The story of a large heroin shipment (2.8 tons to be exact) that miraculously crossed the border from Azerbaijan to Georgia took the Azerbaijani authorities by surprise. It was kept quiet despite numerous reports and no official statements were made on the possibility of such large shipment crossing the border.
However, according to Yeni Musavat paper as reported on
Democracy and Freedom Watch,
four customs employees who were on duty on Astara check-point were fired on August 30. There are speculations that more employees will be fired as the investigation goes on.
On July 11, during an operation conducted at the Georgian border, 93 barrels each carrying 30kg of heroin were prevented from entering the country (the shipment was en route to Turkey). In addition two Georgian nationals were arrested.
The operation was described as perhaps largest heroin seizure in European history as the shipment was much bigger than the seizure in Greece which took place earlier this year reports Democracy and Freedom Watch.
