In Syr Darya, a traffic police inspector legalized a Mercedes-Benz imported in parts under the guise of a 1981 model.

In the Syrdarya region, a traffic police inspector registered a Mercedes-Benz S-350L, imported in parts, as a 1981 model, according to Podrobno.uz.

A Tashkent resident assembled the car from parts imported from the UAE, and a former traffic police inspector registered it in violation of established regulations.

The Sariasi District Criminal Court in the Surkhandarya region has completed its hearing of a case involving smuggling and the fictitious registration of a foreign car.

According to the case file, in August 2023, a Tashkent resident imported the body, engine, transmission, and other parts of a 2009 Mercedes-Benz S-350L from the UAE. To avoid customs duties totaling over 455.5 million soums, which would have been required to import the entire car, the components were registered as separate parts through customs posts in the Namangan and Fergana regions. In the capital, they were crudely assembled into a single vehicle.

To legalize the assembled vehicle, the scheme's organizer purchased a defective 1981 Mercedes-Benz for 9 million soums. In Tashkent, the application for registration of the replacement units for the rare model was denied, but it was successfully registered in the Syrdarya region. On December 10, 2024, a senior inspector of the registration and examination department of the local traffic police entered the information into the database, issuing license plates and a registration certificate. However, the officer ignored legal provisions expressly prohibiting the conversion of vehicles older than 20 years.

After receiving the documents, the owner sold the car under a general power of attorney for $23,000. The car subsequently changed hands several times and was eventually sold to a resident of the Surkhandarya region for $31,000.

The fraud was uncovered in December 2025 at the Sariosiyo border customs post, when the new owner attempted to drive the car into Tajikistan. An expert examination revealed that the engine number had been mechanically filed off, and the car's actual market value was 366.2 million soums.

The court found the former traffic police inspector guilty under Part 1 of Article 207 of the Criminal Code ("Official Negligence"). Taking into account his previous conviction, he was sentenced to two years and six months of disqualification from working in law enforcement, as well as a fine.

The second defendant was convicted under Item "a" of Part 2 of Article 182 of the Criminal Code ("Violation of customs legislation on an especially large scale") and sentenced to two years of correctional labor with a 20% deduction of his earnings for the benefit of the state.

The court ordered the confiscation of the Mercedes-Benz S-350L for the benefit of the state. The injured buyer was advised of his right to appeal to civil or economic courts to recover material and moral damages.