KHUJAND, July 20, 2009, Asia-Plus  -- Over the first six months of this year, twenty-seven residents of Sughd province, including three women, have been arrested outside Tajikistan on drug charges, the Sughd counternarcotics directorate chief Fayzullo Abdulloyev announced at a press conference in Khujand today.

According to him, 20 of them have been arrested in the Russian Federation, four others have been arrested in Uzbekistan and three Sughd residents have been detained in Kyrgyzstan.  “In all, 66.266 kilograms of narcotics, including 42.985 kilograms of  heroin, have been confiscated from them.”

In January-June 2008, 11 residents of northern Tajikistan, including one woman, were detained outside the country on drug charges and in all, 9 kilograms of heroin were confiscated from them, Abdulloyev said.