Pakistanis among suspects held in huge Tanzania heroin haul

Four Pakistanis and eight Iranians were arrested with 200kg of heroin recovered.

Tanzanian anti-narcotics police have arrested eight Iranians and four Pakistanis during a drug bust in which 200 kilogrammes of heroin was recovered off the east African nation's coast, a spokesperson said Wednesday.

The haul, which in Europe would have a street value of up to €10 million euros, is the latest in a string of major seizures of the narcotic – which is mostly produced in Afghanistan – amid fears that east Africa could be emerging as a key narcotics transit point.

"The suspects were arrested in the early hours of Tuesday on a dhow that was sailing from the island of Zanzibar to the commercial capital Dar es Salaam," Tanzanian police spokesperson Godfrey Nzowa told AFP.

"They are being held for questioning and necessary legal action will follow," he added.

At least four large hauls of heroin – amounting to 1.5 tons in all – have been made in Tanzanian waters in the past year by a Canadian warship that patrols there, according to Canadian media.