Uzbekistan Arrests 14 Members of Transnational Drug Network

Tashkent, Uzbekistan (UzDaily.uz) — Fourteen alleged members of a transnational criminal organization involved in drug trafficking have been detained in Tashkent and abroad as part of a series of operational measures, Uzbekistan’s Interior Ministry said.

Authorities seized 2.5 kg of the synthetic drug Alpha-PVP from the detainees in accordance with procedural requirements. The amount is equivalent to 71,433 individual doses.

The operation was carried out by officers of the Interior Ministry’s Department of Operational Search Activities and its territorial divisions in cooperation with the State Security Service, the Customs Committee and law enforcement agencies in foreign countries.

The measures were conducted along six lines of investigation in Tashkent’s Chilanzar, Yunusabad, Yangihayot, Bektemir and Mirzo-Ulugbek districts, as well as other areas of the city.

As part of one operation, law enforcement officers established that a third-year university student born in 2005 was allegedly working as a stashman for an online drug store. The Onix car he was driving was stopped at a checkpoint in Yangihayot district. A search of the vehicle found 500 grams of Alpha-PVP inside the passenger compartment.

Further operational measures established the detainee’s links to other members of the same organized drug network. Another alleged stashman for the online drug store was detained in Bektemir district.

In Mirzo-Ulugbek district, law enforcement officers detained a second-year student born in 2007. He was found carrying 263 grams of Alpha-PVP concealed as baby powder. Investigators said he also worked as a stashman for the online drug store.

The detentions continued in Yangihayot district, where stashmen born in 2006, 2004, 2002 and 1987 were identified and detained. According to the Interior Ministry, they traveled to locations designated by the online drug store’s curator and collected synthetic drugs from hidden caches.

As part of the international operation, law enforcement agencies identified one of the leaders of the transnational criminal organization who had been hiding outside Uzbekistan. He was detained by law enforcement authorities in the relevant country.

A total of 14 members of the organization were detained as a result of the operation. They allegedly performed different functions and occupied different levels within the network.

Criminal cases have been opened against all the detainees under Part 6 of Article 273 of Uzbekistan’s Criminal Code. They have been remanded in custody as a preventive measure.

In video footage released by the Interior Ministry, one of the detainees also spoke about pressure allegedly exerted on members of the drug network. He claimed that participants could be threatened with physical violence and that people could be sent to beat them. These allegations are presented in the transcript solely as statements by the detainee and have not been independently confirmed.

The Interior Ministry said that identifying each address, detaining each participant and seizing drugs are regarded as results of efforts to combat illicit drug trafficking and protect the lives and safety of society.