According to the press service of the Supreme Court, wildlife inspectors stopped the poachers' vehicle and found more than 30 carcasses and 5 saiga heads inside.
The illegal actions caused damage to the state of over 80 million tenge. The exact date of the crime was not specified in court.
"The Specialised Inter-district Criminal Court of the Kyzylorda Region, having examined the criminal case against two individuals accused of illegal hunting of animals using weapons and transport, causing significant damage (paragraph 2, part 6, article 337 of the Criminal Code), noted that all their criminal acts were confirmed by documents", the statement reads.
It is noted that one of the defendants was previously a law enforcement officer.
The court found the residents of the region guilty and sentenced them to 6 and 7 years in prison, with a ban on hunting for 7 and 8 years respectively. They were also ordered to pay over 77 million tenge in material damages.
Recall that in August last year, in the Ulytau region, armed poachers engaged in illegal saiga hunting were detained. Those arrested were travelling on two motorcycles. The poachers were found with 15 saiga carcasses, 29 sawn-off horns, and two smoothbore shotguns.
In September, law enforcement officers stopped a car near the village of Karabutak. Inside the vehicle, bags of meat were discovered. The man behind the wheel stated that the bags contained the meat of five saigas, which he claimed to have hit with his motorcycle in the steppe of the Irgiz district. The preliminary damage was estimated at 20 million tenge.