Tajikistan's drug control agency has confiscated more than 100 kilograms of illegal narcotics that were to be trafficked into Russia, a spokeswoman for the agency, Umeda Yusupova, said on Thursday.
Yusupova said some 100 kilograms (220 pounds) of hashish and two kilograms of heroin had been brought into the country from Afghanistan.
"After a multi-stage special operation in Dushanbe, a 40-year-old Tajik national was detained after sniffer dogs discovered around 100 kilograms of hashish and around two kilograms of heroin in his car," she said.
The smuggler, who was not named, is currently being questioned in order to reveal the names of others in the drug ring. He could face between 12 and 20 years behind bars if found guilty.
Yusupova said the confiscated drugs had a black market value of more than $42,000; however, if they had reached Russia and other European countries, that amount would have increased multifold.
Afghan drug production increased dramatically after the U.S.-led invasion toppled the Taliban in 2001, and Russia has been one of the most affected countries, with heroin consumption rising steeply.
Around 30,000 Russians die from heroin abuse every year, 90% of it coming from Afghanistan smuggled through other Central Asian countries, including Tajikistan, Kyrgyzstan and Uzbekistan.
