Tashkent, Uzbekistan (UzDaily.com) — In Surkhandarya region, officers of Uzbekistan’s Customs Committee and State Security Service thwarted an attempt to smuggle a large batch of narcotics into the country.

On 9 February, at the Ayritom customs checkpoint on the border with Afghanistan, law enforcement officers stopped a truck transiting through Uzbekistan for inspection. Their attention was drawn to its cargo—13.5 tons of brooms.

To conduct a thorough examination, the vehicle was sent to the customs warehouse at Termez checkpoint, adjacent to Ayritom, where a full inspection was carried out.

According to officials, the truck was carrying 22,500 household brooms, packed in 180 sacks. Upon closer inspection, it was discovered that 2,986 broom handles concealed carefully wrapped plastic packages approximately 25 cm long, sealed with yellow tape matching the material of the handles.

When the packages were opened in the presence of witnesses, each was found to contain an average of 200 grams of a dark brown substance with a distinctive odor. A rapid test confirmed it to be hashish. The total weight of the seized contraband amounted to 612 kg, with an estimated black-market value exceeding US$16.5 million.

A pre-investigation inquiry into the case is currently underway.