RUSSIAN TROOPS SEIZE 47 KILOS OF HEROIN ON TAJIK-AFGHAN BORDER

DUSHANBE - Russian troops have seized 47 kilograms (100 pounds) of heroin
hidden by drug traffickers on the frontier between Tajikistan and
Afghanistan, the Russian border guard said Sunday.

The drugs, which had come from Afghanistan, were discovered Saturday about
250 kilometres (150 miles) south of the Tajik capital Dushanbe, the same
source said.

More than 400 kilograms of narcotics have been seized in Tajikistan since
the beginning of the year, as opposed to around nine tonnes confiscated in
2001, which also saw approximately 2,000 drug trafficking suspects arrested.

Afghanistan is thought to be responsible for producing 75 percent of the
world's opium and 80 percent of the heroin traded on the streets of Europe.