48-year-old held in Mangystau with 2.3 kg of suspected marijuana in his car
Police in Atameken village, Munaily District, stopped a 48-year-old man's Opel Vectra during the Qarasora and Kanal operations and found two packets holding about 2 kg 355 g of plant material thought to be marijuana. A criminal case was opened under article 297 and the suspect was placed in a temporary detention facility.
🇰🇿 Atameken village, Munaily District, Mangystau Region · Kazakhstan
Police in Mangystau Region stopped an Opel Vectra driven by a 48-year-old man in
Atameken village, Munaily District, and found drugs in the car.[1]The stop
was part of the Qarasora and Kanal operations, run by officers of the regional
police department’s anti-narcotics and criminal police units.[1]
A search of the vehicle found two plastic packets of plant material, about 2 kg355 g in total, in a white box.[2][3]Preliminary assessment indicated the
substance could be marijuana.[2]
A criminal case was opened under article 297 of Kazakhstan’s Criminal Code.[2]The suspect was placed in a temporary detention facility while the investigation
continued.[1]
Drug testing found cannabinoid metabolites in the bodies of both the driver and
his passenger, and administrative protocols were drawn up against both.[2]
The regional police department said the stop came during the Qarasora and Kanal operations, which it placed in late October 2026.[3]
Photos and video
Police handout photo published with the report on the two packets of marijuana found in an Opel Vectra in Atameken, credited to polisia.kz. Photo: polisia.kzPhoto details
Every number and detail the sources state, with the sources that state it.
Arrested
1
Cannabis
2.355 kg
Agency
Mangistau Region Police Department
Agency type
Police, Anti-narcotics agency
Cannabis
Herbal cannabis (2.355 kg)
Activity
Possession
Setting
Vehicle
Charge
unlawful storage of narcotic substances (article 297 of the Criminal Code)
Case stage
Under investigation
Region
Mangystau Region
Date
Publication date
Sources
Polisia.kzpolisia.kzRUБолее двух килограммов марихуаны изъяли в Мангистауской области
Kazlenta.kzkazlenta.kzRUПакеты с марихуаной обнаружили в автомобиле в Мангистауской области
Lada.kzlada.kzRUЧто пряталось в белой коробке: подробности задержания близ Актау
Open questions the AI reported
Neither account gives a separate date for the stop; 9 November 2026 is the publication date of both and is used as the incident date.
The weight is given as about 2 kg 355 g, not an exact measured figure, and police describe the substance only as preliminary suspected marijuana with no laboratory confirmation reported.
Only one suspect is reported held; the driver and passenger were both subjected to administrative protocols over cannabinoid metabolites, but neither that protocol nor the outcome of those proceedings is described.
Article 297 of the Kazakh Criminal Code is cited without the part or the penalty it carries, and no court outcome was reported.
Both accounts derive from the same Mangystau police department statement, so they are not independent reporting.
The picture with the Kazlenta.kz report is a police handout credited to polisia.kz; the Polisia.kz page carries a separate handout image whose direct address could not be confirmed as showing this seizure.
Lada.kz gives no day for the stop, saying only that the Qarasora and Kanal operations ran in late October 2026; the exact date of the stop is still unknown.
Akmola Region police reported seizing 188 kg of cannabis-group substances during the 2026 Qarasora operation, which ran from 1 June to 30 October. They also issued 106 orders to destroy wild cannabis and detained 18 people accused of distributing drugs through hidden stashes.
Kazakhstan's security service detained three foreigners and two Kazakh citizens on 1 November 2026 in a Caspian Sea operation against an international drug channel. Officers seized 27 kg of hashish and 60 kg of marijuana, plus 22 kg of opium and a fast boat, and opened a pre-trial investigation.
Officers from five Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO) states, joined by Chinese and Iranian representatives, seized more than 11.4 tonnes of drugs, including more than 1,260 kg of marijuana and over 232 kg of hashish, in the five-day "Canal – Caspian Lighthouse" operation. They detained 376 suspected traffickers and broke up 101 drug groups.
Kazakh police detained six people and seized about 120 kg of marijuana and cannabis raw material from three hidden caches in the Zhambyl region on 16 September 2026, part of Operation Karasora 2026 targeting transit channels from the country's southern regions.
