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Under the chairmanship of the Uzbek side, the 12th meeting of the heads of the competent authorities of the member states of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization, empowered to combat drug trafficking, began.

At the meeting, the director of the National Information and Analytical Center for Drug Control under the Cabinet of Ministers, Olim Narzullaev, said that the number of attempts to smuggle drugs through the transport infrastructure of Uzbekistan has increased.

According to Narzullaev, the drug situation in Uzbekistan in 2021 was characterized by an increase in the number of Afghan opiates in illegal circulation, Dunyo news agency reported. In addition, synthetic narcotic drugs have been intensively distributed, and there is a trend towards an increase in the abuse of potent drugs.

The volume of drug trafficking from Afghanistan through the Northern Route has increased, especially against the backdrop of active integration processes with the countries of the region, through whose territories the main drug flows pass, the director of the NIACCN said.