DUSHANBE, September 16, 2008, Asia-Plus — Three foreign nationals have got long jail terms for drug trafficking.
Speaking in an interview with Asia-Plus, Sadriddin Toshev, a judge with a court in Dushanbe’s Shohmansour district, said that those three, being nationals of different countries, were members of one international drug-trafficking network.
The Shohmansour court yesterday ruled that the national of the Philippines, Ms. Garcia Joanna Gardovski (phonetically spelled), charged with attempt to transport 3 kilograms of heroin by plane to Istanbul, Turkey be given a jail term of 13 years.
As it had been reported earlier, an inspection of passengers on the flight Dushanbe-Istanbul flight in late May this year found heroin hidden in the luggage belonging to Garcia Joanna Gardovski.
The court also sentenced the national of the Republic of South Africa, Mr. Makkongza Azvidin Flora (phonetically spelled), to 15 years in prison.
Some six kilograms of heroin were found in his luggage during inspection of passengers on the same flight – Dushanbe-Istanbul in late May, the judge said.
Further operation by Tajik special services has allowed finding the trace of the main supplier of the narcotic drug, who proved to be Afghan national Khonzoda valadi Butkhoja. He got the jail term of 16½ years, according to the judge.
All of them will serve their sentences in penal colonies in Tajikistan.
It is to be noted that it is not the first case, when foreign nationals are convicted of drug trafficking in Tajikistan. We will recall that court in Dushanbe’s Shohmansour district sentenced the Uganda national to 19 years in early September this year. The sentence followed her conviction of charges of criminal attempt, drug trafficking and smuggling. An inspection of passengers on the flight Dushanbe-Istanbul flight found more than 30 kilograms of heroin hidden in luggage belonging to her.
