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The United States government looks forward to continuing its robust cooperation with Pakistan <\/a>to address the issues of illegal trade of drugs, narcotics and weapons to safeguard the region as well as the communities of the world.<\/p>\n \u201cWe have found Pakistan to be a great partner across the board and we have to rely even more on Pakistan since we are not in Afghanistan anymore to counter illegal trade of drugs, narcotics and weapons trafficking,\u201d US Assistant Secretary of State for International Narcotics and Law Enforcement Affairs Todd D Robinson said in an exclusive interview with The Express Tribune.<\/em><\/p>\n Robinson said that Pakistan had proven to be an able (not enabling) partner because they knew the issues and the territories.<\/p>\n \u201cWe can help them in training and equipment to do a really dangerous job,\u201d he said. \u201cI take my hat off to Pakistani partners. They are in many respects safeguarding the region and communities of the world.\u201d<\/p>\n He was on a visit to Pakistan to celebrate 40 years of the presence and cooperation with Pakistan by State Department\u2019s Bureau of International Narcotics and Law Enforcement Affairs and the 75th anniversary of bilateral relations between Pakistan and the US.<\/p>\n The US State Department, through the Bureau of International Narcotics and Law Enforcement Affairs (INL), spends more than $21 million on programmes in Pakistan each year for cooperation regarding counter-narcotics to community policing.<\/p>\n About maritime crime in the region, Robinson said the US and Pakistan have a mutual interest in securing Pakistan\u2019s seaports and the Indian Ocean from illicit trafficking.<\/p>\n \u201cWe recognise that most of the heroin smuggled from Afghanistan transits through Pakistan\u2019s seaports and along the Makran coast in Balochistan to international markets, and we look forward to continued partnerships in bolstering maritime security in the Indian Ocean,\u201d Robinson said.<\/p>\n Pakistan Navy is contributing to the fight against narcotics as part of the Combined Task Force-150 mission. In April, a Pakistani naval vessel seized illicit narcotics while conducting patrols in the Gulf of Oman. \u201cWe greatly value these efforts,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n Read\u00a0<\/strong>US backed regime change as it \u2018wants bases in Pakistan\u2019<\/a><\/p>\n He said that the US programmes support civilian law enforcement, rule of law, corrections and counter-narcotics to help Pakistan combat violent extremism, expand access to justice, and enforce the rule of law nationwide.<\/p>\n In support of the Federally Administered Tribal Areas reforms, the US refocused programmes on expanding law enforcement and justice sector systems in areas where criminal and extremist networks thrive, including supporting the recruitment and retention of women in law enforcement.<\/p>\n \u201cOur assistance is especially important in the districts along the Afghanistan border, as Pakistan transitions that area to civilian governance and introduces mainstream Pakistani concepts of law and policing,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n Regarding countering narcotics trafficking, he said that INL provides training and equipment to Pakistan\u2019s counter-narcotics units to scale up interdiction efforts along the border with Afghanistan and southern coastal areas along major trafficking routes used by transnational terrorist and criminal organisations.<\/p>\n Regarding the role of INL programmes to eradicate drugs and eliminate the supply, he said, \u201cI want to congratulate the Pakistani law enforcement agencies on seizing 38 metric tonnes of opium-based narcotics in 2021, as reported by the Anti-Narcotics Force.\u201d<\/p>\n Because of the close collaboration between the US Department of State, the US Drug Enforcement Administration, and \u201cour Pakistani counterparts, like the Anti-Narcotics Force\u2019s Special Investigation Cell, Pakistan has denied record levels of revenue to drug-trafficking organisations since September 2021\u201d, he added.<\/p>\n To date, the US has invested $24 million in drug treatment and prevention efforts in Pakistan, and this could not have been achieved without our close partnerships with the MNC, provincial-level partners, UNODC, and the Colombo Plan, Robinson said.<\/p>\n He underscored that poppy cultivation has been reduced by 87% in areas where the US works with the Pakistani authorities on crop control projects.<\/p>\n