The Department of the Financial Monitoring Agency (AFM) of the Pavlodar region has eliminated a criminal group involved in the illegal trafficking of electronic nicotine delivery systems (vapes), flavourings, and e-liquids.
According to the agency's press service, to maintain secrecy, the suspects sold the goods through online shops on the Telegram messenger app, and deliveries were made via courier services. It is noted that the vapes were distributed among underage teenagers and students.
To launder the criminal proceeds, the suspects recruited droppers — proxy individuals on whose names bank cards were registered. Through these accounts, they cashed out large sums of money.
For reference: a dropper is a person used by fraudsters to achieve their goals. They follow instructions and receive money for doing so.
During operational activities, AFM officers identified storage warehouses for the products and points of sale. Law enforcement seized over 155,000 vapes and their components, with an estimated value exceeding 1.6 billion tenge.
Three cars worth 37 million tenge (Chevrolet Camaro, Toyota Land Cruiser, and Toyota Highlander) were seized pending confiscation. The organiser of the criminal group was taken into custody. The investigation is ongoing.
It has become known that since the beginning of the year, the agency has suppressed 28 cases of illegal trafficking of electronic nicotine delivery systems and seized more than 291,000 units of product.
It should be recalled that from 20 June 2024, a law on introducing amendments and additions to certain legislative acts on healthcare matters came into force in Kazakhstan. The import, production, sale, and distribution of smokeless tobacco products, vapes, flavourings, and e-liquids have been classified as criminal offences.