Thursday, February 16, 2012

Afghanistan

Tajikistan Shoots Down Aircraft Carrying Heroin

Opium cultivation in Afghanistan (file photo)

23 August 2005 (RFE/RL) -- Officials say border guards in Tajikistan have shot down a piloted motorized parachute carrying 18 kilograms of heroin from Afghanistan, RFE/RL's Tajik Service reported.

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August 23, 2005

Troops opened fire on the paraplane on 22 August above Tajikistan's southeastern border. A search operation was under way to find the pilot, who was thought to have been wounded.

Tajikistan is a major route for drugs flowing from neighboring Afghanistan, the world's top opium producer.

However Sabza Sarkorov, deputy head of the Tajik border troops, told RFE/RL that this was the first time an aircraft with narcotics was intercepted.

(RFE/RL's Tajik Service/dpa/Interfax)

See also:

Afghanistan: World's Largest-Ever Pile Of Drugs Destroyed

Iran's Drug Problems Appear To Be Worsening

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