Kyrgyz customs officials have shut down a pipeline that had been used to apparently pump thousands of litres of vodka from Kazakhstan to Kyrgyzstan under a river, Kyrgyz police say, according to the Akipress news agency.
The 20-centimetre-thick, half-kilometre-long pipe had been laid beneath the border river Chu, said the police official from the northern Kyrgyz city of Tokmok.
It was equipped with multiple valves and lay on a track along the river's bottom.
"We assume that thousands of litres of alcohol were smuggled with it, primarily vodka," said the police officer.
It is believed the alcohol was smuggled this way for months.
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The pipe was discovered during a routine inspection.
No arrests have yet been made.
