He said a Tajik man and a woman from Kazakhstan had been arrested on suspicion of drug offenses.

"They were in possession of 20 packets containing a white substance, prompt analysis confirmed it was heroin with a total weight of 9.5 kg," the source said.

The Tajik man said he had agreed to take the drugs to the Uzbek capital in an attempt to try and clear his overwhelming debts.

"With regard to the woman, she was promised US$1,000 to deliver part of the drugs from Tajikistan," he said.

Tajikistan is a major smuggling route for heroin from neighboring Afghanistan, the world’s largest heroin producer.