Tajik guards detain two Afghan drug traffickers

Tajik border guards detained two Afghan drug traffickers, seizing thus more than 45 kilograms of heroin, the border protection service said on Tuesday.

It said the alleged drug smugglers were detained in the past week in the Farkhor district along the Tajik-Afghan border.

Also on Tuesday, the U.S. Embassy said it signed a deal with the Tajik government to provide it with US$9 million in aid to boost border security.

The ex-Soviet republic in Central Asia is a major route for narcotics traffickers from Afghanistan.

Western countries have increased border control assistance to Tajikistan due to the scheduled withdrawal of Russian troops this year, which raised grave concerns about a possible spike in drug smuggling from Afghanistan, the AP reports.