to sign an agreement with China on cooperation in the area" and "in April 2000, Uzbekistan initiated and signed - with Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan - the Central Asian Agreement on the Joint Fight against Terrorism, Political and Religious Extremism, Transnational Organized Crime and Other Threats to Stability and Security of the Parties."
Uzbekistan's efforts proceeded, in the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) summit, held in Chisinau in October 2002, as the CIS adopted a document aimed at evolving a common approach in the fight against drug trafficking, organized crime, international terrorism and other manifestations of terrorism. "The fact that all of the countries of the region are members of the CIS was an added benefit. Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, and Tajikistan are members of the CIS Customs Union, and Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, and Uzbekistan are members of the Central Asian Economic Community. Kyrgyzstan is also a member of the World Trade Organization. Though most of these organizations are largely just de jure creations, they still make drug trafficking easier by, for example, maintaining a visa-free travel regime for the citizens of the CIS countries , as well as by having various bilateral agreements that facilitate free trade between countries." Related with this, drug trafficking in the region also has a multiethnic structure. "It has been reported that 65.3 percent of the region's drug traffickers are citizens of Tajikistan, 10.8 percent are citizens of Russia, 9.2 percent are citizens of Kyrgyzstan, and 8.2 percent are citizens of Turkmenistan."
The Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO) maintained a Collective Rapid Reaction Force of 1,500 military personnel deployed in Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan. Besides CIS, the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) in recent years has also been taking an active interest in combating threats like drug trafficking, organized crime and religious terrorism.
The Central Asian Cooperation Organization (CACO) is yet another organization which is also taking a keen interest in meeting the challenges emanating in this region due to the proliferation of the drug trade and cross-border terrorism. In addition to multilateral regional bodies like SCO, CACO and CSTO, the Central Asian states are also involved in bilateral engagements with other external actors to combat this menace.
"Joint efforts to counter drug trafficking have produced some results. For example, in February 2008, law enforcement agencies of Kazakhstan, the Russian Federation, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan launched Operation Typhoon, a joint operation targeting one of the largest drug trafficking groups in Central Asia." Again, in 2008, the Government of Uzbekistan broadcast 129 TV and 304 radio broadcasts to raise awareness about the dangers of drug use, and 232 newspaper articles were published.
"In March 2008, UNODC-trained law enforcement officers intercepted a large amount of heroin being smuggled through Uzbekistan. The investigation uncovered one of the biggest drug smuggling cases in the country."
As a conclusion, we must admit that "Uzbekistan's main counter-narcotic efforts centers around destroying the illicit crop cultivation. The efforts are sponsored by the UNODC (United Nations Office of Drug Control and Crime Prevention). The UNODC is supporting research at Uzbekistan's Institute of Genetics on the development of a fungus capable of destroying the opium crop at its root. The fungus was first discovered at a former Soviet biological warfare plant in Uzbekistan, originally designed to destroy NATO's food supplies." The UNODC has an office in Tashkent, Uzbekistan for effective cooperation and joint action, as well.

Conclusion
In the introduction part of the article, we have mentioned about the drug trafficking and its effects on Central Asia, generally. We touched to political and societal repercussions of drug trade and addiction to drugs, by referring to several authors. Before passing on to the other part we gave place to statics concerning drugs, in Uzbekistan.
In the second part, we searched through the history of drug trafficking in Central Asia and Uzbekistan. While benefiting from the historical timeline, we also underlined that Uzbekistan is not only a drug-transit country, but also a producer country, even if the production levels cannot be compared with those of Afghanistan, Pakistan etc...
The third part is one of the two major parts of this article as it analyzes the main drug trafficking routes and their extensions. We tried to find an answer to the question: Why it is easy to smuggle drugs between some borders and why it is not in others? We concluded chapter three with an enlightening map about the drug trafficking routes in Uzbekistan.
