ASTANA, February 20 (RIA Novosti) – Kazakh authorities said Thursday that they stopped a truck trying to smuggle 19 tons of vodka and cognac into Russia, a haul worth $30,000.
The driver, a 30-year-old Kazakh man, has been detained and is under investigation, the National Security Service said in a statement.
Kazakhstan shares a 7,500-kilometer (4,700-mile) border with Russia, mostly across poorly guarded Central Asian steppe.
Russia has a large market for counterfeit alcohol.
About 10 million liters of illegally produced whiskey were consumed in Russia last year, according to a report by the State Statistics Service.
The report did not provide figures for vodka and cognac.
