The court of the Sughd region sentenced 56-year-old resident of the city of Kulob, Imomuddin Islomzoda, to 23 years in prison. The man was found guilty of committing a number of crimes, including smuggling a large shipment of drugs weighing over 100 kg.
A spokesperson for the Interior Ministry’s Office in the Sughd region, Akbar Sharifi, reported in a television program that the defendant was charged under five articles of the Criminal Code of Tajikistan. Islomzoda was found guilty of illegal trafficking of narcotic substances (Article 200), smuggling (Article 289), illegal crossing of the state border (Article 335), as well as illegal detention or arrest (Article 358) and falsification of evidence (Article 359).
Details of the specific actions of the convicted individual, the date of his arrest, and the court’s ruling are not specified in the report. There is currently no information regarding the defense’s position or the relatives of Islomzoda.
The fight against the illegal trafficking of banned substances in the republic is systematic. In particular, last month in the Shamsiddin Shohin district, law enforcement agencies detained two members of a criminal group, seizing 58 kg of hashish, opium, and heroin smuggled from Afghanistan.
According to the statistics of the Drug Control Agency of Tajikistan, last year, 5 tons and 280 kilograms of drugs were seized from illegal circulation, which is 21% higher than the figures for 2024. More than half of this volume—2 tons and 742 kilograms—was intercepted at the Tajik-Afghan border. A total of 44 criminal groups were disrupted in 2025, and 132 criminal cases were submitted to the courts involving 180 individuals.
