A resident of Surkhandarya region (bordering Afghanistan and Tajikistan) was detained with a large batch of heroin weighing 12 kg in total, during the inspection at a border checkpoint.

During a preliminary investigation, the detainee, who was a private taxi driver, said he did not know the content of his freight.

According to him, he accidentally became acquainted with a Tajik woman in the border town of Denov, and she asked him to take the honey to her friends in Tashkent.

"The girl was pretty, and I wanted to know her better. Therefore, I agreed to deliver the honey to Tashkent. I found out that there was heroin in polythene bags only after custom officers checked the freight in my car," he said.

Criminal proceedings have been launched into the case, and the investigation is under way.