Nearly 61 criminal gangs detained in Uzbekistan in five months

Uzbekistan detained 61 organized criminal groups during operational measures conducted in the first five months of this year, the Ministry of Internal Affairs reported.

According to the ministry, law enforcement agencies identified 4,325 criminal cases related to organized crime during operational and preventive measures carried out from January to May to improve the crime situation. A total of 195 criminal groups were identified, and the illegal activities of 61 organized criminal groups were stopped.

During the five-month operations, authorities identified 244 cases of extortion, 459 cases related to illegal weapons, 48 robberies, 170 cases involving the organization of gambling houses, 89 cases of human trafficking, 181 cases of spreading HIV infection, 959 cases of maintaining brothels and 3,607 other criminal cases. In addition, 1,334 wanted persons were detained.

The ministry said 459 criminal cases related to weapons were opened as part of efforts to combat organized crime. As a result, 541 weapons were seized and documented. Authorities confiscated 236 smoothbore firearms, 252 pneumatic weapons, 50 homemade weapons, 7,441 rounds of ammunition and 4,126 grams of explosives as physical evidence.

During the operations, 8,653 cold weapons were also seized. These included 284 clubs, 222 brass knuckles, 7,137 sharp-edged objects and 1,010 other types of cold weapons. As a result of awareness-raising measures, 842 various weapons were voluntarily handed over.

Earlier, it was reported that more than 18,000 poppy and cannabis plants had been identified and destroyed during an operation conducted with the help of a helicopter in Fergana, Andijan and Tashkent regions.