Tengrinews.kz - The Border Service of the National Security Committee (NSC) in October recorded 1,435 attempts of illegal border crossings, according to the NSC press service.
According to the agency, 4,640 violations of legislation in the border area were apprehended, including: 27 foreign citizens for border violations and 30 foreign citizens for attempted border violations.
"A total of 1,435 instances of illegal border crossings were prevented, including: 41 cases of drug smuggling; 91 cases involving weapons and ammunition (1 firearm, 3 gas weapons, 25 items of cold weapons, 123 units of ammunition, 41 stun guns); 23 instances of smuggling religious literature (2,001 copies); 459 instances of fuel and lubricants smuggling (more than 43,000 liters), with a total value exceeding 9 million tenge; 616 cases involving consumer goods, valued at over 3.4 billion tenge (including saiga horns valued at 1.5 billion tenge, and tobacco products valued at 377 million tenge); and 204 instances of currency smuggling, amounting to over 1.8 billion tenge," the statement read.
It is noted that 57 cases of poaching in the Caspian Sea area were also prevented.
"Additionally, the following were confiscated: 31 watercraft; 70 kilometers of illegal fishing nets; 299 sturgeon fish (weighing 1,765.1 kilograms); 904 other fish species (weighing 2,165 kilograms); 13 seals. The estimated value of the prevented damage is around 671 million tenge," the statement reported.
According to the NSC press service, materials related to these cases have been submitted to law enforcement and judicial authorities to hold the offenders accountable.
"No restrictive measures have been introduced at the state border; all checkpoints are operating as usual," the statement clarified.
Earlier, on October 28, at the "Zhaisan" automobile checkpoint, the Border Service of the National Security Committee in the Aktobe region intercepted an illegal export of a large shipment of cigarettes.