Kazakhstan citizen sentenced to prison for smuggling e-cigarettes

On May 25th, according to the news office of Kazakhstan's financial regulatory agency, a citizen was sentenced to one year in prison by a court for smuggling electronic cigarettes and smoking accessories into the country.

Government officials from the Kazakhstan Financial Regulatory Authority (AFM) discovered illegal smugglers attempting to cross the border during a patrol in the Alakadam state. Law enforcement officials subsequently intercepted a vehicle carrying electronic cigarettes and smoking accessories.

The Financial Regulatory Bureau conducted a search of trucks and discovered nearly 50,000 electronic cigarettes without proper permits and accompanying documentation. It is estimated that these products are worth almost 50 million kwanza (equivalent to about 800,000 yuan or $120,000 USD).

The AFM has announced that, according to a court ruling, these illegally smuggled electronic cigarettes do not meet national standards and will therefore be destroyed.

Earlier, border control personnel in Kazakhstan confiscated 2.4 billion tenge (equivalent to over 38 million yuan) worth of smuggled electronic cigarettes during a border inspection and detained three Kazakhstani citizens. The confiscated electronic cigarettes included brands such as SMOANT, SOLO BAR, and INFLAVE AIR.

Kazakhstan parliament member Nurgul Tau has raised concerns about the threat of electronic cigarettes to the younger generation in a congressional meeting and urged the government to take action to ban their sale.

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A citizen of Kazakhstan has been convicted of smuggling electronic cigarettes and vaping products.