DUSHANBE, June 10, Asia-Plus — 423 kilograms of drugs, with the majority of them being raw opium and heroin, that were seized on the highway from Dushanbe to Khujand on May 11 belonged to the drug gang of Suhrob Langariyev, according to the public relations center of the State Committee for National Security (GKNB).
The source at the public relations center said that investigators had produced evidence to support Suhrob Langariyev’s and his confederates’ guilt on drug trafficking charges and “they now give confessional evidence.”
However, the law enforcement authorities have not yet brought formal charges against them. “Formal charges will be brought against Suhrob Langariyev and his confederates in the near future,” the source said.
We will recall that a vast law-enforcement operation against Suhrob Langariyev and his confederates was carried out in the city of Kulob on May 27. After an extended gun battle, eight persons were taken into custody, including Suhrob Langariyev and two Afghan nationals. According to the government, the gang that was targeted was a major drug trafficker in Tajikistan. The gang’s leader, 29-year-old Suhrob Langariyev, reportedly had had an international warrant out for his arrest since 2002. Langariyev and his supporters offered armed resistance to law enforcement agents. In the prolonged exchanges of gunfire, three persons were reportedly killed – one police officer and two bystanders.
According to the GKNB source, 13 persons, including Tajik and Afghan nationals, have been arrested so far for having been involved in Suhrob Langariyev’s drug gang and two other are currently wanted by police.
