A criminal movement that beats up drug couriers appeared in Russia

A shadowy movement of "sportics" is gaining momentum in Russia, who beat up drug pawnbrokers for money, Izvestia found out. They act on orders from drug shops and brutally crack down on those who "dump" stores and appropriate money or drugs for themselves. The evidence of the "work" performed is captured on video and sent to the customers, who send money in return.

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The members of these squads are physically well prepared, which is why they are called "sporties". In addition to physical violence, which sometimes ends in death, they set fire to the victims' cars and throw pig heads to their relatives.

The most recent such story occurred on March 12 of this year, when a drug courier was beaten to death by "sportics". Everything happened on the territory of the Butovo Forest Park in Moscow, where the body of a man with signs of violent death was found, Izvestia was told in the capital's Investigative Committee.

A criminal case has been opened on intentional infliction of serious harm to health, which negligently resulted in the death of the victim. Four teenagers between the ages of 14 and 18 were detained in the case, who allegedly "fulfilled the order." Investigators are looking for other accomplices in the crime.

Izvestia has counted about two dozen cases of people being beaten with "sports" over the past two years in Moscow, the Moscow region, Pervouralsk, Berezniki, Yekaterinburg, Novokuznetsk and other cities.

The "sportik" criminal movement appeared in response to new drug trafficking mechanisms — more and more drug transactions began to be carried out through bookmarks, Egor Panin, partner of the Avex Yust law firm, told Izvestia.

The Sportics do not fight drug trafficking or drug addicts. They chose the role of the drug business's "security service" and became part of its structure. Their actions have a pragmatic approach to becoming an integral part of the criminal business," the expert said.

Read more in the exclusive Izvestia article:

Danger Service: how "sporties" became a regular structure of drug shops