Uzbekistan's State Security Service (SSS) and Interior Ministry have thwarted a major drug smuggling operation from Afghanistan, seizing over 37.6 kilograms of narcotics in the Surkhandarya region during a joint special operation.

According to the SSS press service, operatives received intelligence about an impending drug shipment from Afghanistan. Law enforcement tracked the smugglers' entire route, leading to the arrest of two local residents, aged 36 and 28, in Samarkand as they received the illicit cargo. The shipment—25.4 kilograms of opium and 11.9 kilograms of hashish—was delivered by two foreign couriers, aged 32 and 30.

In a separate operation, SSS jointly with border troops, the Interior Ministry, and customs authorities detained two Afghan citizens, aged 70 and 24, at the Termez International Trade Center. They were attempting to sell 1.8 kilograms of opium for $5,000.

Investigators revealed that the suspects attempted to smuggle the drugs across the border by concealing them inside their bodies, using their internal organs as "living containers."

Criminal cases have been opened on charges of smuggling and illegal drug trafficking. All detainees have been remanded in custody. The investigation is ongoing.

Earlier, in the Samarkand region, two female smugglers were arrested for using their bodies as "living containers" to transport drugs, with 796 grams of opium seized.

Source: podrobno.uz