DUSHANBE, May 6, 2011, Asia-Plus — Officers from the Interior Ministry department for combating drug trafficking (drug police) have seized a large amount of hashish in northern Tajikistan.
A source at the Interior Ministry says unemployed Ghufron G., 47, was detained in Khujand yesterday on suspicion of having been involved in drug trafficking. “A bag containing narcotic drug tested positive to hashish weighing more than 55 kilograms was confiscated from him,” said the source, “The preliminary investigation has established that Ghufron G. purchased the hashish from Sughd resident Sanjar A.”
Criminal proceedings have been instituted and an investigation is under way.
It is to be noted that according to the UNODC report, cannabis production is expected to increase in Afghanistan this year and hashish smuggling will increase correspondingly. Afghanistan, the world”s biggest producer of opium, is also a major producer of cannabis.
In a report released at a news conference in Dushanbe, Tajik drug control chief revealed on April 27 that cannabis accounted for more than 80 percent of the overall amount of narcotics seized in Tajikistan over the first three months of this year. Nearly 1,500 kilograms of narcotics, including 1,200 kilograms of cannabis, have been seized in the country over the report period.
