From May 23-27, 2016, the Bureau of International Narcotics and Law Enforcement Affairs of the U.S. Department of State and the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration conducted a Drug Unit Commanders Course in Ashgabat for officials from the Ministry of Internal Affairs and the State Migration and Customs Services. The workshop was intended to respond to increased concerns in Central Asia about illicit drug production and trafficking and will help prepare drug unit commanders to carry out their duties more effectively. During the May 27 closing ceremony of the workshop, U.S. Ambassador Alan Mustard highlighted that “for more than ten years the Governments of the United States and Turkmenistan have cooperated effectively in the area of counter-narcotics.”