A court in the Tajik northern city of Panjakent has sentenced three residents of the Farob jamoat, which is subordinate to the city of Panjakent, to lengthy prison terms for drug trafficking, the state-run news agency Khovar reports, citing the Public Relations Center of the State Committee for National Security (SCNS) of Tajikistan. 

The individuals — Abduhalim Rustamov, Murodqul Olimov, and Pirumqul Usmonov — were identified as members of a transnational drug trafficking group. Rustamov and Olimov were each sentenced to 16 years in prison, while Usmonov received a 15-year sentence.

The trio was apprehended during a special operation conducted by officers of the SCNS’s Office in Sughd province.

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Authorities reportedly seized 24 kilograms of narcotics from the suspects.  A totaled reported included 13 kilograms of heroin, 7 kilograms of raw opium, and 4 kilograms of hashish.

According to the SCNS’s Public Relations Center, Rustamov, together with fellow villagers Olimov and Usmonov, formed an international drug trafficking network and stored the narcotics in Usmonov’s residence.  The group had allegedly planned to smuggle the drugs across the border under the cover of night.

Criminal proceedings were instated against them under two articles of Tajikistan’s Penal Code: Article (4) – illegal trafficking of narcotic drugs or psychotropic substances for the purpose of distribution; and Article 289 (2) -- smuggling. 

The report also noted that Murodqul Olimov had four prior convictions for similar offenses, and Rustamov had served one sentence.  Despite this history, both men reportedly “failed to learn from past mistakes and reoffended.”