David Slinn, Head of the Afghanistan Drugs and Justice Unit of the Foreign and Commonwealth Office, and Mark Bishop from the Serious Organised Crime Agency visited Uzbekistan to conduct bilateral talks on 9-11 November 2010. The main purpose of the visit was to initiate dialogue and develop ties in the sphere of counter narcotics.

The delegation was received by British Ambassador Rupert Joy. They had a meeting at the National Information and Analytical Centre on Drug Control under the Cabinet of Ministers of the Republic of Uzbekistan and met with representatives from the Ministry of Interior, the State Customs Committee, the National Security Service, the State Border Protection Committee and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Uzbekistan.

SOCA is an Executive Non-Departmental Public Body (NDPB) of the Home Office. The organisation is led by a Board with a majority of non-executive members. The Board is responsible for ensuring that SOCA discharges its statutory responsibilities and meets the strategic priorities set under statute by the Home Secretary.

SOCA tackles serious organised crime that affects the UK and its citizens. This includes Class A drugs, people smuggling and human trafficking, major gun crime, fraud, computer crime and money laundering.

SOCA works to put serious criminals behind bars and keep people safe. In particular, SOCA works to ensure crime doesn’t pay and that it’s harder to commit.

SOCA uses traditional law enforcement methods – investigating, and arresting criminals. SOCA also draws on innovative new approaches to prevent crimes from happening in the first place.