DUSHANBE, May 25, Asia-Plus – A shipment of heroin weighing over 430 kilos (950 pounds), the largest drug haul ever seen in Russia, has been seized in Moscow, the head of the capital”s anti-narcotics service said Friday.
“With that amount, the traffickers could have prepared over six tons of street drugs worth over nine billion rubles [around $360 million],” Viktor Khvorostyan said, adding that four people have been detained.
He said the heroin, along with some three kilos (seven pounds) of hashish, was transported to Moscow from Tajikistan in the secret compartment of a truck.
“This particular criminal group, which has been involved in delivering heroin to Moscow and St. Petersburg, came to the attention of our anti-narcotics agents at the end of last year,” Khvorostyan said. “In April, we received information that a major shipment of narcotics would soon be delivered by truck as part of a convoy transporting cabbage.”
He said the truck was tailed from the border of Kazakhstan and stopped in Moscow last week, where a search revealed 197 packages of heroin weighing over 2 kilos (4.4 pounds) each.
“This heroin is of extremely high quality,” Khvorostyan said. “It was intended for distribution in Moscow and St. Petersburg. We also know that Europe was one of the group”s targets.”
