Traffic officers discovered 34 plastic bags containing heroin, stashed in a car trunk, RIA Novosti reported.

"They [the drug couriers] admitted receiving a large batch of heroin from Tajik nationals," the source said.

A criminal case has been launched and an investigation is underway.

Drug traffickers use secret mountain roads bordering Afghanistan, Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan to smuggle drugs into the country and then couriers deliver the drugs to Russia and onto Europe.

Uzbekistan’s interior ministry said it had solved 9,435 drug-related crimes in 2007, up 601 from 2006. A total of 2.1 metric tons of drugs, including 480 kg of heroin and 731 kg of raw opium were seized in the country last year.