Dushanbe, Dec 22: Tajik police have seized 180
kilograms of heroin worth an estimated USD 2 million
close to the Tajik-Uzbek border, the interior ministry said.
"The heroin was hidden in 31 cases of fruit and was bound
for Russia. Seven people were arrested, including the heads of
the smugglers providing drugs in Russia, Uzbekistan and
Kirghizstan," said the deputy interior minister, General Mukhamadsaid Djurakulov.
"The car carrying the heroin was in an accident. The
driver offered police officers a huge bribe and this raised
their suspicions," he said.
The impoverished former Soviet Republic of Tajikistan
shares a 1,340-kilometre border with Afghanistan.
Tajik police and Russian troops who patrol the Tajik
border with Afghanistan have confiscated more than 8 tonnes of drugs so far this year, including 5 tonnes of heroin, officials said.
Bureau Report
