DUSAHNBE, April 14, Asia-Plus - Two residents of the northern district of Zafarobod district, Rohat Nosirova and Shavkat Qaraboyev, have been arrested in the northern province of Sughd for pushing banned chemical substance DDT (also known as “doust”), which before the Seventies had been used for killing rodents.  

Parviz Sheraliyev, head of the contraband-prevention department of the Ministry of State Revenues and Tax Collections, told Asia-Plus this today.   According to him, 159 sack of this substance totaling 5,540 kilograms were found in the house of Rohat Nosirova and 145 sacks of DDT totaling 5,490 kilograms were found in the house of Shavkat Qaraboyev.  

They face charges under two articles of Tajikistan ’s Criminal Code: Article 206 (trafficking in toxic substances for the purpose of sale) and Article 289 (contraband).  

According to Sheraliyev, the detainees purchased this toxic substance from Uzbekistan .   

More than 10 tons of this substance were confiscated in northern Tajikistan last year, according to Sheraliyev.