DUSHANBE, March 9, 2011, Asia-Plus –  Kyrgyz customs officers have impounded a Tajik truck carrying a hidden stash of technical alcohol, RFE/RL''s Kyrgyz Service reports.

Kyrgyz customs service spokesman Abdylda Maldybayev told RFE/RL the incident took place at the Kadamjai checkpoint on the Kyrgyz-Tajik border in the southern Batken region on March 7.

Maldybayev said the truck was loaded with coal and was on its way from Tajikistan to Kyrgyzstan.  When customs officers checked the truck''s load they found five tons of technical alcohol in glass bottles hidden under the coal.

Local officials have launched an investigation into the "illegal import of alcohol" into Kyrgyzstan.