(16 February 2026 | Source: press office of the Shymkent city court)
The Specialised Inter-District Criminal Court of Shymkent (SIDCC) has concluded its consideration of a criminal case involving 18 people. According to the court, a transnational criminal group was engaged in the production and sale of psychotropic substances via the internet.
HOW THE GROUP OPERATED
The court established that an individual not identified by the investigation created a transnational criminal group on the territory of Kazakhstan and neighbouring states, which was involved in the production and sale of psychotropic substances through virtual drug markets.
One of the participants organised a laboratory in Shymkent in 2024 for the manufacture of psychotropic substances on an especially large scale. His relative and an acquaintance assisted in the concealment of raw materials and evidence.
Two members of the group, between 2022 and 2024, were engaged in the legalisation of income obtained from drug sales through illegal transactions with cryptocurrency on an especially large scale.
Another nine defendants, who were not members of the group, acted as accomplices in money laundering by providing bank cards for receiving and transferring funds.
POSITIONS OF THE PARTIES
The state prosecutor requested that all defendants be sentenced to imprisonment.
The defence requested that some defendants be acquitted, and that the charges against the remainder be reduced with a minimum sentence not involving isolation from society.
COURT DECISION
The court found 17 defendants guilty under the following articles:
- under Parts 1 and 2 of Article 264 of the Criminal Code of the Republic of Kazakhstan (CC RK) ("Creation and leadership of a transnational organised group, participation in it");
- under Part 4 of Article 297 of the CC RK ("Illegal manufacture, processing, acquisition, storage, transportation for the purpose of sale, or sale of narcotic drugs, psychotropic substances or their analogues on an especially large scale");
- under Part 2 of Article 214 of the CC RK ("Illegal entrepreneurship");
- under Part 3 of Article 218 of the CC RK ("Legalisation (laundering) of money and other property obtained by criminal means");
- under Article 432 of the CC RK ("Concealment of a crime").
Their guilt was confirmed by witness testimony, expert opinions, guilty pleas and other case materials.
Mitigating circumstances included having young children, remorse, and cooperation with the investigation. No aggravating circumstances were established.
The organiser of the laboratory was sentenced to 16 years' imprisonment. The others received sentences of between 2.5 and 11 years' imprisonment.
Two convicts were granted a two-year deferral of sentence under Article 74 of the CC RK ("Deferral of serving a sentence"). One individual was released under an amnesty. Another two were fined 11 million tenge.
One defendant was fully acquitted due to lack of evidence of guilt.
The verdict has not yet entered into legal force.