Customs Committee of Uzbekistan held its first large-scale event in Tashkent on Friday to destroy fireworks seized during anti-smuggling operations. The event took place at the fire-rescue station of Emergency Situations Department in Yashnabad district, where more than 4 million units of fireworks were destroyed, the committee press service said.
During the event, organized jointly with the Ministry of Emergency Situations, National Guard and the Ministry of Internal Affairs, millions of firecrackers and fireworks were poured with water from fire hoses, crushed by an excavator bucket and buried in a specially dug pit.
The head of the Customs Committee’s investigation and administrative practices department Akramjon Akhlimirzayev said that nearly 88% of the destroyed fireworks — about 3.537 million units — were seized directly by customs authorities over the past year.
In one case, on 15 December 2023, more than 162,000 fireworks and firecrackers of 12 types were found in a house under surveillance in Sergeli district of Tashkent. The owner of the goods, previously convicted for offenses related to the illegal sale of fireworks, was sentenced to five years and three months in prison. The confiscated goods were among those destroyed during the event.
According to statistics, over 7.39 million units of fireworks valued at nearly 1 billion soums ($77,970) were seized during 77 incidents in 2024. The amount of seized fireworks this year increased by 7.2 times compared to the same period last year.
In late 2009, the government introduced a temporary ban on the import, production, transportation, storage, sale and use of pyrotechnic devices in Uzbekistan.
Subsequently, a law enacted on 22 September, 2010, established administrative and criminal liability for the illegal production, storage, transportation, use or trade of pyrotechnics, as well as their unauthorized import or export.
Despite these measures, large quantities of fireworks continue to be confiscated, and residents frequently use pyrotechnic products during and after the New Year celebrations.
