Youth detained for organizing drug laboratory in Tashkent (video)

A group of young people who used a rented apartment as a drug laboratory have been detained in Tashkent. The State Security Service reported this.

According to the information, during operational measures, law enforcement officers detained a resident of Yashnobod district, born in 1999, who had previously been convicted under Article 276 of the Criminal Code (illegal preparation, possession, storage, and other actions involving narcotic drugs, their analogues, or psychotropic substances without intent to distribute), as well as a resident of Qibray district in Tashkent region, born in 2006. As material evidence, officers seized 507 tablets of the potent drug Pregabalin and 52 units of Tropicamide.

The operation was then continued, and the rented apartment used by the suspects was searched in the presence of witnesses. As a result, it was established that a drug laboratory had been set up at the premises. During the search, officers officially documented the seizure of 4.326 kilograms of powdered Pregabalin, 200 grams of Tropicamide, as well as 71 kilograms of chemical substances used in the preparation of potent drugs, along with vials and capsules intended for packaging.

As the suspects were detained immediately after establishing the drug laboratory, they did not manage to sell the illicitly manufactured potent substances. As a result, the distribution of 208,000 single-use doses among the population was prevented.

Criminal proceedings have been initiated against the suspects under Article 251¹, Part 5 of the Criminal Code (illegal production, manufacture, acquisition, transfer, storage, or other actions involving bacteriological, chemical, or other types of weapons of mass destruction). A preventive measure in the form of detention has been applied. Under the law, individuals convicted of such illegal actions face between seven and ten years of imprisonment.

It is worth noting that earlier reports stated that individuals selling narcotics via Telegram had also been detained.