73 kg of hashish seized from Opel Astra in Dushanbe
Police in Dushanbe stopped an Opel Astra on 30 March 2013 and seized 73 kg of hashish from its boot, detaining the driver and a passenger. Investigators said the pair had bought the hashish from an Afghan citizen to sell it and identified two further alleged group members.
🇹🇯 Dushanbe · Tajikistan
Arrested
2
Cannabis
73 kg
Agencies
Ministry of Internal Affairs of Tajikistan, Transport Police Directorate of the Ministry of Internal Affairs
On 30 March, police stopped an Opel Astra in Dushanbe during an operation and
detained the two people inside.[1]The driver was a 40-year-old resident of
Farkhor and the passenger was a 55-year-old resident of Kurgan-Tyube.[2]
A search of the car’s boot uncovered 73 kg of hashish, described as an
especially large consignment.[3]Police said the two detained men were
suspected of trafficking Afghan drugs to Russia and other CIS countries.[3]Investigators established that the two had bought the consignment from a
32-year-old Afghan citizen in order to sell it.[1]Two other alleged group
members were identified as a 55-year-old Kurgan-Tyube resident and a 48-year-old
resident of Khuroson district who sold drugs.[1]
The operation was carried out by the Transport Police Directorate of
Tajikistan’s Interior Ministry acting on operational information.[2]A
criminal case was opened and investigative measures were under way.[2]Tajikistan lies on a transit route for Afghan drugs moving to Russia and onward
to Eastern and Western Europe.[3]
Case data
Every number and detail the sources state, with the sources that state it.
Arrested
2
Cannabis
73 kg
Agencies
Ministry of Internal Affairs of Tajikistan; Transport Police Directorate of the Ministry of Internal Affairs
TopTJ.comtoptj.comRUВ Душанбе предотвращена деятельность наркогруппировки, изъято 73 кг гашиша
Interfaxinterfax.ruRUВ Душанбе обезврежена наркогруппировка, изъято более 70 кг гашиша
Open questions the AI reported
Interfax also says an Afghan citizen and two more Tajik citizens were detained in hot pursuit, which could imply up to five detentions; the other accounts confirm only the two people in the car as detained, so two is recorded.
Khovar gives the amount as about 73 kg of drugs and then as 73 kg of hashish, so the weight is treated as a reported 73 kg rather than an exact laboratory figure.
No charge article, custody ruling, plea or court outcome was reported; the case was at the investigation stage.
The 5,978 kg national seizure total for 2012 mentioned by Interfax concerns a different statistic and is not counted here.
No value estimate, packaging count or laboratory confirmation was published.
The head of Tajikistan's Drug Control Agency said about 2,742 kg of narcotics were seized along the border with Afghanistan in 2025, and the authorities said trafficking from Afghanistan had risen by nearly half over 2024.
Tajik officers detained a suspected transnational-group courier in the Panjob border zone of Hamadoni district and seized drugs from the boot of his Opel car. Forensic tests put the cannabis part at 79.722 kg of hashish within a 90.557 kg mixed haul, and a criminal case was opened.
Tajikistan's security service and border troops stopped a drug consignment at the Panjob outpost in Mir Said Ali Hamadoni district and detained five people, four Tajik citizens and one Afghan. The forensic department put the haul at 148 kg 129 g of hashish and 30 kg 333 g of opium, and criminal cases were opened.
Police stopped three men transporting 16 kg of hashish and opium into Dushanbe and opened a case under part 4 of Article 200, the especially-large supply offence. The men were held in custody while police looked for their supply chain. The offence carries 12–20 years in prison.
