Drug traffickers, including family members, detained in Surkhandarya, Fergana and Tashkent

About 80 kilograms of narcotics smuggled from Russia, Tajikistan, and Afghanistan were seized, the State Security Service reported.

In the Uzun district of Surkhandarya region, two citizens born in 2005 and 2006 were detained for attempting to smuggle 20 kilograms 374 grams of opium and 41 kilograms 668 grams of hashish from Tajikistan.

The investigation was expanded, and their accomplice, a young man born in 2004, along with another individual born in 2000 from Denov district, who had ordered the drugs, were also detained.

In another operation in the Tashkent region, the luggage of a citizen born in 1991 from the Tashlak district of Fergana, who had arrived via Kazakhstan, was inspected. Authorities discovered 7 kilograms 902 grams of mephedrone concealed in a marble slab. The investigation revealed that the suspect was instructed via a Telegram bot to purchase the drugs from an unidentified person in Moscow and transport them to Uzbekistan. At the next stage, the customer, a Bekabad district resident born in 1985, was also detained.

Further search operations in the Fergana and Surkhandarya regions uncovered attempts by individuals to purchase narcotics from Afghan traffickers for resale in the domestic market. In particular, a woman born in 1964, a resident of Kokand, and her son born in 1993, who had previously been convicted of drug trafficking, were detained. A total of 5 kilograms 878 grams of opium and 3 kilograms 922 grams of hashish were seized from them.

In total, 79 kilograms 744 grams of narcotic substances imported from abroad were confiscated during the operations.

Criminal cases have been opened against all suspects under Articles 246 (smuggling) and 273 (illegal preparation, acquisition, storage, and trafficking of narcotic drugs, their analogues, or psychotropic substances) of the Criminal Code. All detainees have been placed under arrest, and investigative measures are ongoing.

It is worth noting that earlier, more than 22 kilograms of narcotic substances were confiscated during operations in Surkhandarya, Fergana, Namangan, and Syrdarya regions.