The Specialized Interdistrict Criminal Court of Shymkent, Kazakhstan, has delivered its verdict in a high-profile case involving 18 people accused of organizing and participating in a transnational criminal network engaged in the production and distribution of psychotropic substances, money laundering, and illegal cryptocurrency operations.

The investigation established that a large-scale laboratory manufacturing psychotropic drugs was operating in Shymkent, The Caspian Post reports, citing Kazakh media.

Authorities determined that profits from the illegal sale of these substances were laundered through cryptocurrency transactions and bank cards registered to third parties, enabling the group to conceal the origin of the funds.

The court concluded that both core members of the organized criminal group and their accomplices played active roles in carrying out the scheme.

“Following the trial, 17 defendants were found guilty. The organizer of the drug laboratory was sentenced to 16 years in prison, while the remaining defendants received prison terms ranging from 2.5 to 11 years.

Among those convicted, two individuals were given deferred sentences, one was released under an amnesty, and two others were ordered to pay fines of 11 million tenge each. One defendant was acquitted due to insufficient evidence,” the court stated.