Kazakhstan Busts Fuel Smuggling Networks Sending Oil to Uzbekistan and Kyrgyzstan

Since the beginning of the year, Kazakhstan has stopped 712 attempts to export fuels and lubricants out of the country, with eight pre-trial investigations launched into illegal oil product trafficking and smuggling, Orda.kz reports, citing the Financial Monitoring Agency (FMA).

The FMA said an illegal mini-oil refinery was discovered in the Mangistau region. Since 2022, the facility processed more than 28,500 tons of unaccounted oil, with finished products exported abroad under the guise of fuel oil.

In the Turkestan region, a transnational criminal group organized the smuggling of gasoline into Uzbekistan through a specially equipped tunnel under the state border. A court found the members guilty and sentenced them to lengthy prison terms.

The FMA also completed an investigation into another group that smuggled AI-92 gasoline into Kyrgyzstan. The total volume of illegally exported fuel exceeded 190,000 tons, valued at 37 billion tenge.

During another export attempt at Turkib station, eight railway tanks with illegal gasoline totaling around 500 tons were detained. Seized gasoline worth 138 million tenge was confiscated in favor of the state,the FMA said.

Original author: Daria Malkova

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