In the Zhetysu region, a high-profile criminal case of poaching, in which more than 50 tonnes of fish were seized, has ended with a mysterious story of missing evidence. Most of the catch was sent for storage hundreds of kilometres from the place of seizure, and then, according to documents, written off as 'rotten'. Where this fish is now and what actually happened to it — no one has explained to this day.
According to ORDA, on 9 November 2023, an official representative of the Ministry of Internal Affairs, Kuanysh Alpys, announced a major special operation against poachers in the Zhetysu region.
On the website Polisia.kz, it was noted that police officers, together with the National Security Committee and under the coordination of the prosecutor's office, stopped the activities of a criminal group engaged in illegal fishing on Lake Balkhash. During 20 searches, police seized more than 51 tonnes of fish, 38 firearms and 11 motorboats. The damage exceeded 270 million tenge.
However, subsequent events raise more and more questions. As it became known, the detainees were transferred to the pre-trial detention centre in Taldykorgan. Meanwhile, the confiscated fish from the village named after Mukan Tolebayev, Sarkan district, was sent for safekeeping to the city of Usharal — 580 kilometres away, to the fish processing plant Bolashak Bastau LLP.
Why there specifically, and why none of the local entrepreneurs accepted the catch for storage, is unknown. Upon arrival of the cargo, it turned out that only 43 tonnes 405 kilograms had reached the destination. About 8 tonnes of fish disappeared along the way.
The investigation and court proceedings lasted almost two years. In the end, the convicted received suspended sentences of between one and three years, and the fines imposed turned out to be minimal, despite the scale of the illegal fishing and the volume of confiscated property.
The most mysterious was the fate of the fish itself. Only a small portion was transferred to state revenue: pike perch — 223 kg, snakehead — 180 kg, and roach — 600 kg. The remaining 43 tonnes, according to documents, were allegedly written off as spoiled by employees of Bolashak Bastau LLP.
'So, the evidence in a high-profile criminal case was stored in the company's freezers for almost two years, and then written off as a spoiled product?' the journalists ask.
For its part, the police department of the Zhetysu region reported that they have a letter from the investigator dated 10 July 2024, addressed to Bolashak Bastau LLP, requesting the return of the fish resources to their legal owners — those from whom they were seized during the searches.
The company itself confirmed the receipt of the fish. According to their data, on 10 November 2023, 43,405 kg of fish raw material was accepted for safekeeping under an act of the Karatal Fisheries Inspectorate and the investigator of the Alakol District Police Department.
However, Bolashak Bastau LLP did not answer the key questions — where this fish is now and whether it was officially written off. Instead, they presented a calculation of the debt for storage: almost 23 million tenge for electricity.