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Austria extradites to Russia notorious ringleader of crime gang

Aslan Gagiyev's gang is responsible for at least 40 murders

© EPA/WALLACE WOON

MOSCOW, June 20. /TASS/. An accused ringleader of a North Ossetian organized crime gang Aslan Gagiyev (nicknamed Jaco) has been extradited from Austria to Russia.

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The gang committed over 40 murders, assassination attempts against law enforcement officers and attempted murders in Moscow, the Moscow region and North Ossetia.

"Gagiyev, born in 1971, has been extradited from Vienna to Moscow, escorted by representatives from the Russian Interior Ministry’s National Central Bureau of Interpol and the Federal Penitentiary Service of Russia," Interior Ministry’s Spokesperson Irina Volk told TASS on Wednesday.

She said Gagiyev is accused under several articles of the Russian Criminal Code, including ‘Setting up a criminal gang’, ‘Banditism’, ‘Murder’, ‘Illegal trafficking of weapons’ and ‘Fraud’.

Gagiyev case

Gagiyev was detained in Vienna in January 2015 on the basis of an international arrest warrant issued by Interpol’s Moscow office. In Russia, Gagiyev is accused of initiating a crime gang, carrying out and organizing murders.

His mobsters are responsible for dozens of murders, including the assassination of Vladikavkaz Mayor Vitaly Karayev and North Ossetian Vice Premier Kazbek Pagiyev. This criminal mob cobbled together and led by Gagiyev, started its crime wave in 2004 with more than 46 members. The gang committed over 40 murders, assassination attempts against law enforcement officers and attempted murders in Moscow, the Moscow region and North Ossetia.

As of the present moment, a number of gang members have been sentenced to long terms in prison, while the leader of one of the criminal groups subordinated to the crime gang, Oleg Gagiyev, has been sentenced for life.

Sixteen people are in custody, and 13 were put on the international and federal wanted lists. Four of them, including Aslan Gagiyev, were detained in foreign countries and are facing an extradition.

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