BISHKEK -- A well-known Kyrgyz crime boss, Almambet Anapiyaev, has been found dead in the Belarusian capital, Minsk.
Kyrgyz Interior Ministry official Mirlan Kanimetov said Anapiyaev’s body was found with stab wounds and a fake Russian passport.
He didn’t provide further details.
The U.S. Treasury Department imposed sanctions on Anapiyaev, 41, in December 2012, saying that he was a member of the Brothers' Circle Eurasian crime syndicate.
According to unconfirmed reports, Anapiyaev had been residing in the United Arab Emirates since 2010, the year when former Kyrgyz President Kurmanbek Bakiev was toppled by violent antigovernment protests.
Anapiyaev was wanted in Kyrgyzstan for suspected links to high-profile political murders during Bakiev's ruling.
Bakiev and some of his relatives have been living in Minsk since 2010.
