US Offers $5Mln For Information On Suspected Kyrgyz Crime Boss Kolbaev - State Dept.

WASHINGTON (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 05th March, 2021) The United States increased to $5 million a reward for information that would facilitate an arrest of suspected Kyrgyz criminal ringleader Kamchybek Kolbaev and disrupt his transnational network's illegal operations, US State Department spokesman Ned price said in a statement.

"Today, the US Department of State announces a reward increase of up to $5 million for information leading to the arrest and/or conviction of Kamchybek Kolbaev and/or for information leading to the disruption of financial mechanisms of Kolbaev's criminal organization," Price said on Thursday.

Earlier, the reward was $1 million. On Wednesday, the US Embassy in Bishkek decried a Kyrgyz court's decision to release Kolbaev from prison.

The State Department describes Kolbaev as a leader of a criminal network based in Central Asia and involved in drug trafficking, arms trafficking, human trafficking, extortion and other crimes.

Kolbaev was designated by the US Treasury Department in February 2012 for acting for or on behalf of the Brothers' Circle, a broader transnational criminal organization composed of leaders and members of several Eurasian criminal groups.