Tajik police seize 45 kg of Russia-bound heroin

Police have seized some 44 kilograms of heroin that was due to be smuggled into Russia during a raid in the Tajik capital of Dushanbe, a drug control agency spokeswoman said on Monday. Two bags containing 39 packages of ultra-pure heroin worth an estimated $700,000 were seized from a car driven by a Tajik national, the agency said, adding that the drugs came from Afghanistan. Up to 80 tons of heroin flow into Russia from Afghanistan every year via former Soviet Central Asian republics, according to UN estimates. The figure is around 20 percent of total global heroin consumption. Afghan drug production has skyrocketed since the U.S.-led invasion toppled the Taliban rule in 2001, and Russia has been one of the most affected countries, with the number of drug-related deaths reaching 30,000-40,000 a year, according to official statistics.