BUDAPEST, Nov. 13 (Xinhua) -- A large amount of heroin has been seized thanks to cooperation between Hungarian and Slovenian authorities, the Hungarian news agency MTI reported on Wednesday.

According to the report, law enforcers of the two countries held a joint press conference in Nagykanizsa, some 200 km southwest of Budapest.

Zoltan Boross, head of the Department of International Crime at the National Bureau of Investigation of Hungary, said that Slovenian authorities discovered a container en route to Hungary in Koper, a port city in Slovenia, containing 730 kg of pure heroin.

"The drug had been hidden in foil rolls and was discovered during customs controls," said Boross.

On the black market, the value of the shipment amounts to about 17.5 billion forints (57.4 million U.S. dollars), according to Boross.

For the sake of the investigation, the authorities of the two countries allowed one-tenth of the shipment to go to Budapest under controlled conditions. The shipment arrived at the Hungarian site on Nov. 5, where a man named Richard K. unpacked the foil rolls and placed them in a rented warehouse.

Members of the Hungarian Counter-Terrorism Center arrested the man at 9 p.m. on the same day. (1 USD= 304.09 Hungarian forints) Enditem