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Ton of drugs seized in CSTO operation in Tajikistan

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DUSHANBE, September 26 (RIA Novosti) - More than 954 kg (2,101 lbs) of drugs were confiscated in Tajikistan in the course of the special operation of regional security organization members between September 16 and 22, country's police official said Friday.

A spokesman for the Tajik Drugs Control Agency said the drugs were confiscated during the first stage of the Channel-2008 anti-drugs operation, conducted by members of the Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO).

"Within the stated period law enforcement bodies in cooperation with border guards detected and stopped 38 crimes, connected with smuggling and trade of drugs," the spokesman said.

The operation, he added, was monitored by representatives of law enforcement bodies from Azerbaijan, China, Latvia, the United States and Ukraine.

The CSTO is a security grouping comprising the former Soviet republics Armenia, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Russia, Uzbekistan and Tajikistan.

Narcotics trafficking is an acute problem for the Central Asian republics due to the constant flow of illegal drugs from neighboring Afghanistan, the world's largest heroin and opium producer. The drugs are then smuggled via Russia's Urals region onto Western Europe.

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