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Presidential Property Department denies special flight unit's involvement in cocaine case

Russian news outlet reported earlier that an aircraft involved in the smuggling of cocaine from Argentina to Russia had the same tail number as an aircraft from Rossiya Special Flight Unit

MOSCOW, February 26. /TASS/. Media reports about Rossiya Special Flight Unit being involved in a cocaine smuggling case are untrue, Russian Presidential Property Department spokesperson Yelena Krylova told TASS.

"This information is untrue," she said.

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Russia’s RBC news outlet reported earlier that an aircraft involved in the smuggling of cocaine from Argentina to Russia had the same tail number as the Ilyushin Il-96 aircraft from the Rossiya Special Flight Unit. RBC cited photos and a video published by the Argentine police, which show some stuff being loaded on an Il-96 aircraft.

The Rossiya Special Flight Unit, which is part of the Russian Presidential Property Department, provides transportation to the country’s top officials.

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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