KHUJAND, May 25, 2009, Asia-Plus  - Officers from the Sughd counter narcotics directorate have begun a large-scale work on uncovering chains of heroin pushers in the province.

According to Mirzoravshan Qutbiddinov, an official with the Sughd counternarcotics directorate, a number of operations carried out in the province since the beginning of the year led to the arrest of 11 heroin pushers.  “Narcotics confiscated from them would have been enough for preparation of 16,000 doses,” Qutbiddinov said.

“Investigation has revealed that some 80 percent of heroin pushers are drug addicts themselves,” the drug control official added.

According to the Sughd counternarcotics directorate, the number of drug-dependent people in northern Tajikistan has decreased from 1,629 in 2008 to 1,429.