Police seize over 4 kg of heroin in Urals

YEKATERINBURG, October 23 (RIA Novosti) - Police have seized 4 kg of heroin from a group of Tajik nationals attempting to sell the drugs in Russia's Urals city of Yekaterinburg, the local prosecutor's office said on Thursday.

Five suspects have been arrested. They face up to 20 years in prison and a fine of up to one million rubles ($37,000).

Russia's Urals is a major point on the heroin-smuggling route from Afghanistan, the world's largest heroin producer, through the former Soviet Central Asian republics and on to Western Europe via Moscow and St. Petersburg. Alternatively, the drugs are smuggled into Turkey and then onto Europe via the Balkans.

Most of the heroin sold in Russia is smuggled into the country via Tajikistan, which shares a border with Afghanistan.