Big haul of drugs captured at Tajik-Afghan border

oscow, Apr 8 (UNI) A large consignment of drugs has been seized at the Tajik-Afghan border, the National Security Committee's border service told Itar-Tass news agency.

Border guards detained three Afghan traffickers, who were trying to smuggle about 13 kg of opium and heroin to Tajikistan yesterday.

This year, so far, more than 700 kg of narcotics had been seized on the border and security service analysts said spring and summer of 2007 will be a hard time for the border guards, as the projected production of heroin in neighbouring Afghanistan may reach 800 tonnes.

Afghan drug cartels may try to export about one-third of the amount via the northern route, that is, Tajikistan.

Meanwhile, the Federal Drug Control Service's Moscow Department told Interfax news agency that more than 30 drug dens have been closed in Moscow this year.

''Drug dens are mostly kept by Muscovites officially registered as unemployed,'' a department spokesman said.

''Over 90 per cent of those detained on suspicion of organising or keeping drug dens are Muscovites, or people possessing permanent residence permits. The share of unemployed drug den keepers has increased by 13 per cent since 2006, reaching 93 per cent,'' he said.

''Whereas heroin was mostly used in 2006, now drug den keepers have switched over to drugs made of food poppy seeds,'' he pointed out.

Ordinary apartments are usually used as drug dens. Keeping a drug house is punishable by up to four years in prison.

The Federal Drug Control authorities are concerned about the growing mortality rate related to drug overdose.

''The overdose mortality rate has gone up four times in Moscow over past three years,'' the Federal Drug Control Service's Deputy Director Vladimir Zubrin said.

UNI