In the fourth part, also the second main part of the article, we have studied on narco-terrorism, the meaning of the term, the usage of the term and drug-terror connection. After introducing into the fourth chapter we researched the primary terrorist organization in Uzbekistan: The Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan (The IMU). Having said about the group's history, we then continued with IMU's involvement in drug trade, in Central Asia and Uzbekistan. We underlined the connection between IMU and the regions other significant terrorist groups like Taliban and al-Qa'ida. We tried to point out that the most dangerous development in the region would be the evolution of the inter-regional cooperation between the terrorist groups to a more complicated one: inter-national terrorism. We concluded the chapter by mentioning other terrorist organizations operating in the region.
In the fifth and the last part we touched on recent trends and especially on government efforts to stop illicit drug trafficking in Uzbekistan. Again we referred to several scholars who are experts of this topic. The main sources were Martha Brill Olcott and Natalia Udalova Zwart, Swante E. Cornell and Niklas Swanström, Tamara Makarenko, Nalin Kumar Mohapatra, Ahmed Rashid and the United Nations Office on Drug and Crime (UNODC). We also used several web sites and reports made by several institutes.
As last words before conclusion, we can admit that the drug money has supported all sorts of radical movements and terrorist organizations in the past and it will support them in the future. Drug trafficking and the profit made from it is indispensable for terrorist groups in Uzbekistan, in Central Asia and in other regions of the world. It has certain political, social and economic effects and the consequences will be higher than estimated if some radical decisions would not be taken. In the meantime, abolishing drug trafficking and eliminating the traffickers are difficult tasks partly because of the reactions of certain centers of power. Yet the sponsors of the extremist terrorism which cause troubles to Central Asian states are thought to be the rival states. This means that the regional conflicts between the states may result to furtherance of the terrorism threat, in the future.
Therefore, the main issue has to be the termination of drug producing centers, first in Uzbekistan and then in Central Asia as this will bring limited funding to the terrorist organizations. After eliminating drug trafficking, second step has to be the solution of the above mentioned local conflicts in the region. Otherwise, there's a risk that the changes in political, social and economic systems of Central Asia may affect the neighboring countries such as Russia, China and Iran, turning the entire region into a "hot spot".

Bibliography
Abeyratne, R. (2008) "The Illicit Transfer of Narcotic Drugs by Air", Journal of Transportation Security, 1:229-255
Buzan, B., Wæver, O. and de Wilde, J. (1998) "Security: A New Frame"26 Problems of Post-Communism July/August 2006 work for Analysis (Boulder, CO: Lynne Rienner, 1998), p. 37.
Burgess, M. (2002) "In the Spotlight: Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan (IMU)", CDI Research Analyst, p.1, 25 March
Chernogaev, Y. (1999) "Russia Struggles with Bolivian Drug Mafia on the Tajik-Afghan Border," Kommersant- Daily, December 17
Cornell, S. E. (2006) "The Narcotics Threat in Greater Central Asia: From Crime-Terror Nexus to State Infiltration?" China and Eurasia Forum Quarterly, Volume 4, No. 1 p. 60
Cornell, S. E. and Swanström, N. L. P. (2006) "The Eurasian Drug Trade A Challenge to Regional Security", Problems of Post-Communism, vol. 53, no. 4, pp. 10-28.
Cornell, S. E. (2005b) "Narcotics, Radicalism, and Armed Conflict in Central Asia: The Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan", Terrorism and Political Violence, vol. 17, pp. 577-97.
Cornell, S. E. Regine A. S., (2002) "Central Asia: More than Islamic Extremists", Washington Quarterly, vol. 25, no. 1, pp. 193-206.
Giragosian, R. (2004) "The US Military Engagement in Central Asia and the Southern Caucasus: An Overview", The Journal of Slavic Military Studies, 17, 1, p.44
Kudakaev, A. (1999) "Drugs", Gazeta.Ru, Available at http://www.gazeta.ru/society/30-04 1999_narko_Printed.htm

Madi, M. (2004) "Drug Trade in Kyrgyzstan, Structure, Implications, and Countermeasures", Central Asian Survey 23, no. 3-4: 249-273.
