A verdict has been handed down in the specialised inter-district criminal court of the Turkestan Region against a criminal group that dug a tunnel on the Kazakh-Uzbek border to smuggle petroleum products.
According to the court's press service, the participants were accused of creating and leading a transnational organised criminal group, as well as the theft, storage, transportation and sale of petroleum products on an especially large scale, and the illegal transportation of fuel across the state border.
The investigation established that in July last year, one of the defendants, aware of the high price of petrol in Uzbekistan, conspired with a citizen of that country. On the territory of the Saryagash District, they created a criminal group that included residents of Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan.
To implement the scheme, the participants laid an underground pipeline 375 metres long on the premises of a farmyard, connecting Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan. From August to December 2024, 420 tonnes of AI-92 grade petrol worth over 112 million tenge was transported through it.
The state prosecution sought a sentence of 15 years' imprisonment for the group's organiser and 12 years each for the other participants. The defendants denied their guilt and requested acquittal.
In the end, the court found the organiser guilty and sentenced him to 15 years' imprisonment, and the other participants to 13 years' imprisonment each. During a search, 3 million tenge, 16,000 litres of petrol, as well as ZIL and GAZ trucks were seized from the convicts and confiscated in favour of the state.
It will be recalled that in December last year, law enforcement officers on the Kazakh-Uzbek border shut down the activities of a criminal group and eliminated a tunnel intended for smuggling petroleum products. It was reported that the illegal activity had been ongoing for about two months.