Uzbekistan's customs officials have announced the seizure of a large shipment of narcotics weighing over 52 kilograms that was being smuggled from Afghanistan into the country. The bust was made on October 1 at the "Ayritom" border crossing in the Surkhandarya region.
According to a statement from the State Customs Committee of Uzbekistan, the incident occurred around 10:30 PM local time. Customs officers became suspicious of a cargo truck that had entered Uzbekistan from Afghanistan. The truck, which appeared to be empty, was driven by a 34-year-old Uzbek citizen from the Termez district.
During the initial inspection, the reaction of a drug-sniffing dog heightened the officers' suspicions, prompting them to send the vehicle for a more detailed examination. As a result of the thorough search, officers discovered 98 packages of narcotics that had been skillfully concealed in various parts of the truck.
To deceive scanning and X-ray equipment, the smugglers had wrapped the packages in four layers of plastic, foil, and adhesive tape, making them difficult to detect.
Subsequent laboratory tests confirmed that the shipment contained 79 packages of hashish, weighing a total of 42.335 kilograms, and 19 packages of opium, weighing 10.260 kilograms. The total weight of the seized drugs was declared to be 52.595 kilograms.
Uzbek authorities emphasized that this is not an isolated incident. In recent months, the country's security forces have intercepted several large drug shipments smuggled from Afghanistan. Notably, this includes the recent seizure of a nearly 600-kilogram drug shipment in the Surkhandarya region.
Afghanistan remains one of the world's largest producers of narcotics, and drug trafficking across its shared borders poses a significant security challenge for neighboring countries, including Uzbekistan.
Source: Uzbekistan Customs Committee
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