In the Merke district of the Zhambyl region, about 580 hectares of wild hemp have been mowed and burned, which is approximately 3% of the total growing area, reports the website infohub.kz.
As clarified by the prosecutor's office of the Zhambyl region, since June 2026, within the framework of the operational-preventive operation "Qarasora - 2026", a set of measures has been carried out to identify and destroy wild hemp. The total area of its growth in the district is about 19 thousand hectares. To date, 376 tons of plants have been mowed and destroyed by burning.
Thus, the actual yield of wild hemp averaged 6.5 centners per hectare. In addition to members of the working group, 28 volunteers from 14 rural districts were involved in the work, and the necessary special equipment was also used.
The supervisory authority noted that the destruction of wild hemp is carried out systematically and is an important measure to prevent drug trafficking. Thanks to comprehensive work, the level of drug crime is decreasing: in 7 months of 2025, 45 drug crimes were registered, while in the same period of the current year - 28, which is 37.8% less.
The main goals of the measures are the prevention of drug crimes, suppression of drug trafficking, ensuring public safety and protecting the younger generation from the harmful effects of drugs.
The prosecutor's office reminded that illegal cultivation, storage, transportation, sale and other actions related to drugs entail liability under the legislation of Kazakhstan.
Earlier it was reported that the capital company Leodar planned to grow and process industrial hemp in the North Kazakhstan region. The project cost was estimated at $150 million, and the land plot would be 26.4 thousand hectares. However, the company has not yet submitted documents for land registration and was looking for sources of financing. The head and owner of Leodar is Alibek Kasymov. In 2025, Vice Minister of Agriculture Azat Sultanov reported plans to launch a project for the production of paper from industrial hemp in this region.