Kazakhstan’s Committee for National Security (KNB), the country’s national-security agency, acted jointly with the special services of Russia and Uzbekistan to shut down an international narcotics-smuggling channel originating in Afghanistan.[1][2] The channel used the so-called Northern route out of Afghanistan.[1][2] Two people described as members of an international drug group were detained in Tyumen, Russia, as a result of the operation.[1][2] Russian authorities opened a pretrial investigation into the case following the detentions and seizure.[1][2]

Officers searching the two detainees seized 30 kilograms of hashish described as Afghan hashish.[1][2] The 30-kilogram weight refers only to the Afghan hashish taken from the detainees in Tyumen.[1][2] The KNB estimated that the seized consignment could be worth about 300,000 United States dollars on the black market.[1][2]

The KNB said measures to counter international illicit drug trafficking are continuing.[1][2] The operation is presented as joint work by the Kazakh, Russian and Uzbek services against the Afghan channel.[1][2] The arrests and seizure took place in Tyumen.[1][2]