Georgia uncovers major heroin shipment bound for Europe

TBILISI: Georgian police seized nearly 300 kilograms of heroin hidden in a truck crossing from Armenia, the interior ministry said on Wednesday -- the country´s largest drug-trafficking bust in a decade.

The truck was bound for Europe via the Black Sea port city of Batumi, according to the ministry statement.

“The heroin with a street value of some 85 million lari (around $30 million) was found packed in plastic containers disguised as fireproof bricks,” the ministry said.

The Georgian citizen arrested on charges of purchasing, possessing and importing large quantities of narcotics faces life imprisonment.

The ministry described the case as an “international drug trafficking of unprecedented scale uncovered in Georgia”.

In 2014, authorities had seized 2.79 tonnes of liquid heroin worth around $400 million.

It said at the time that the drugs haul belonged to the Taliban and was headed for Europe.

Nestled between the Caucasus mountains and the Black Sea, Georgia sits on a key drug trafficking route from Afghanistan to Europe, with drugs transiting via Iran and the South Caucasus toward Russia, Turkey or western Europe.