Kazakhstan blocks 24,000 cards for suspicious transactions

According to the Committee for Combating Drug Crime under the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Kazakhstan, 24,000 account cards with a total value of $4.4 million have been blocked in the country due to suspicious transactions.

The committee said that transactions involving large cash withdrawals, frequent small transfers without clear economic purpose and activities potentially linked to illegal drug circulation were flagged as suspicious. Such cases are identified through the analysis of financial flows – both via alerts from banks and in cooperation with other government agencies.

The Internal Ministry reported that roughly 4,000 drug offenses were identified in Kazakhstan over the first six months of the year, including 1,800 serious criminal acts and felonies. During this period, Kazakh law enforcement eliminated two transnational organized crime groups, opened 21 cases, and detained 11 leaders and 43 participants of those groups.

Moreover, they seized more than 6 tons of drugs, including 570 kilograms of synthetics. The crackdown on drug dealers also resulted in the termination of 103 drug labs, the exposure of 63 smuggling cases and the identification of 218 instances of planting drug-containing plants.

This spring, the Agency for Regulation and Development of the Financial Market (ARDFM) of Kazakhstan proposed a draft regulation introducing new measures to counter fraudulent activities, money laundering, and the financing of terrorism.