In Kazakhstan, 69 minors have been detained in drug crime cases. Of these, 40 teenagers were charged with drug trafficking, 27 with storage in especially large amounts, and two more with advertising and promoting banned substances. This was reported by Qazaqyia.kz citing Kursiv Media.
Among those detained are 52 boys and 17 girls. The data was released by the Ministry of Internal Affairs.
Appeal to parents
The ministry appealed to parents and legal representatives to monitor changes in children's behavior more closely. Bakhtyzhan Amirkhanov, head of the department at the Ministry of Internal Affairs' Committee for Combating Drug Crime, named the signs that may indicate a teenager's involvement in illegal drug trafficking.
"You should be especially alarmed by: the sudden appearance of money or expensive items, secrecy in the phone and correspondence, suspicious screenshots of various objects," Amirkhanov said.
According to him, packages, small bags, duct tape or electronic scales found on a teenager can also be a reason to pay attention to the situation. The Interior Ministry representative advised parents to take an interest in how the child spends free time, who they communicate with in messengers and who they follow on social networks.
Amirkhanov recalled that criminal liability for drug crimes begins at the age of 16, and urged parents to participate in the legal education of children.
Preventive measures
Since the start of the new school year, police have held 16,000 preventive events in almost all schools and other educational institutions in the country. More than 5,000 of them were held with the participation of teachers, psychologists and narcologists.
Earlier, Kursiv wrote that a man in Karaganda was suspected of organizing drug supplies from Thailand. According to the Financial Monitoring Agency, to receive one of the parcels he involved an acquaintance teenager and registered the shipment in his name.