BLO Office Assists in Seizing up 15 kg of Heroin on Uzbek-Tajik Border

Tashkent, 1 June 2018 - With support of the BLO office located at "Oybek" border-crossing point (BCP), the State Customs Committee of the Republic of Uzbekistan and the State Border Guard Committee of the State Security Service of the Republic of Uzbekistan seized 14.9 kg of heroin at "Bekabad" railway BCP between Uzbekistan and Tajikistan located in Tashkent region of the Republic of Uzbekistan.

The illicit substance was discovered during the check of the transit freight train which arrived from Tajikistan. Packed in 15 plastic bags, heroin was hidden in metal boxes at the bottom of one of the railway cars. The officers of State Border Guard Committee serving at the abovementioned BLO inspected the train and detected the illicit drug.

As a result, a criminal case was initiated under the Part 2 of Article 246 of the Criminal Code of the Republic of Uzbekistan - smuggling of nuclear, chemical, biological and other types of weapons of mass destruction and radioactive materials and equipment that can be used in its creation, as well as narcotic drugs or psychotropic substances on a large scale.

The BLO at the "Oybek" BCP is one of the 13 Border Liaison Offices deployed on the borders of Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan within the framework of the «Countering the trafficking of Afghan opiates via the northern route by enhancing the capacity of key border crossing points (BCPs) and through the establishment of Border Liaison Offices (BLOs)» component of the Programme for Central Asia 2015-2019, which is funded by the Government of Japan and the International Narcotics and Law Enforce­ment Affairs of the U.S. Department of State (INL).

According to the Afghan Opium Survey 2017, opium cultivation in Afghanistan  reached a record high with an estimated 328,000 hectares, up 63 per cent compared with 201,000 hectares in 2016. The situation creates multiple challenges for the country, its neighbours and the many other countries that are transit for or destination of Afghan opiates. 

The Central Asian region has more than 2,000 km of shared borders with Afghanistan. Uzbekistan is located in the heart of Central Asia, and borders with all other Central Asian states. This fact makes the country one of the key actors in combatting illicit drug trafficking and preventing terrorism.

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For more information

Please, contact Ms. Yevgeniya Arkhipova,

Programme Associate, UNODC Regional Office for Central Asia

Tel: +998(71) 120-80-50

E-mail: yevgeniya.arkhipova[at]un.org