On 27 September 2025, local police in Uzbekistan’s Bukhara region detained four people.[1] Two of those detained were citizens of Turkmenistan.[1] The two Turkmen citizens were a 35-year-old man from Lebap velayat and a 36-year-old man from Dashoguz.[1] The other two detained people were a citizen of Kyrgyzstan and a citizen of Uzbekistan.[1]
Officers seized 12 kilograms of Afghan-produced hashish in the detention.[1] The two Turkmen men had traded for several years, bringing Uzbek-made bowls, teapots and other ceramic goods from Uzbekistan, holding private-entrepreneur licences and receiving Uzbek multivisas.[1] After establishing contacts, they attempted to expand the business through drug smuggling before being detained.[1]
Uzbekistan’s State Security Service informed Turkmenistan’s embassy in Tashkent about the detention of the Turkmen citizens and the opening of a criminal case against them.[1] A free-trade regime between the two countries had entered into force in February of that year.[1] After easier access to Uzbek visas increased travel by Turkmen citizens for trade, study, family visits and tourism, offences by Turkmen citizens in Uzbekistan rose, and correspondents said Turkmenistan planned to tighten exit rules for travel to Uzbekistan.[1]
