Drug channel from Kyrgyzstan cut in Siberia

TOMSK - The Tomsk and Novosibirsk regional drug control services have crushed a heroin channel from Kyrgyzstan, the Tomsk regional drug control chief Igor Tolstonosov said.

About 3 kilograms of heroin have been seized, valued at several million rubles on the black market, he said at a press conference at Interfax's Tomsk press center.

"Three kilograms is a large amount. A bigger batch of drugs has never been seized in the region before. It is sufficient to make up to 50 kilograms of ready-to-use drugs, or 500,000 doses, and sell them to retail buyers," Tolstonosov said.

The channel was being monitored for several months. The organizer and his accessory from Novosibirsk traveled to Kyrgyzstan and reached a deal with local drug barons for the purchase and delivery of drugs to Russia. The two received the drugs when they returned to Novosibirsk and took a taxi to travel to the Tomsk region.

The group was led by an unemployed native of a North Caucasus republic, 49, with a criminal record, convicted previously for property offenses and for illegally possessing weapons. His accessory, 50, had a criminal record, too.

Both stand accused of illegally transporting a large batch of drugs which may be re-qualified into "organized and large-scale drug smuggling."

The Tomsk regional drug control service has seized 11 kilograms of heroin over the past seven months, 1.5 times more than in January to July 2011.