Woman involved in human trafficking detained in Türkiye

Uzbek citizens wanted for crimes including fraud and human trafficking were detained in Türkiye and returned to Uzbekistan, the Consulate General of Uzbekistan in Istanbul reported.

According to the report, one of the detainees, a woman, had been wanted for six years in Uzbekistan after committing fraud. She was detained in Türkiye and extradited to Uzbekistan as a result of joint search operations conducted by the interior ministries of Uzbekistan and Türkiye.

The woman allegedly gained the trust of citizens by promising to send them to high-paying jobs in the United States and European countries without holding the required license to arrange overseas employment. She then fraudulently obtained large sums of money from them and spent the funds for personal purposes.

A criminal case has been opened against her under Article 168 of Uzbekistan’s Criminal Code, which covers fraud.

In addition, another person wanted for committing a crime under Article 135, which covers human trafficking, was also detained and returned to Uzbekistan.

“As a result of effective cooperation between the law enforcement agencies of Uzbekistan and Türkiye, relevant procedural and operational-search measures are currently ongoing to identify, detain and return several other wanted individuals to Uzbekistan,” the statement said.

Earlier, a 37-year-old wanted person who had been hiding abroad from law enforcement agencies after engaging in drug trafficking in Uzbekistan was detained in the United States.