ASHGABAT, Turkmenistan — Turkmenistan's drug control agency destroyed 635 kilograms of illicit narcotics intercepted on its borders with Afghanistan and Iran on Tuesday.
Representatives of diplomatic missions and international organizations attended the ceremonial incineration, which takes place twice a year.
The drugs destroyed consisted mainly of opium but also included heroin and hashish.
President Gurbanguly Berdymukhammedov has stepped up the government's fight against drug trafficking since he came to power in late 2006.
Although little independent information is available in this closed former Soviet nation, there is anecdotal evidence that local heroin use has fallen sharply in recent years.
(AP)
