Five held as 28.1 kg of hashish smuggled into Uzbekistan is seized
Uzbek border guards and State Security Service officers detained five people in two separate smuggling cases, seizing 28.11 kg of hashish that arrived with opium from a neighbouring country. The five were remanded in custody on smuggling and drug charges, in a reported haul of more than 35 kg of drugs.
🇺🇿 Tashkent region and Surkhandarya region, Uzbekistan
Uzbek border guards and State Security Service officers detained two men as they
crossed the state border illegally from a neighbouring country into Uzbekistan.[1]
Two sports bags carried by the men held 4.88 kg of opium, 19.86 kg of hashish
and 380 boxes of tobacco products, all seized as evidence.[1]In Surkhandarya
region, officers detained three men aged 48, 45 and 22 as they crossed the
border and swam the Amu Darya using an inner tube from a car wheel.[1]The
bags the three men carried held 2.7 kg of opium and 8.25 kg of hashish, giving
the two cases 28.11 kg of hashish and a reported total of more than 35 kg of
drugs.[1]
The two detained border crossers face a criminal case under the criminal code’s
articles 223, 246 and 273 and were placed in pre-trial detention.[1]A
criminal case on the three detained on the Amu Darya was opened on the
illegal-crossing and smuggling charges, and they were also remanded in custody.[1]
The State Security Service said traffickers had promised the couriers 200 US
dollars for each kilogram of the load delivered to its destination.[1]
The Uzbek-language version says the first pair’s hashish weighed 19 kg863 g, 3
g more than the Russian text, and that officers were investigating further.[2]The service’s own Telegram statement described the bags as holding 4 kg884 g of
opium and 19 kg863 g of hashish, and described the tobacco as 380 boxes of Esse
Change cigarettes.[3]The service said the three men on the Amu Darya were
carrying 2 kg708 g of opium and 8 kg257 g of hashish.[3]
Border guards and the service’s Tashkent regional office carried out the first
operation, while the second involved the service’s Surkhandarya office and
border guards.[3]
Photos and video
Four men, two of them in camouflage, standing with officers in uniform, with bags and a tobacco box laid out on the ground in front of them. Photo: СГБ, Uzbekistan's State Security ServicePhoto details
Neither the article nor the State Security Service statement gives the date of the detentions; 6 April 2026 is the date the service announced them, so the arrests may have come earlier.
The Russian text credits the first pair with 19.86 kg of hashish while the Uzbek and Telegram versions and the article's own summary say 19 kg 863 g, and the Uzbek Telegram post gives the second group 8 kg 257 g against 8.25 kg elsewhere; the figures use the Russian article's rounded weights, a 3 g and 7 g difference.
The article does not name the neighbouring states the smugglers crossed from, or the exact border sections in Tashkent region and Surkhandarya where the detentions took place.
The first pair is described as charged under the drug article 273 while the three detained on the Amu Darya face only the border and smuggling articles, so the drug charges against them are unconfirmed.
The five detainees are identified only by age; no names, court dates or outcomes were published.
No value was given for the hashish, and the tobacco products (380 boxes, Esse Change according to the service) are excluded from cannabis figures.
The single published photo, credited to the State Security Service, shows a group with officers but does not establish which of the two detentions it depicts or whether the drugs shown are the hashish.
35 кг.дан ортиқ наркотик моддалар контрабандасига чек қўйилди (ХAVFSIZLIK (State Security Service of Uzbekistan, Telegram)) could not be opened again to check its quotations (the browser-rendered page has almost no readable article text (it may require a login, show an access challenge, or contain only media); archived fallback unavailable (the browser-rendered page has almost no readable article text (it may require a login, show an access challenge, or contain only media)). No AI research was started); what it says is as the AI read it.
Officers seized 545 grams of hashish in Gulistan and 2.071 kg of marijuana in Turtkul district during multi-agency operations reported on 11 November 2026. One man was detained in the Karakalpakstan episode and criminal cases were opened over the wider four-region roundup.
Interior Ministry officers stopped a drug network in Tashkent's Yangihayot and Yashnabad districts and continued the raids in Kokand, seizing 55 grams, 430 grams and 1 kilogram of hashish. A criminal case was opened for dealing; the number of people held in Kokand was not stated.
Officers of the Interior Ministry and the State Security Service broke up a drug-selling network in Tashkent and Tashkent Region and detained five people, including a married couple caught with 50 packs of hashish. The operations seized 550 grams of hashish, 100 grams of mephedrone and two kilograms of opium extract, which the ministry described as about 26,300 single doses of drugs.
Officers detained a man in Altyaryk District, Ferghana Region, alleging he tried to sell 500 grams of hashish for US$4,000 to an undercover buyer. Forensic testing confirmed the substance was hashish, and a criminal case was opened as investigations continue.
