Russian border guards have seized some 54 kilograms of heroin in a shootout at the Tajik-Afghan border, Russian officials said on Tuesday. The smugglers managed to escape after a small battle with the border patrol, the border guard spokesman said.

This year, Tajik authorities and Russian border guards have confiscated 1.5 tonnes of drugs including over a tonne of heroin, and arrested 500 people for trafficking or possession.
Much of the Afghan output heads for western European and Russian markets via a drug route through the former Soviet republic of Tajikistan. Bureau Report