Afghani heroin shipment shot down in Tajikistan

August 27, 2005 On August 22, Tajikistan border guards spotted and shot down a home-made aircraft carrying heroin, on route from Afghanistan.

Tajik officials say that the piloted paraplane was transporting 18 kilograms of heroin above their southeast border. Border guards launched a search operation to find the pilot, believed to be wounded.

The deputy head of Tajik's border troops, Sabza Sarkorov, said to the media that this was actually the first narcotics interception of its kind. Smugglers have used paraplanes to move drugs across the border for three years. Earlier attempts to bring them down have been unsuccessful until now.

The country is a prime route for illegal drugs from Afghanistan, which is the world's top opium producer.