NUR-SULTAN, March 19. /TASS/. Officers of the National Security Committee of the Republic of Kazakhstan (NSC) have held a special operation in the city of Aktobe on halting the activity of a dangerous transnational organized criminal group. The NSC press service informed on Friday that a Kazakh citizen and four Russian nationals were detained.
"The leader of the group, a citizen of Kazakhstan, and four active participants, citizens of the Russian Federation, were detained. During the searches, three Kalashnikov automatic rifles, tasers, masks, bank cards, mobile phones and other weapons and means of committing crimes were seized. Members of the transnational organized criminal group were placed in custody," the message says.
According to the NSC, in October-November 2020, the perpetrators forcefully seized the money belonging to Belarusian and Kazakh businessmen whom they lured in in Aktobe. The sum came up to over $207,000. "In February 2021, the suspects invited a businessman from Moscow to Aktobe, a head of a large investment company, planning to seize up to $500,000 through a similar scheme," the press service added.
Criminal proceedings were launched under an article "Establishing and leading a transnational organized group.".