DUSHANBE/KHUJAND, November 3, 2009, Asia-Plus  -- officers from the Sughd counternarcotics directorate seized 2.5 kilograms of heroin in Khujand yesterday.

According to the Drug Control Agency (DCA) press service, the drug control officers found a package containing 2.5 kilograms when searching Mercedes belonging to the 46-year-old resident of Khujand, who is currently unemployed.

“The preliminary investigation has established that narcotics belonged to his two passengers, residents of the Vahdat and Tojikobod districts and were intended for transportation to Russia,” the source said.

The driver and his passengers were detained on suspicion of having been involved in drug trafficking and criminal proceedings have been instituted on drug charges.

In the meantime, officers from the department for combating drug trafficking (drug police) within the Sughd police directorate have seized more than 420 kilograms of narcotics since the beginning of this year, which is 104 kilograms more than in the same period of last year, Nasim Olimov, the chief of analysis section within the Sughd drug police department, said in an interview with Asia-Plus.

A totaled included 140 kilograms of heroin, more than 100.5 kilograms of raw opium and nearly 269.2 kilograms of hashish.