YEKATERINBURG, January 23 (RIA Novosti) -
Anti-narcotics officers have seized some 7.5 kg (16.5 lbs) of
heroin in the Urals city of Yekaterinburg, a spokesman for the
regional drug police department said on Friday.
In the first of three major drug hauls on Thursday, more
than 1 kg (2.2 lbs) of heroin were seized while searching a car
of a 40-year-old Azerbaijani national, detained on suspicion of
drug trafficking.
Later in the day, police found a bag with a total of 4.3
kg (9.5 lbs) of heroin in another car, driven by a unemployed
54-year-old Russian citizen born in Azerbaijan. In addition,
2.2 kg (4.8 lbs) of the drug were later found in the man's
garage.
Russia's Urals region is a major transit point for drugs
smuggled from Afghanistan, the world's largest opium and heroin
producer, via ex-Soviet Central Asian republics to Western
Europe. A kilogram of heroin is worth approximately 1 million
rubles ($30,500) on the black market in Yekaterinburg.
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