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U.S. Department of State
1997 International Narcotics Control Strategy Report, March 1998
United States Department of State
Bureau for International Narcotics and Law Enforcement Affairs
Europe and Central Asia
MONGOLIA
Drug trafficking and abuse in Mongolia are not high by international
standards, but is growing as Mongolia becomes more integrated into the
international community. Drugs such as heroin and marijuana, while still
far behind alcohol as the intoxicant of choice, are becoming available and
the occasional bust is reported in local newspapers; a PRC Chinese citizen
is in jail here awaiting trial for drug trafficking. Mongolia does not lie
along any of the major drug trafficking routes to the US but some drugs do
transit Mongolia by train from China and Southeast Asia to Russia.
The Government of Mongolia and its police, because of the severe
financial constraints they face, have very few resources devoted to
combatting drugs. Unlike the case for alcohol, there are very few
educational programs about drug abuse underway in Mongolia, although this
may change in the future as illicit drug abuse grows. Although Mongolia is
a party to the 1961 UN Single Convention and its 1972 Protocol, Mongolia
has not yet become a party to the 1988 UN Drug Convention. The Mongolian
Police have an organized crime division, which also is responsible for
drug-related crimes. The police are aware of no illicit cultivation or
production of narcotics in Mongolia. The Mongolian police have begun to
work with Interpol and Russian and Chinese law enforcement and customs
officials on drug trafficking, and last November a Mongolian police
delegation attended an Interpol conference in France where drug issues were
raised. Unfortunately, police lack even the most basic knowledge (for
example, how to identify illegal drugs) needed to combat trafficking, and
lack money necessary for training or greater efforts in this field,
although Mongolian police did recently purchase two specially trained
drug-sniffing dogs from Hungary.
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