First deputy chief of the Tashkent city police department Doniyor Tashkhodzhaev spoke at a press conference on December 12 about the methods of extortion by criminal groups.

According to him, the Tashkent city police department is trying to be more open, but there is operational information that cannot yet be disclosed given the secrecy of the investigation.

“As for the question of how they engaged in extortion. For example, you are an entrepreneur who runs his business well. They will study you, find some weakness, perhaps you have a “second wife.” Then they will invite you and put pressure on you to give money, otherwise there will be threats. If you don’t give the money, they will invite you again, you will be surrounded by athletes, they will beat you and say that this is the last warning. An entrepreneur goes and brings 100 thousand dollars, 200 thousand dollars,” he said.

However, there is information that "street gangs have been collecting shares from large organizations and businesses," he said.

He underscored that criminal groups had assumed the state’s functions offering fast-track settling of individuals’ problems and “not within laws.”

“We are working on this. They were also engaged in collecting debts. For example, one citizen conditionally owed another $1 million to start a business, but he went broke. These [criminal groups] take over the functions of the state. Citizens turn to them, and they call the debtor and tell him to bring 1.2 million dollars, and they begin to threaten, use force, and intimidate,” he said.

Answering the question why some people turn to such groups to solve problems, Doniyor Tashkhojaev replied: “We just can’t beat up the debted persons and recover [the money]. We do this within the laws, and this takes time.”

According to him, preparations for raids against criminal groups have been planned for a long time and there is no connection with operations in foreign countries.

While, law enforcement agencies have not yet identified a connection between the detained persons and government officials.

Commenting on assumptions about possible “patronage” of criminal groups by police officers, Doniyor Tashkhodzhaev said that “we will not spare our officers if they are involved in this.”

On December 2, the Tashkent city police department announced large-scale raids in Tashkent to identify and detain “street gangs” and criminal groups. Operational activities are being carried out throughout Uzbekistan “to improve the crime situation.”

Among those detained was Saidaziz Saidaliev, aka Saidaziz of Medical Town (after the area he was allegedly assigned to oversaw). He and several other people were taken into custody as suspects in an extortion case.

Bakhtiyor Kudratullayev, aka Bakhti of Tashkent, was also detained in the capital on suspicion of extortion on a particularly large scale. He faces up to 15 years in prison.

Also was arrested none other than Salim Abduvaliev, aka Salimbay, and taken into custody.

In total, over 100 people were arrested, of which 52 were taken into custody. The police department reported that it had enough evidence to prosecute them.