Staff of the Agency for Financial Monitoring (AFM) have identified a tobacco product seller without excise stamps in the Karaganda region.
According to the department's press service, during a search of the suspect's warehouse, more than 71,000 packs of cigarettes were discovered. The value of the seized tobacco products amounted to nearly 18.5 million tenge.
It is noted that since the beginning of the year, 62 criminal cases related to the illegal trafficking of tobacco products have been under investigation by the AFM, of which 35 have been sent to court.
In total, law enforcement officers have seized over 22 million packs of cigarettes worth more than 11 billion tenge.
In October, in the Aktobe region, the illegal export of a large batch of cigarettes from Kazakhstan was prevented at the "Zhaisan" road border crossing. On that occasion, more than 71,000 packs were attempted to be taken out without accompanying documents, hidden under boxes of vegetables.
In mid-November, police discovered 126,000 packs of cigarettes without excise stamps (UCM) worth over 50 million tenge in a warehouse in Kostanay. A local businesswoman had purchased these cigarettes at a price below the market rate, intending to resell them later.
Later, in Karaganda, the illegal sale of cigarettes in one of the city's shops was uncovered. Police seized around 47,000 packs of non-excise products. The total damage caused to the state was estimated at 50 million 274 thousand tenge.