Russian customs officers found more than 15 kg of cocaine in roses from Ecuador

Employees of the Federal Customs Service (FCS) found more than 15.6 kg of cocaine in a truck with floral products that arrived from Ecuador, the press service of the Central Customs Administration of the Russian Federation reported on May 22.

According to law enforcement officials, such a batch of drugs costs about 200 million rubles on the black market. It was established that the recipient of the cargo was a Colombian citizen.

"Acting on the instructions of the curators, he hid cardboard boxes with flowers in a rented garage in the Moscow region. Four polymer bags with white powder were seized there, and four more were seized during a search of the suspect's rented apartment," the press service of the department reported.

A criminal case has been opened under clauses "a" and "b" of Part 4 of Article 229.1 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation ("Smuggling of narcotic drugs committed by an organized group on an especially large scale"). The maximum penalty provided for in the article is life imprisonment.

Wiped out: two brothers convicted in the case of smuggling half a ton of cocaine

Some of the defendants managed to escape after the jury acquitted them.

On May 19, employees of the Federal Customs Service of Russia stopped the smuggling of 1.2 tons of precursors for the production of methadone and 25 kg of pregabalin. The value of the cargo on the black market is over 7 billion rubles. It was established that the illegal cargo was delivered to the Nizhny Novgorod region under the guise of consumer goods, including clothing and cosmetics. A criminal case has been opened under paragraph "b" of Part 4 of Article 229.1 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation ("Smuggling of precursors on an especially large scale") and under Part 1.1 of Article 226.1 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation ("Smuggling of potent substances").