In the Zhetysu region, a resident of Temirtau has been detained on suspicion of illegally selling more than 300 saiga antelope horns.
"Officers from the organised crime department of the Zhetysu Regional Police Department, together with the Border Service Department of the National Security Committee of the Republic of Kazakhstan and coordinated by the regional prosecutor's office, detained a resident of Temirtau in Tekeli on suspicion of illegally selling saiga horns," reports Polisia.kz.
During a search of the suspect's car, three cardboard boxes wrapped in tape were found, inside which were more than 300 saiga horns. The seized items have been sent for forensic examination. According to preliminary estimates, the amount of damage is 539 million 667 thousand tenge.
Investigative actions are being carried out against the detainee, and a preventive measure of house arrest has been imposed on him.
It is noted that this crime carries criminal liability — restriction of liberty for up to 7 years or imprisonment for the same term with confiscation of property and a ban on holding certain positions or engaging in certain activities for up to 5 years.
For context, previously four residents of the Turkestan region were sentenced for illegally hunting saiga antelopes. It was reported that the defendants had ridden motorcycles to the Ulytau region to search for a missing herd of horses, taking hunting rifles with them.
They did not find the horses, but the poachers, knowing about the hunting ban, shot 15 saiga antelopes for subsequent sale. After that, they butchered the carcasses, removed the horns, and loaded the meat into a car.