AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE
Uzbekistan law enforcement agencies incinerated more than 1.5 tons of drugs, including nearly 200 kilograms of Afghan heroin, as the country continues to battle drug trafficking in Central Asia.
The drugs were burned in the smelting furnace of a Soviet-era metals factory outside the Uzbek capital, Tashkent, before an audience of United Nations officials, diplomats and journalists in June 2013.
The narcotics were destroyed after being used as evidence against drug traffickers at their trials, said Olimjon Turakulov, a spokesman for Uzbekistan’s National Security Service.
“Afghan-originated drugs come through Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan, as well as directly from Afghanistan across Amudaria River in southern Surkhandaria province,” he told reporters.
In 2012, Uzbekistan opened more than 8,150 cases related to drug trafficking. About 136 foreigners were detained on suspicion of drug trafficking.
Uzbekistan borders Afghanistan, the world’s biggest producer of opium and heroin, and sits on one of the key routes for shipping illegal drugs into Russia and Western Europe. Since 1994, Uzbekistan has incinerated 50 tons of drugs seized from traffickers.