MOSCOW, January 21. /TASS/.  St. Petersburg police and customs officials unearth about 50 kg of cocaine in a refrigerator packed with bananas from Ecuador, Russian Interior Ministry Spokeswoman Irina Volk told TASS. 

“A stash of narcotic substances weighing about 50 kg was found during an examination of a refrigerator container in a customs terminal near the Shushary railroad station in St. Petersburg. The head inspector found that the bricks contained cocaine,” Volk said.

The drugs were packed in 47 bricks and stuffed under the container’s lid, where boxes with bananas were placed, she said. “The goods came to Russia by a sea route from the Republic of Ecuador,” the Interior Ministry spokeswoman noted.

The drugs were found by employees of the Narcotics Control Department of the Russian Interior Ministry’s Directorate for Transport Management in the North-Western Federal District in cooperation with colleagues from the North-Western Operational Customs House. Based on the evidence, charges are being pressed under Part 5 Section 228.1 of the Russian Criminal Code (“The illegal production, sale and transfer of large batches of narcotic substances”). In addition, a criminal case under Section 229.1 of the Russian Criminal Code (“Smuggling narcotic substances”) is pending. “Actions are being carried out to identify the people involved in the drug trafficking and detain them,” Volk noted.