Zafar Samad, Head of Tajikistan’s Drug Control Agency (DCA) under the President of Tajikistan, has confirmed the interception of 121 kg of methamphetamine smuggled through Tajikistan on transit trucks traveling from Afghanistan to China.
The incident reportedly occurred last month on the Dushanbe–Kulma highway, where one of the trucks was involved in an accident. Senior officials, including Deputy Prosecutor General and DCA leadership, arrived at the scene.
In a report released at a news conference in Dushanbe, Tajik drug control kingpin stated on February 3 that “according to documents, the cargo was declared as a powdered mixture of precious stones. However, upon inspection, methamphetamine was discovered.”
Following further investigations, a second truck traveling along the same route was stopped in Murgab of the Gorno Badakhshan Autonomous Region (GBAO), where additional methamphetamine was found.
Samad denied earlier media reports that the seized amount was 800 kg, clarifying that 121 kg of the drug was recovered.
Tajik drug control chief also noted that the production of synthetic drugs in Afghanistan has increased, leading to a 59% rise in drug seizures in Tajikistan in 2024. A total of 110 kg of synthetic drugs were confiscated in the country last year—41 kg more than in 2023.
In early January, Afghan affairs expert Andrey Serenko, citing his sources, reported a similar incident in GBAO’s Murgab district, where two trucks from Afghanistan to China were intercepted, allegedly carrying 800 kg of synthetic drugs. However, official figures from Tajikistan’s DCA contradict these claims.
Methamphetamine (meth) carries a significant potential for misuse and serious physiological and psychological dependence.
Though pharmaceutical methamphetamine is still in production, much of the street supply of meth is illicitly manufactured—often found in powdered form—as shiny glass fragments or as whitish crystalline rocks (crystal meth). Meth is a chemical derivative of amphetamine, another stimulant substance that, in pharmaceutical formulations, is approved for the treatment of conditions such as attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) and the sleep disorder narcolepsy.
