The Aktobe regional department of the Agency for Financial Monitoring has shut down an alleged criminal group that processed payments and money transfers on behalf of an online drug store, the website infohub.kz reports.
According to investigators, a resident of Aktobe set up an exchange group on social media and recruited seven accomplices. The members divided up duties and ran round-the-clock payment processing, working day and night shifts, the Agency for Financial Monitoring said in its official Telegram channel.
The agency said operators of the online store directed buyers to the exchange service to pay for orders. Once a payment was confirmed, buyers were sent the coordinates of stash sites containing the drugs.
The exchange service handled between 50 and 70 payment transactions a day. Payments were received through 22 bank cards registered to third parties, known as droppers.
The funds were then converted into cryptocurrency and transferred to wallets controlled by the drug operation's handlers.
The total amount of transfers exceeded 918,000 USDT (Tether), equivalent to more than 400 million tenge.
The organizer of the scheme has been taken into custody. The investigation is ongoing.