Major Heroin Trafficking Channel Dismantled in Samarkand and Namangan Regions

Tashkent, Uzbekistan (UzDaily.com) — Law enforcement authorities in the Samarkand and Namangan regions have disrupted several attempts at illegal drug trafficking and uncovered distribution channels operating via the Internet.

During operational measures, a previously convicted man born in 1983 was detained while attempting to sell 1 kg of heroin to an accomplice for US$38,000. Experts estimated that the intercepted shipment could have yielded over 100,000 individual doses.

In a separate case, a resident of the Buvayda district in Fergana region sold drugs to an undercover operative for US$18,500. He had left a package in the Andijan district and provided the buyer with its location via Telegram.

During the investigation, authorities seized both the money and the substance. Laboratory analysis by the Expert-Criminalistics Center of the Namangan Regional Internal Affairs Department confirmed that the material was heroin (monoacetylmorphine and diacetylmorphine) weighing 1 kg 23 g, equivalent to approximately 5,000 doses.

A criminal case has been opened under Part 5 of Article 273 of the Criminal Code of the Republic of Uzbekistan (“Illegal production, acquisition, storage, and other actions with narcotic drugs for the purpose of sale, as well as their sale”).

The suspects are currently in custody.