Law enforcement agencies in Uzbekistan's Navoi Region, including the State Security Service and internal affairs bodies, have disrupted the activities of several groups engaged in illegal gold mining and processing. These groups caused damage to the state and the environment exceeding 13 billion Uzbek soums.

In the first case, an organized group led by a 38-year-old resident of Samarkand Region was discovered mining gold on state reserve lands. The group rented a building of a poultry farm in the Karmana District and set up a clandestine workshop there for processing ore using chemical substances. Authorities confiscated 200 kilograms of semi-processed gold, over 200 bags of ore containing precious metals, approximately 300 kilograms of chemical reagents, laboratory equipment, gas cylinders, and specialized machinery. Preliminary damage is estimated at over 7 billion soums, and a criminal case has been initiated.

In the second case, in the Navbahor District, the head of a local enterprise used forged permits to establish gold mining operations within the territory of the "Sarmishsoy" state museum-reserve. Nineteen people were involved in the work, with mining conducted on an 8-hectare plot. The operation resulted in the seizure of about 6 kilograms of semi-processed gold, over 430 tons of gold-bearing ore, chemical substances, as well as cargo vehicles and equipment. The damage from the illegal mining is estimated at 6.1 billion soums.

Currently, laboratory tests are being conducted, and experts are calculating the environmental damage inflicted. Law enforcement agencies urge citizens to report similar violations via the short number 1520, with confidentiality guaranteed. This is not the first such incident in the Navoi Region, as authorities previously halted the activities of an illegal "gold artel" engaged in industrial-scale mining on state lands.

Source: podrobno.uz