A Sony PlayStation console, 15 smartphones and six Wi-Fi routers were found during a prosecutors' inspection at a penal institution in Kazakhstan's Pavlodar Region. A pre-trial investigation into negligence has been launched over the seizure of the banned items, the website infohub.kz reports.
According to the regional prosecutor's office, the items were found in one of the premises during an inspection of compliance with prison regulations and efforts to identify channels for smuggling in prohibited goods. Along with the phones, routers and console, officers seized wireless and wired headphones, USB cables, flash cards and other items that inmates are forbidden to keep or use.
Citing Halyqstan, the photograph provided to the newsroom by the prosecutor's office shows a PlayStation 4, with two gamepads and a Mortal Kombat X game disc next to it.
The prosecutor's office registered a pre-trial investigation under Article 371 of the Criminal Code of the Republic of Kazakhstan — "Negligence." Investigators are working to establish how the banned items reached the secure facility, through which channels they were brought in and who may have been involved.
No further details are being disclosed in the interests of the investigation, in accordance with Article 201 of the Criminal Procedure Code of the Republic of Kazakhstan.
Earlier, Kursiv reported that in July someone tried to smuggle an iPhone 15 Pro Max into the pre-trial detention center in Aktobe, hidden in a double bottom of a container of pilaf. The smartphone was found during an inspection of a food parcel, and an administrative protocol was drawn up against the sender.