The regional Prosecutor's Office continues its systematic work to curb violations of legislation in the field of subsoil use.
With the coordination of the Prosecutor's Office of the East Kazakhstan region, the National Security Committee, together with DP and DARE, suppressed criminal activities related to the illegal extraction of precious metals.
During a joint operation in June 2025, foreign citizens who carried out illegal work were detained in the valley of the Bolshaya and Malaya Shybyndy rivers, special equipment, equipment, gold-bearing raw materials and cash were seized.
It was established that in 2024-2025, a group of residents of the region and citizens of the People's Republic of China organized unauthorized illegal gold mining, causing damage to the forest fund in the Ulan district.
The criminal case has been sent to court. The prosecutor presented the court with exhaustive evidence confirming illegal mining, as a result of which the attackers illegally extracted 15 kg of gold. The total damage caused to the state amounted to 766 million tenge.
The Public Prosecutor directed the court to impose a punishment commensurate with the severity of the crime and the scale of environmental damage.
On July 21, 2026, the defendants were found guilty of illegal mining of precious metals on an especially large scale by the Specialized Interdistrict Criminal Court of Ust-Kamenogorsk and sentenced to various terms of imprisonment.
The verdict has not entered into legal force.
Prosecutor's Office of the East Kazakhstan region
