Over 24 kg of drugs seized in Tajikistan during Novruz celebrations
DUSHANBE. March 24 (Interfax) - Tajik Interior Ministry officers held four successful operations against drug trafficking and seized a total of 24.2 kilos of drugs during the Novruz celebrations, the Tajik Interior Ministry press office said.
"During the investigative actions in the Vose district of the Hatlonsk region (about 180 km south-east of Dushanbe) two citizens were detained and a 13.764 kilo batch of heroine was seized from them," the press office said in a statement.
The second big batch of drugs was 9.264 kilos of opium. It has been seized from two Tajik citizens in Dushanbe. Two more operations were held in the country on the same day, during which two more citizens were detained with 1.188 kilos of hashish.
A criminal case on illegal trafficking of drugs or psychotropic substances with the purpose of especially large-scale distribution has been opened regarding the six detained individuals. They face 12 to 20 years in prison each if found guilty.
Tajikistan, which shares the longest border with Afghanistan in Central Asia - 1,344 km, seized 6686.5 kilos of drugs in 2013, which is up 11.8% year-on-year. Drugs transit through Tajikistan, Kyrgyzstan, and Uzbekistan to Kazakhstan, Russia and Eastern and Western Europe.
According to the information of the Tajik Interior Ministry, in January-February 2014 a total of 237 drug-related crimes were registered, which is up 22.8%.
The days of March 21-26 are days-off in Tajikistan - the country celebrates Novruz, the celebration of the spring equinox for Persian- and Turkic-speaking ethnicities.
