MOSCOW, February 26. /TASS/. The organizer of an attempt to smuggle more than 360 kilograms of cocaine from Argentina to Europe and Russia is in hiding in Germany, Russia’s federal security service FSB said on Monday, adding that the person was on an international wanted list.
"Russia’s federal security service FSB and Interior Ministry and Argentina’s National Gendarmerie starting from December 2016 carried out joint detective work in relation to members of an international crime ring involved in organizing a smuggling channel for delivering large batches of cocaine from Latin America to Russia and a number of European countries," the FSB’s public relations department said.
The crime ring’s members have been identified and documentary evidence of their criminal activity gathered, the FSB said. The evidence available was enough for the Interior Ministry’s Investigative Department to open a criminal case over gross drug smuggling and trafficking.
Five suspects have been detained in Russia and Argentina by now.
"As a result of an international operation in Moscow in December 2017 three Russians were detained in Moscow at the moment they were receiving a large batch of narcotic drugs, substituted for dummies in advance. They were accused of the aforesaid crimes and remanded in custody. More than 362 kilograms of cocaine was seized," the FSB said.
In the second phase of the joint operation in Argentina local law enforcers detained two local citizens involved in the drug smuggling ring, the FBS said.
"Currently work is in progress to indict the organizer of the crime ring, who is in hiding in Germany and whose name is on Interpol’s international wanted list," the FSB said.