DUSHANBE, October 21, 2010, Asia-Plus — Over the first nine months of this year, Tajik police officers have dismantled 16 organized criminal gangs, Minister of Interiors Abdurahim Qahhorov announced at a news conference in Dushanbe on October 20.
According to him, these gangs are suspected of having been involved in terrorist activity and drug trafficking.
Besides, 18 members of the banned extremist organizations such as Hizb ut-Tahrir, Jamaati Tabligh, Al-Qaeda and the Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan (IMU) have been detained in Tajikistan over the report period, the minister said.
On the crime situation in the country, Qahhorov noted that 9,276 crimes have been reported in the country in January-September this year, which was 743 cases, or 7.4 percent, fewer than in the same period last year.
According to the statistical data from the Ministry of Interior (MoI), police have seized 925 firearms, including 151 assault rifles Kalashnikov, 114 pistols, 179 hunting guns and carbines, 87 unit of other rifles, 358 smooth-bore guns, 36 knives and a large amount of ammunition, over the same nine-month period.
