DUSHANBE, October 12, 2012, Asia-Plus -- Uzbek authorities say they have thwarted an attempt to smuggle a significant amount of opium into the country from neighboring Tajikistan, Radio Liberty reports.

Uzbekistan''s National Security Committee said border guards found more than 20 kilograms of raw opium in a vehicle crossing the Uzbek-Tajik border on October 12.

The seizure took place in Uzbekistan''s Urgut district in the Samarqand region that borders Tajikistan''s Panjakent district.

It came a day after Uzbekistan''s Interior Ministry and the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) signed a memorandum of cooperation in countering drug trafficking and the spread of drug abuse.

The document was signed in Tashkent after Uzbek Deputy Interior Minister Adham Ahmadbayev held talks with visiting the DEA''s Middle East and Central Asia Regional Director