Pubdate: Wed, 27 Jun 2001
Source: Times of Central Asia (Kyrgyzstan)
Copyright: 2001 The Times of Central Asia
Contact:  http://www.times.kg/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/1202

RUSSIAN BORDER GUARDS CONFISCATED MORE THAN 1,300 KILOGRAMS OF DRUGS

DUSHANBE. Troops of the Russian Federal Border Service in Tajikistan have 
confiscated more than 1,300 kilograms of drugs, including over 970 
kilograms of heroin, on the Tajik-Afghan border since the beginning of the 
year, the Russian border department's press secretary Sergey Ivanchenko 
told journalists Tuesday. "The amount of heroin seized over the period 
greatly exceeds all last year's indicators. For the entire year of 2000, 
more than 800 kilograms of heroin were confiscated on the Tajik-Afghan 
border," he said. The spokesman also noted that most attempts to smuggle 
drugs across the Tajik-Afghan frontier are accompanied by armed clashes 
with drug traffickers. "In 2001, Russian border guards have engaged 
infiltrators over 20 times and have been fired on about 30 times. Three 
servicemen have been wounded," Sergey Ivanchenko told.
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