"You Can't Buy Freedom with Money": 200 Kostanay Students Hear Repentance from Former Drug Dealers
As part of the implementation of the "Law and Order" principle, an event was held in the Kostanay Region Police Department, which brought together more than 200 students from local colleges. The initiators of the meeting were employees of the Drug Crime Control Board.
The Head of the Department, Daniyar Dandybaev, voiced alarming statistics on the detention of drug couriers. In his speech, he noted that over the past three years, there has been an active increase in synthetic drugs in the region.
"Last year alone, 332 offenses related to drug trafficking were registered in the Kostanay Region. The total weight of the seized substances was about 260 kilograms," Dandybaev said.
He also emphasized that most drug dealers are young people aged 18 to 25 who are drawn into criminal activity via the Internet, promising quick money and impunity. However, in reality, things are different: many of the "easy" money-makers become drug addicts and are eventually brought to criminal responsibility.
Senior detective of the same Department, Aigul Eradilova, reminded students about criminal liability for drug-related crimes, as well as the serious impact of synthetic substances on the body of a young person. The actions of "stashers" are punishable by a sentence of 5 years to life imprisonment.
After the official part, the students watched several instructive videos, and the culmination of the event was a teleconference with former Kostanay students convicted of drug crimes.
They shared their experiences via Skype and talked about how their lives changed after they ended up in prison.
The story of Angelina Antipenko and Anastasia Savostyanova shocked the entire region. In January 2023, the girls were detained while trying to make another drug stash in the entrance of a building. At the time of their arrest, 50 bags of drugs were confiscated from them, as well as large amounts of substances in the apartment. Both girls, who were only 19 years old, were sentenced to 10 years in prison for transporting, storing and selling synthetic drugs.
The students actively asked the girls questions. "How did you become drug couriers? How long did it take and how much money did you earn?" asked one of the participants.
Angelina said that they were offered a job through a Telegram channel, and within four months they earned 2 million tenge, which they spent on paying off debts. However, when they tried to "quit", they began to intimidate them with threats to their families.
"What are your current living conditions? Do you work?" asked another student. "We work so as not to isolate ourselves. There is a canteen, a bakery, a sewing workshop. For entertainment, there is a TV, a chess club, backgammon," the girls answered.
When asked about visits from relatives, they said that they can see their relatives for long visits once every six months, and for short ones - once a month, if they do not violate the conditions of detention. They also mentioned that they can be released on parole after serving 7 years out of 10 for good behavior.
The most important question was: "Were the 2 million tenge earned from stashes worth 10 years of imprisonment?" Both girls answered this unequivocally: "You can't buy freedom with money. Money is water. We realized this while we were here, behind bars. It would be better to find a normal job and slowly pay off our debts."
At the end of the meeting, Angelina and Anastasia gave the students some advice: "Don't trust dubious channels in Telegram, look for a legal way to earn money. Don't repeat our mistakes."
The event's organizers hope that this non-standard format of preventive work will help students understand all the risks associated with drugs and make the right choice in their lives.