DUSHANBE, October 5, 2010, Asia-Plus  -- Unemployed resident of Dushanbe was detained yesterday with a large amount of heroin, according to the Ministry of Interior (MoI).

The source at a MoI says the 35-year-old T.A. who has a previous conviction for hooliganism was detained in Roudaki district and a package containing 6.568 kilograms of heroin was confiscated from him.

Criminal proceedings have been instituted against the alleged drug pusher and an investigation is under way.

Over the first eight months of this year, Tajik police have seized nearly 1,500 kilograms of narcotics.  A totaled included 370 kilograms of heroin, 243 kilograms of raw opium and nearly 890 kilograms of cannabis.

In all, 2,397 kilograms of narcotics have been seized by all law enforcement agencies of the country over the report period.  Police accounted for 62 percent of the overall volume of narcotics seized in the country in January-August 2001.