Members of organized transnational crime group have got lengthy jail terms for larges-scaled drug trafficking.  

The Dushanbe city court this week has sentenced seven members of the organized transnational crime group to between fifteen and twenty years in prison, according to the Interior Ministry’s official website.

The ringleader Muqim Qurbonov and two other members of this group -- Ruhangez Nazirov and Hikmatullo Boronov – have been sentenced to twenty years in prison.

Four other members of this organized transnational crime group – Siroj Nazriov, Shamsiddin Salimdodov, Zohir Latifov and Dilovarsho Qalandarov – have been sentenced to between 15 and 17 years in prison.  


All of them will serve their terms in a high-security penal colony.

Besides, a two-story private house, trading center, drugstore and lemon greenhouse of the ringleader located in the city of Norak and his seven expensive cars have been forfeited to the state.  

Recall, members of these crime group were detained in early April this year.  More than 70 kilograms of narcotic drug have been confiscated from them.  The ringleader -- a 44-year-old resident of the city of Norak Muqim Qurbonov, also known as “Muqimcha” and “Bachai Kampir” – was also arrested.  13.5 kilograms of hashish, 220 grams of raw opium and ecstasy pills were confiscated from him.  

The Interior Ministry says Qurbonov was already convicted twice for drug trafficking in Russia.  He reportedly has three wives and eleven children.  

According to the Interior Ministry, Muqim Qurbonov had coordinated actions of members of this drug trafficking group through WhatsApp, Imo and Viber messengers.   Correspondence in these messengers reportedly allowed revealing their contacts with criminal groups in other countries.

The money for “cargo” had been transferred to Qurbonov to Qiwi E-wallet.   

Criminal proceedings were instituted against all the members of this organized criminal group under the provisions of Article 200 (4) of Tajikistan’s Penal Code – illegal drug trafficking.