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Russian court arrests 3 people accused of smuggling cocaine from Argentina

The Russian Foreign Ministry said earlier that Russian and Argentine law enforcement agencies had carried out a joint operation to prevent the smuggling of a large shipment of cocaine to Europe

MOSCOW, February 26. /TASS/. Moscow’s Tverskoi District Court has arrested three defendants accused of smuggling a large shipment of cocaine from Argentina to Europe, a court spokesperson told TASS.

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"The Tverskoi Court has arrested Khudzhamoyev, Kalmykov and Abyanov. In early February, the court expanded their arrest until April 13," the spokesperson said, adding that the three had been detained in December 2017.

According to court sources, the three have been charged under Articles 228.1.5 and 229.1.4b of the Russian Criminal Code (illegal purchase, possession, transportation and trafficking of drugs).

The Russian Foreign Ministry said earlier that Russian and Argentine law enforcement agencies had carried out a joint operation to prevent the smuggling of a large shipment of cocaine (389 kilos) to Europe. Russian and Argentine nationals were detained during the operation. The Foreign Ministry noted that the drug shipment found on the premises of the Russian embassy in the Argentine capital of Buenos Aires belonged to the embassy’s technical staff member whose period of work at the diplomatic mission had ended by then.

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