Makarenko, T. (2002) "Crime, Terror and the Central Asian Drug Trade", Caspian Brief, no. 25, Available at http://cornellcaspian.com/publications/pdf125.0207CA_drugs.pdf
Makarenko, T. (2001) "Traffickers Turn from Balkan Conduit to ‘Northern' Route," Jane's Intelligence Review 13, no. 8 pp. 27-29.
Makarenko, T. (2000) "Crime and Terrorism in Central Asia," Jane's Intelligence Review 12, no. 7
McConnell, A. (2002) "Islamic Radicals Regroup in Central Asia", Eurasia Insight, Available at http://www.eurasianet.org/departments/insight/articles/eav051502.shtml
Mohapatra, N. K. (2007) "Political and Security Challenges in Central Asia: The Drug Trafficking Dimension", International Studies, 44
Money Laundering and Related Issues in Uzbekistan (2002) GPML Central Asia Briefing No.2, 24
Mutschke, R. (2000) "Threat Posed by Organized Crime"; Donnie R. Marshall, Drug Enforcement Administration administrator, Testimony to the Subcommittee on Crime of the Judiciary Committee, U.S. House of Representatives, Available at http://usinfo.state.gov/topical/pol/terror/00121301.htm
Olcott, M. B. and Zwart, N. U. (2000) "Drug Trafficking on the Great Silk Road," Working Paper no. 11 (Carnegie Endowment for International Peace).
Olcott, M. B. and Zwart, N. U. - Meyer, K. and Parssinen, T. (1998) Webs of Smoke (Boulder: Rowman & Littlefield Publishers, Inc.)
Patnaik, A. (2002) "Central Asia and CIS Integration", Contemporary Central Asia, vol. VI, no. 3, pp. 1-13.
Pravda. (2001) "Muslim Fundamentalists in Central Asia are to establish the New Joint Organization", Available at http://english.pravda.ru/cis/2001/05/30/6301.htmls
Rashid, A. (2002) "Separatist Group in Uzbekistan Selling Drugs for Purchase of Arms", Available at http://www.eurasianet.org/resources/Uzbekistan/hypermail/200109/0009.html
Rashid, A. (2002) Jihad: The Rise of Militant Islam in Central Asia, (New Haven, Conn., Yale University Press).
Stepanova, E. (2005) "Illicit Drug Trafficking and Islamic Terrorism as Threats to Russian Security, The Limits of the Linkage", PONARS Policy Memo No.393
Thachuk, K. (2001) "Transnational Threats: Falling Through the Cracks?" Low Intensity Conflict and Law Enforcement 10, no. 1: pp. 47-67.
Townsend, J. (2004) "Country Factsheets, Eurasian Narcotics, Uzbekistan" Silk Road Studies
Trifunovic, D. (2007) "The New Terrorist Organization «LIVO» Creating an «Islamic State» in the territory of Central Asian countries", Research Institute For European and American Studies (RIEAS), Research Paper No: 115
United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (2003) "Global Illicit Drug Trends" (Vienna: United Nations)
U.S. Department of State (2008) International Narcotics Control Strategy Report 2008
Weitz, R. (2004) "Storm Clouds over Central Asia: Revival of the Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan (IMU)?" Studies in Conflict & Terrorism 27 (2004): 465-490.
Williams, P. (1997) ‘‘Transnational Criminal Organizations and International Security,'' in In Athena's Camp: Preparing for Conflict in the information Age, ed. John Arquilla and David Ronfeldt, 329 (Santa Monica, CA: RAND)

Internet Sources
www.unodc.org www.ncdc.uz
www.stratfor.com www.ag.gov.au
www.irinnews.org www.silkroadstudies.org
www.cacianalyst.org www.estandardsforum.org
http://www.flashpoints.info/CB-Uzbekistan.htm
http://www.unodc.org/unodc/en/frontpage/uzbek-officers-put-unodc-trainin...
http://news.bbc.co.uk/hi/english/static/audio_video/programmes/panorama/...