DUSHANBE, February 2, 2012, Asia-Plus – Tajik border guards have warded off an attempt by Afghan drug traffickers to smuggle a large amount of heroin into the Tajik southern Khatlon province.
According to the Main Border Guard Directorate within the State Committee for National Security (SCNS), border guards on a routine patrol spotted and tired to detain a group of Afghan armed trespassers who were illegally crossing the border river in the Shouroobod district late Sunday.
“As a result of exchange of fire, one of trespassers was wounded,” said the source, “Using rocky paths, the trespassers, however, managed to return to the contiguous territory. No wounded among Tajik border guards was reported.”
Two packages containing 25.5 kilograms of heroin and one kilogram of cocaine were reportedly found on the spot. Border guards are currently combing the area. It is to be noted that the Shouroobod area is the most vulnerable part of the Tajik-Afghan border.
In 2011, Tajik border guards reportedly seized more than 700 kilograms of narcotics.
