Tashkent, Uzbekistan (UzDaily.com) — Employees of the State Security Service (SSS) of the Surkhandarya region, in cooperation with law enforcement agencies, conducted an operational action during which a previously convicted resident of the Sariasiy district, born in 1977, was detained.

The man attempted to conceal 82 kg 478 g of opium that Tajik drug traffickers had stashed in the Uzun district. He used a non-residential premises belonging to one of the local farming enterprises for this purpose.

During the investigation, it emerged that the detainee was acting on the instructions of a drug dealer from Tajikistan and had planned to transport the prohibited substance to the designated location in exchange for 2,000 US dollars.

In another operation carried out by the SSS and the Ministry of Internal Affairs in the Kasansay district of the Namangan region, a citizen born in 2001, involved in distributing synthetic drugs via so-called “stashes,” was detained.

A search revealed that he had established a drug laboratory in his mother-in-law’s house. As a result of the investigative actions, 9 kg 450 g of mephedrone was seized, along with 595 g of the substance already packaged for sale.

Another incident was recorded in Tashkent, where law enforcement authorities detained two natives of the Kashkadarya region, born in 2001 and 2002. They had received, via international postal shipment from Russia, 7 kg 313 g of the synthetic cannabinoid “5-Fluro-ADB,” which had been hidden in plastic containers and disguised as another commodity.

According to the investigation, the detainees acted on the instructions of an anonymous curator from the WhatsApp messenger, who ordered them to transport the prohibited substance from Tashkent to the Samarkand region. They were promised 500 US dollars for completing the task.

The operational actions continued, and in the Samarkand region, at the time of receiving a batch of narcotics, two additional citizens residing in the Pastdargom district were detained. During a search of one of their apartments in Samarkand, an underground laboratory for the production of synthetic drugs was discovered.

Criminal cases have been initiated on all identified facts in accordance with the Criminal Code of the Republic of Uzbekistan, and the suspects have been detained pending further investigation. The investigative actions are ongoing.