The Drug Control Agency was opened in Bishkek on 26 May in a ceremony attended by Kyrgyz Prime Minister Nikolai Tanaev, Executive Director of the UN Office on Drugs and Crime Antonio Maria Costa, and U.S. Ambassador Stephen Young. In his remarks, Tanaev noted that 30-35 tons of narcotics pass through Kyrgyzstan each year, and half of the traffic is opium that originates in Afghanistan. The prime minister expressed the hope that the new agency will help the state to implement its antidrug policies. Costa also met with Kyrgyz President Askar Akaev on 26 May. Akaev warned that the drug threat from Afghanistan is becoming \"more acute.\" At a meeting with First Deputy Foreign Minister Talant Kushchubekov, also on 26 May, Costa called the opening of the Drug Control Agency an important measure to combat the burgeoning cross-border Afghan-Kyrgyz drug trade. The Drug Control Agency will receive funding from the Kyrgyz government, the United Nations, and the United States. (RFE/RL)