OVER 140 KG OF DRUGS SEIZED ON TAJIK-UZBEK BORDER

DUSHANBE, February 7 (Itar-Tass) - Over 140 kilograms of drugs, including
15 kilos of heroin, were seized by Tajik police officers when inspecting a
truck in the area of the Tajik-Uzbek border, Itar-Tass learnt from press
service chief of the Tajik Interior Ministry Dzhumakhon Khatami.

According to the press service chief, a police check point in the city of
Tursunzade, bordering Uzbekistan, stopped last Wednesday a MAZ truck with
Russian number plates for inspection. After the first inspection, Tajik
detectives seized 103 packs (slightly over 100 kilos) of raw opium and
marijuana.

After the second inspection of the truck in Dushanbe where the truck and
the driver were brought, detectives unearthed another cache with 35 packs
of drugs, including 15 kilos of heroin, when the truck body was pried open.

A criminal case was instituted under article "smuggling in especially big
quantities".