Border guards at the Darkad outpost of the Border Troops of the State Committee for National Security of Tajikistan (SCNS), located in the Mir-Said-Ali-Hamadoni district of Khatlon province, intercepted an attempt to smuggle a large shipment of drugs from Afghanistan into Tajikistan on the night of February 10. One Afghan drug smuggler was detained.
The state-run news agency Khovar, citing the press center of the SCNS Border Troops, says four Afghan smugglers illegally crossed the border and entered Tajikistan. During the operation, Tajik border guards tracked the criminals' movements and successfully prevented the large-scale smuggling of narcotics.
The detained smuggler, 45-year-old Avalu Mir waladi Abdulhakim, a resident of the village of Maydapata in the Darkad district of the Takhar province in Afghanistan, was found in possession of 46 packages of hashish. Additionally, two rubber boats used by the smugglers to cross the border illegally were confiscated at the scene.
The remaining members of the smuggling gang managed to flee back into Afghanistan. The SCNS of Tajikistan has instituted criminal proceedings under three articles of Tajikistan’s Penal Code: Articles 200 — illegal trafficking of narcotics or psychotropic substances for sale; Article 289 – smuggling; and Article 335 — illegal border crossing; an investigation is under way.
Earlier, at the end of January, the Border Troops of Tajikistan reported preventing the illegal border crossing by five Afghan smugglers. During an armed confrontation, three of the smugglers were killed, and two others escaped into Afghanistan. Weapons, narcotics, and a boat were seized at the scene.