DUSHANBE, July 16, 2008, Asia-Plus  -- Tajik law enforcement officials reported on July 16 that the have seized a large amount of raw opium in the Vahdat district, some 17 kilometers to the east of Dushanbe.  

The source at the Ministry of Interior (MoI) said that operation by officers from the MoI directorate for combating drug trafficking (drug police) led to the arrest of the resident of Khatlon’s Muminobod district in Vahdat on July 15.  36 kilograms of raw opium and 114 grams of hashish were confiscated from him. 

Criminal proceedings have been instituted against him and an investigation is under way.   

We will recall that Tajik law enforcement authorities have seized 3,568 kilograms of narcotics over the first six months of this year, which is 24.3 percent more than in the same period of last year.