A 36-year-old resident of the Bobojon-Ghafourov district has been arrested on suspicion of involvement in mercury smuggling, according to the Interior Ministry’s website. 

He is reportedly charged with smuggling heavy or toxic substances.

The man was detained in the Galamaidon area of the Bobojon-Ghafourov district on April 11 and a glass container of a silvery-white liquid that tested positive to mercury weighing 1.167 kilogram was confiscated from him.  

Criminal proceedings have been instituted against him under the provisions of Article 206 (3) of Tajikistan’s Penal Code – violation of the rules of circulation of narcotic drugs, psychotropic substances and precursors; an investigation is under way.