An Uzbek court has sentenced several individuals for smuggling goods to and from Kyrgyzstan through an illegally dug tunnel on private property near the Kyrgyz border, RFE/RL’s Kyrgyz Service reported on May 3.
The court handed down prison terms of between six and seven years to three men, while three other defendants were handed parole-like sentences.
The owner of the property where the tunnel was found was said to have 2,707 mobile phones in his possession, for which he could not produce sales documents.
Authorities launched an investigation after they discovered an entrance to the tunnel in a private house in the town of Rishton in July last year. Since 2021, Kyrgyz authorities have found at least four similar tunnels.
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