Individuals attempting to smuggle 5 billion soums worth of foreign currency to Tajikistan detained (video)

A large amount of foreign currency was prevented from being illegally transported to Tajikistan in Tashkent region, according to the State Security Service.

The report states that, in cooperation with the Customs Department, officers from the regional branch of the State Security Service in Tashkent conducted a special operation to prevent the illegal export of foreign currency through the “Farhod” border customs post located in Bekabad city.

During the operation, it was discovered that a resident of Bekabad, born in 1991, had divided 18,680,300 Russian rubles, 140,700 Tajik somoni, and 180,000,000 Uzbek soums into parts and distributed them among 34 couriers, who were tasked with smuggling the money into Tajikistan.

The couriers were detained at the “Farhod” border customs post while attempting to cross the border with the funds in exchange for financial compensation. The incident was officially documented.

Additionally, during the operation, officers inspected the suspect’s *Trecker* vehicle near the border post and found 13,538,305 Russian rubles, 24,107 Tajik somoni, 885 euros, 300 US dollars, 300 Chinese yuan, 6,840 Kyrgyz som, and 10,207,000 Uzbek soums — all packed and prepared for smuggling into Tajikistan. The cash was seized as material evidence.

The total amount of seized funds is equivalent to more than 5.2 billion soums.

A criminal case has been opened against the Bekabad resident under Article 182, Part 2, Clause “a” of the Criminal Code (Violation of Customs Legislation), and he has been placed in custody. The investigation is ongoing to identify the true owners of the confiscated currency.