Police have seized 9.5 kilograms of heroin from a pensioner in the Sverdlovsk Region of Russia's Urals, the local police force said on Tuesday.
The drug seizure was part of a series of raids in the province on Monday, aimed at cutting off a major supply route for trafficking from Central Asia. A total of 11.3 kg of heroin was seized during the operation.
The 60-year-old man in a village in the Nevyansky district was storing the drugs in a barn and in on balcony of his apartment, the statement said. His Tajik-born son-in-law, who recently acquired Russian citizenship, was also detained for drug smuggling.
The suspects have been charged, and face up to 20 years in prison and a fine up to 1 million rubles ($35,000) if found guilty.
An estimated 90% of heroin consumed in Russia is trafficked from Afghanistan via the ex-Soviet states of Tajikistan and Uzbekistan.
Illegal drug production has reportedly increased more than 40 times in Afghanistan since U.S. forces toppled the radical Islamic Taliban movement in 2001.
YEKATERINBURG, November 17 (RIA Novosti)
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