DUSHANBE, March 19, 2009, Asia-Plus  -- An attempt of smuggling a large amount of Russian rubles has been warded off at the Khujand airport in the Sughd province, according to the Ministry of Interior (MoI).

The source at a MoI told Asia-Plus today that passenger on the Khujand-Moscow flight Taghoymurod Homidov was detained yesterday on suspicion of money smuggling.  “Acting in collusion with the officer from the customs control at the Khujand airport, Stepan Oleynikov, he was trying to illegally transport 7.3 million Russian rubles (equivalent to more than 200,000 US dollars) to Moscow,” said the source, “Homidov did not mention the amount in his customs declaration.”

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