DUSHANBE, August 7, 2009, Asia-Plus  -- A drug peddler was detained in Khatlon’s Panj district yesterday while he was trying to push a large amount of hashish, according to the Drug Control Agency (DCA) press service.

An operation by officers from the Khatlon counter narcotics directorate led to the arrest of the 37-year-old Tajik national M.I. in the Panj district on August 6.  10 packages containing narcotic drug, tested positive to hashish weighing more than 8 kilograms, were confiscated from him.

The preliminary investigation has established that the detainee purchased hashish from the 33-year-old resident of Panj R.H., having previous convictions for drug trafficking, the press service said.  R.H. was detained the same day.

Criminal proceedings against M.I. and R.H. have been instituted under the provisions of Article 200, Part 3 of Tajikistan’s Penal Code - manufacture, acquisition, storage, transportation, and use of drugs.