Customs and border officers from the UNODC-supported Border Liaison Office in Uzbekistan intercept a shipment of around 230 kilograms of heroin

Interagency cooperation, intelligence-sharing and information exchange among law enforcement agencies in Central Asian countries play a key role in countering drug trafficking. UNODC has been concentrating its efforts on supporting the vulnerable border areas against the trafficking of Afghan opiates through strengthening the border crossing points and establishing the working intelligence-sharing and enhanced cross-border communication mechanisms allowing detection and interception of contraband, including narcotic drugs, psychotropic substances and precursor chemicals.

On 15 February 2022, customs and border officers from the UNODC-supported Border Liaison Office (BLO) at the Oybek border crossing point (BCP) located in the Tashkent region of Uzbekistan intercepted a shipment of around 230 kilograms of heroin.

During the inspection of the truck trailer, the officers found 232 packages hidden in cotton fiber bales the contents of which tested positive for the presence of heroin. The packages contained a total of 229 kg 719 grams of heroin.

The average price for the seized drugs on the black market in Europe is $US 12-14 million.

That was the second large drug seizure in the last six months at the Oybek BCP. In November 2021, BLO officers there seized around 156 kg of narcotic drugs – 149.76 kg of hashish, 4.44 kg of opium and 1.52 kg of heroin.

BLO at the Oybek BCP was established in 2014 and is one of 19 BLOs in the Central Asian region established at the key border crossing points under the Initiative on Enhancing the Cross-Border Law Enforcement Cooperation (Cross-Border Cooperation Initiative) of Sub-programme 1 “Countering transnational organized crime, illicit drug trafficking and preventing terrorism” of the UNODC Programme for Central Asia. It is the first project to establish BLOs in Central Asia, and its stakeholders are the Ministries of Internal Affairs, Border Troops, Customs and Drug Control Agencies of each country.

The Cross-Border Cooperation Initiative strengthens the capacities of officers working at the BLOs representing all law enforcement agencies in countering transnational organized crime, including through various training programmes in Uzbekistan and other Central Asian countries. In 2020-2021 alone, 114 law enforcement officers in Uzbekistan enhanced their capacities on risk profiling, planning and implementation of joint operational activities on the border, vehicle, luggage, cargo and goods inspection at state border checkpoints, drug interdiction and information-sharing through attending a series of trainings organized under the initiative.

The initiative is funded by the Government of Japan.

 

*Photos are taken from the website of the State Customs Committee of the Republic of Uzbekistan.

 

For further information, please contact:

 

Nurangez Abdulhamidova

Communication and External Relations Officer

UNODC Regional Office for Central Asia (Dushanbe)

Email: nurangez.abdulhamidova[at]un.org