Police in the Zhetysu Region stopped a channel used to move narcotics and detained a 51-year-old man in the settlement of Shamalgan in the Almaty Region.[1] Officers of the region’s anti-drug unit, working with the regional prosecutor’s office under the Qarasora-2025 operation, established that the man stored and transported drugs from Almaty to the Zhetysu Region.[1]

A search of his home and of a livestock farm in Merke district, Zhambyl Region, found plant material with the smell of cannabis.[1] A forensic examination confirmed the material was dried marijuana weighing more than 10 kilograms.[1] The regional report said the man kept the dried cannabis on his own farm warehouse.[2] The police account described the storage place as a livestock farm, a fazenda, and said the searches covered both his home and that farm.[3]

The man was placed in custody and investigative measures continued.[1] Police estimated the seized amount could have drawn more than ten thousand people into drug use.[1] The police department said the offence of acquiring, storing, transporting for sale, sending or selling narcotics carries seven to twelve years in prison with confiscation of property.[1]

A week before, police had identified a whole family selling drugs and took 20 kilograms of marijuana from them.[2] The detained family members were a married couple with their son and a 51-year-old resident of Shu, all described as members of one criminal group, and they too were placed in a pre-trial detention centre.[2] The head of the region’s anti-drug police said more than 140 drug offences had been identified since the start of the year, with more than 100 people arrested and every case sent to court.[2]