Police discover huge drug batch in Bashkortostan

Police discovered more than 36 kg of heroin and nearly 700 kg of opium in Bashkortostan, an autonomous republic in the South Urals region, a source in the republican interior ministry told RIA Novosti by phone.

18 metal containers replete with 36.350 kg of heroin and 696 kg of unprocessed opium were discovered on May 14 in the republic's Tuimazy district near an overturned KAMAZ truck lying on the curb, RIA Novosti's interlocutor noted.

In his words, law enforcement officers are now trying to locate the drug seller. The overturned truck's driver, who is a Kazakh citizen, was detained by policemen from the organized crime department together with the Bashkir interior ministry's crime-investigation department. The police are now searching for the second culprit, who was staying inside the truck.