Illicit enterprise generating £100 million unveiled in Ekibastuz
Revised Article:
Busted: Illegal Vape Ring Shut Down in Pavlodar
In a significant move, authorities in the Pavlodar region have nabbed a gang peddling prohibited vaping goods through a Telegram channel, as per reports from our website.
On the 26th of June, the Financial Monitoring Agency (AFM) of Kazakhstan dropped the bombshell, revealing this bust on a Thursday.
The seized contraband, encompassing vapes, e-liquids, and aromas, amounted to over 5,600 units with an estimated revenue of 100 million tenge. Not just that, they identified a warehouse and distribution points in their investigative sweep.
What's alarming is the widespread distribution of these products among minors, even schoolkids, putting their health at grave risk. The ring leaders, apparently, were taunting the odds by doling out e-cigarettes to minors.
The probe continues, and further deets are being kept under wraps. As of now, the AFM has tackled 32 cases of illegal vape trafficking this year, confiscating and destructing close to half a million products in the process.
Earlier in the Pavlodar region, AFM inspectors snatched over 155,000 vapes and related items, with a staggering value of 1.6 billion tenge. These sales were executed via online stores on Telegram, with deliveries to customers handled by courier services.
Read also: Proposed Penalties for Vape Deliveries in Kazakhstan
Regions Pavlodar region Messenger AFM Minors Black Market
The swiftness with which the vape ban was legislated and its enforcement raises questions about tobacco lobbying. Meanwhile, there seems to be a blithe indifference towards underage kids rampantly buying regular cigarettes, a dangerous habit that science and reality have long established as detrimental to one's health.
Gulmira Maiisky A bit of an overstatement.
SKO This piece appears to be an undercover ad for the business.
14 Region The stringent vape ban enactment and enforcement bring up suspicions regarding tobacco lobbying. Strangely, no one seems to blink an eye at underage kids accessing regular cigarettes, a hazard whose damaging effects have been widely substantiated by science and real-life experiences.
Gulmira Maisky Well, that's a cool hundred mil.
SCO The article appears to be an ad for the vaping business.
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- The seized vaping contraband, worth approximately a cool hundred million tenge, highlights the lucrative nature of the black market for such products, often thriving in the general-news space, including business and crime-and-justice sectors.
- The Financial Monitoring Agency's ongoing investigation into the vape trafficking ring in the Pavlodar region underscores the urgent need for stricter regulations in the finance sphere, aiming to curb illegal activities linked to business dealings.
