Georgian police and the Revenue Service of the Ministry of Finance confiscated almost three tons of liquid heroin today as a result of the joint operational-investigative activities. It was an attempt of transportation of heroin from Azerbaijan to Georgia, ntv.ru reports.
Georgian Interior Ministry reported that the law enforcement agencies have never confiscated such a big amount of drugs.
Nearly thirty-liter, hundred containers for liquid soap filled with liquid heroin were found in a truck, which entered Georgia from Azerbaijan and was heading to Turkey. The Interior Ministry reported that two Georgian citizens are arrested in connection with this case.
The preliminary examination showed that the detected substance contains 80% pure heroin, the market value of which is hundreds of millions of dollars.
The case of the illegal drug transportation through Georgia is under investigation.
The U.S. State Department report on the control of drug trafficking was noted that Azerbaijan is a transit country for drugs from Afghanistan, Iran and Central Asia to Russia and Europe. The report also said that the number of addicts has increased in Azerbaijan. Heroin is the most popular drug in Azerbaijan, besides, narcotic plants grow there.
According to a UN report, of “Northern Balkan Route” drug trafficking from Afghanistan to Europe lies precisely through Azerbaijan. Drugs freely cross Azerbaijan-Turkey-Iran route. The second, “Old Balkan Route” lies straight through Iran to Turkey. People engaged in the smuggling are mainly assisted by the Azerbaijani and Kurdish population of northern Iran. The third way is through Azerbaijan and the Caucasus which lies through the Turkmen seaport after Turkmenbashi, in Baku. Here the drugs are easily smuggled into Russia.
In September 2010, the Deputy Prosecutor General of Azerbaijan Rustam Usubov said that through the territory of Azerbaijan carried about 35% of the drugs illegally produced in Afghanistan.
Moreover, the telegram to former U.S. Ambassador to Azerbaijan Anne Derse, which was published by the WikiLeaks, read that the drug mafia in Russia is largely controlled by ethnic Azerbaijanis.
Source: Panorama.am