Oil thieves caught in south Kazakhstan

Members of an organized criminal group stealing oil from Kumkol-Shymkent pipeline were apprehended in South-Kazakhstan oblast, KTK reports citing South-Kazakhstan oblast's financial police. According to the authority, the criminal group worked under coverage of Semser Security agency's director. Semser Security is the company that was guarding the pipeline. The thieving operation was controlled by 50-y.o. Bekzhigit Nakylbekov also known as Borya of Shymkent and well-known in the criminal circles. 25 tons of oil were seized during apprehension of the criminals. The experts are currently calculating the total damage. Stolen oil was sold to asphalt-concrete plants involved in construction of Western Europe-Western China road. Criminal cases will be initiated against the constructors as well. According to the preliminary information, the criminals managed to steal oil for such a long time because they had patrons in law-enforcement authorities. “They had the conspiracy and it was hard to get them. That’s why the process took so long. We planted in our agent under cover to catch them. This way we managed to identify all the members of the group,” deputy head of South-Kazakhstan oblast financial police Serikbai Kussainov said.