Police have seized 1.5 kilograms of heroin from a Tajik national in the town of Lyubertsy southeast of Moscow

Police have seized 1.5 kilograms of heroin from a Tajik national in the town of Lyubertsy southeast of Moscow, a Moscow Region police spokesman said on Sunday. The narcotics were discovered in a hiding place in an apartment rented by an unemployed Tajik national, the spokesman said. Most of the heroin and hashish coming into Russia originates in Afghanistan and is then trafficked into the country through the former Soviet republics of Tajikistan and Uzbekistan. Most of the drugs are then sold in Russia's largest cities, or shipped onto Europe. The Federal Drugs Control Service said earlier that Russian drug control officers have seized some 500 kg (1,100 lbs) of heroin since the beginning of the year, up 70% year-on-year.