After the events of 11 September and the defeat of the Taliban in Afghanistan, President Niyazov began to remove witnesses to the drug trade, with a "purge" being carried out in the KNB that saw dozens of officers involved in drug trafficking on behalf of Niyazov receiving many years of prison sentences. Among them was former border troops commander Akmurad Kabulov, who aided in drug couriers crossing of the Turkmen border.