Contraband: What happened around the illegal medicine warehouse in Namangan?

Employees of the State Security Service of the Republic of Uzbekistan (DXX), the Department for Combating Economic Crimes under the Prosecutor General’s Office, and the Customs Committee conducted a large-scale special operation in Namangan to protect public health and curb the circulation of substandard medicines.

During the operation, a hidden location containing a large quantity of illegal medicines that could pose a serious threat to people’s lives and health was identified.

A warehouse violating sanitary regulations and more than 13,000 medicines

When one of the residences in Namangan was inspected in accordance with established procedures in the presence of witnesses, it was discovered that a citizen born in 1996 had been storing a large quantity of medicines in violation of sanitary and hygiene requirements, with the intention of selling them in the future.

During the inspection of the residence, 13,184 units of 56 types of medicines that had no relevant documentation and whose quality was not guaranteed were seized as material evidence.

The preparations found in the illegal warehouse included:

• «Sefotaksim»;

• «Bifidumbakterin»;

• «Atropin»;

• important medical products in high demand among the public, such as «Tidomet forte».

Smuggled across the border through bypass routes

Operational inquiries and investigations revealed that the large quantity of medicines accumulated in this «hidden warehouse» had been brought into Uzbekistan from the territory of a neighboring republic through smuggling and bypass routes.

According to the relevant assessment by specialists, the total market value of the confiscated medicines amounted to 577 million 381 thousand soums.

Criminal case and investigation

A criminal case has now been initiated against the person who carried out these illegal activities under Article 186-3, Part 3, Clause «a» of the Criminal Code of the Republic of Uzbekistan (the production, manufacture, acquisition, storage, transportation, or sale of substandard or counterfeit medicines or medical devices for the purpose of sale).

Law enforcement agencies are continuing investigative measures to identify other participants in this smuggling chain.

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