A police officer in Kashkadarya province has been criminally convicted after being found guilty of drug offenses. Kun.uz has reviewed the official court documents.
According to the court verdict, B.T., a community police officer with the Ko‘kdala District Police Department, participated in the "Operation Black Poppy" anti-drug campaigns in the Koson district between 2016 and 2017. During those operations, he confiscated marijuana leaves on the side and stored them at his residence with the intention of personal consumption and future distribution.
On the night of December 10, 2025, B.T. used his spouse as an intermediary to sell 3.4 grams of the marijuana to an acquaintance, J.N., who serves as a senior community police officer for the Karshi District Police Department.
During a sting operation conducted jointly by the Interior Ministry’s Department of Internal Security and the Kashkadarya Province Police department, law enforcement officers discovered the 3.4 grams of marijuana inside a vehicle driven by J.N.
A subsequent search of B.T.’s residence uncovered an additional 8.76 grams of marijuana, which was seized as evidence by the authorities.
In court, B.T. pled not guilty, insisting that he never intended to sell the marijuana and had only been brewing it into tea to treat his severe headaches.
"In 2016 or 2017, I participated in 'Operation Black Poppy' in the Koson district. At the time, a helicopter patrol spotted a marijuana cultivation site in one of the neighborhoods. During the documentation process, I tore off some of the plant leaves and slipped them into my pocket," B.T. stated in his testimony.
"I had no intention of selling the marijuana. Back in 2014, I suffered a neck injury during a Sambo wrestling tournament held among police officers in Bukhara. Since then, I have suffered from intense headaches caused by pinched nerves. I have been drinking the marijuana as tea solely to relieve my head pain," B.T. claimed. Furthermore, he denied that J.N. had taken any marijuana from his home on December 10, 2025.
The court ruled that the guilt of both B.T. and J.N. was fully proven by witness testimonies, crime scene inspection reports, photographic evidence, forensic expert opinions, and other materials.
By the verdict of the Mirishkor District Criminal Court on April 22, 2026, B.T. was found guilty under Article 273, Part 2 (Illegal manufacture, acquisition, storage, and other actions with narcotic drugs, their analogues, or psychotropic substances for the purpose of sale, as well as their illegal sale) and Article 276, Part 1 (Illegal manufacture, acquisition, storage, and other actions with narcotic drugs, their analogues, or psychotropic substances without the purpose of sale) of the Criminal Code. He was sentenced to 3.5 years in prison.
J.N. was found guilty under Article 276, Part 1 of the Criminal Code and sentenced to 1.5 years in prison.
The court ordered B.T. to serve his sentence in a general-regime penal colony, while J.N. will serve his time in an open-type prison settlement (minimum-security colony).
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