During the first six months of 2007, the amount of contraband goods seized in South Kazakhstan Region on border with Uzbekistan is five times more than it was in the same period last year, Interfax-Kazakhstan reported.

A deputy commander of the "Ontustyk" regional command of frontier service of the Kazakh National Security Committee, Erik Roslyakov, told Interfax-Kazakhstan news agency today that during the first six months of this year servicemen at the Saryagash frontier post "averted 586 cases of smuggling contraband goods worth 101,449m tenge, whereas during the same period last year it was 168 cases worth 19.380m tenge.

The current rate is 121.62 tenge for one dollar.

The Saryagash frontier post controls the border of South Kazakhstan Region with Uzbekistan.

Besides this, in January-June this year 3,631 violators were detained on the border between South Kazakhstan Region and Uzbekistan against 2,168 in the same period last year.