DUSHANBE, October 17, 2013, Asia-Plus -- Officers from the State Committee for National Security (SCNS) have carried out a number of operations to prevent drug trafficking attempts in Sughd and Khatlon provinces and in the Gorno Badakhshan Autonomous Region (GBAO), according to the SCNS press center.

The 30-year-old resident of the Istaravshan district, Sughd province, Bahromjon Mahmoudov, was arrested on suspicion of drug trafficking.  More than 1.5 kilograms of hashish were confiscated from him.

Officers from SCNS’s office in Gorno Badakhshan jointly with border guards carried out a special operation near the village of Dashtak in the Vanj district.  After a skirmish between them and Afghan drug traffickers, the last were forced to return to Afghan territory.  3 kilograms of drugs and two assault rifles Kalashnikov were found at the scene of incident.

Another skirmish between the SCNS officers and trespassers took place in the Panj district, Khatlon province.  The trespassers returned to the contiguous territory and 19 kilograms of cannabis were found at the scene of incident, the source said.

Tajik security officers have reportedly seized 1,474 kilograms of narcotics since the beginning of the year.  A totaled included 195 kilograms of heroin, 621 kilograms of hashish, 114 kilograms of raw opium and some 500 kilograms of cannabis.