Nurken Musabayev

Boem · April 16, 2022

Nurken Musabayev
Nurken Musabayev was born in Shakhtinsk, Soviet Kazakhstan on April 11, 1987 to parents Ivan and Didara Musabayeva (nee Zabirova). His older brother, Marat, was born in 1984. Musabayev's father was employed as a chemical engineer and worked out of nearby Karaganda, whereas his mother was a homemaker. Musabayev's paternal grandmother, Svetlana Plotnikova, was an ethnic Russian from the Akmola Region. The Musabayev family prosperity ended once the Soviet Union collapsed in 1991. Musabayev grew up in Karagandy from the age of 6. He lived in Karagandy's poorest neighborhoods while his parents struggled to provide a living for the family.

Early Life
Musabayev came up in the streets of the 28 Micro District in Karagandy. His family inhabited Soviet-era housing blocks which were heavily impacted by street gangs, drug dealing and prostitution. A number of his uncles and several cousins resorted to crime in 1990s Karagandy to make a living. Musabayev himself was introduced to crime by family as a child. Starting at age 10, he worked as a lookout for his uncle's neighborhood burglaries. Eventually, and while struggling at secondary schools, he sold drugs for a local gang within 28 Micro District. Musabayev academically struggled for many years and had problems because of bullying, fighting and disrespecting his teachers. In 2002, at age 15, he was incarcerated at a juvenile prison for drug offenses. He served 6 months as a first-time offender. Little is known of his criminal history after his juvenile prison release. Many of his childhood friends died from homicide and drug overdoses in later years. He completed secondary school in 2004, aged 17.

Working life and criminality
From 2005 - 2007, Musabayev was mobilized (conscripted) into the Kazakh Army. He was stationed in Kaldykorgan (Almaty Region) with the 37th Air Assault Brigade as a paratrooper. Once demobilized, Musabayev moved to the capital Astana for education. He attended post-secondary school in the city under a two year Business Management diploma. However, his school was shuttered due to a lack of funding and poor faculty supports. He wasn't able to graduate as a result, nor transfer to another school. Musabayev was legitimately employed while a student; he worked a corporate internship and summer construction to pay for education. He was unsuccessful with finding clerical work in Astana's business districts after his school's closure.

Over several years, Musabayev was involved with the Russian and Kazakh Mafia in Astana. He was brought into the fold by his cousin, Ahmed Zabirov, while living in the city. Abandoning his education and professional aspirations, Musabayev returned to his old ways as a drug dealer and burglar. He additionally collected drug debts from junkies around Downtown Astana. His criminal affiliation continued for exactly 9 years. Occasional opportunities for foreign employment arose over time, as he had relatives living in Russia, Turkey and the United States. Musabayev twice traveled to Ryazan Oblast, Russia for agriculture and forestry work, and once to Istanbul, Turkey for longshoring. In 2015, he was dispatched to Omsk, Russia from Astana to retrieve a bulk order of illegal firearms on behalf of his Kazakh Mafia organization.

Illegal emigration to the United States
Musabayev had been long invited to Los Santos, SA by two of his cousins, Temir and Rustam Musabayev. The brothers owned an automotive repair shop in Cypress Flats and offered Musabayev employment, should he secure an American work VISA. These invitations coincided with Musabayev's loss of favor among his criminal colleagues in Astana's underworld. In 2019, at the start of an underworld war between rivaling Kazakh organizations (including his own), Musabayev emigrated to the United States using a work VISA. Abruptly leaving Astana during a Mafia war was treated as desertion by his own organization. While in Los Santos, he worked with and for his cousins at their vehicle repair business. Over the years, he developed drug problems with psychedelics and amphetamines.

Musabayev was harbored by his cousins after he overstayed his work VISA, which rendered him an illegal immigrant. While living in Eastside Los Santos, they removed him from the home once his drug addiction became too severe. He's been living in the streets while unemployed ever since, selling drugs with other emigrant drug addicts. He's known to hang around Little Seoul, where he's been involved with numerous public disturbances, drug deals and police run-ins. He leads a lowkey lifestyle as an illegal immigrant in Los Santos.