Kazakhstan is sounding the alarm over a disturbing trend: relatives are increasingly being drawn into drug trafficking networks.

Law enforcement is seeing more cases where close family members become involved in narcotics crimes, forming so-called “family schemes”, The Caspian Post reports via Kazakh media.

Recent incidents highlight the scale of the problem. In Almaty, police detained two brothers transporting nearly one kilogram of synthetic drugs. Investigators say the elder sibling, who had prior legal issues, pulled his younger brother into the operation.

In the Almaty Region, police officers shut down a drug lab run by other brothers. Officers discovered 102 pots of marijuana with a total weight of 61 kilograms, along with cultivation equipment.

In a separate case in Almaty, a man used his sister’s apartment to package drugs. Police seized more than 100 packets and around 500 grams of mephedrone.

The scale of the crackdown is significant. In just the first 10 days of April, nearly one ton of narcotics was removed from illegal circulation, including over 800 kilograms of synthetic substances. All suspects have been detained, and investigations are ongoing.