The Department of the Agency for Financial Monitoring (AFM) of the Aktobe region and the border service of Kazakhstan have thwarted an attempt to illegally import vapes.
According to the AFM press service, two lorries travelling from Russia were detained at the 'Zhaissan-Automobile' border checkpoint.
A large batch of prohibited products was found in the vehicles:
- 13,000 electronic vaping systems (vapes);
- 2,000 units of e-liquid;
- 14,000 units of smokeless tobacco products.
In connection with this incident, the court handed down a guilty verdict to two individuals. They were sentenced to a term of imprisonment of 6 months.
The vehicles used to transport the vapes, with a total value of 26 million tenge, were confiscated. The court's verdict has not yet entered into legal force.
For context, earlier in the Pavlodar region, a group of people was identified who were involved in the illegal trafficking of electronic vapes, flavourings, and e-liquids in the territory of Ekibastuz.
Law enforcement officers discovered a warehouse and points of sale, seizing more than 5,600 vapes and their components. The potential revenue was estimated at over 100 million tenge.