In April, a Kazakh citizen identified as Ismailov was fatally shot in Istanbul. The killing triggered a major international operation involving law enforcement from Kazakhstan, Turkey, and Georgia, according to the website infohub.kz.
Through cooperation between the three countries, the crime was swiftly solved. Two suspected gunmen were detained. Investigators determined the motive and identified the alleged organizer and mastermind. According to Kazakhstan's Ministry of Internal Affairs (MIA), they are members of transnational criminal circles and are wanted internationally.
Information gathered during the investigation, in cooperation with the National Security Committee (KNB), allowed authorities to uncover other serious crimes committed in Kazakhstan by members of the same organized crime group. The group was led by a crime boss who is currently serving a sentence in the United States for the attempted murder of a journalist. In Almaty, police arrested one of the group's suspected hitmen. According to investigators, he is linked to an attempted murder of a city resident that took place in August 2025. The weapon, a pistol, was seized. The investigation has been completed, and the criminal case has been sent to court.
Kuandyk Alpys, a representative of the MIA's Department for Combating Organized Crime, said the arrests took place in stages across Kazakhstan, Turkey, and Georgia. "The Ministry of Internal Affairs, in cooperation with colleagues from Georgia and Turkey, conducted a phased special operation to detain members of a transnational organized crime group on the territory of three states. In the city of Almaty, a group of individuals from this criminal structure was detained; they are charged with involvement in several armed attacks," he said.
According to the investigation, the group's goal was to establish criminal influence over the businesses of certain diaspora community members using elements of criminal ideology. Additionally, suspects were arrested in Georgia who, according to the MIA, are linked to transnational criminal structures and are involved in a series of serious crimes. The MIA said it continues to gather evidence on all established episodes and is identifying other possible members of the criminal group. Efforts are also underway to bring the alleged organizer of the crime group to justice.