MOSCOW, August 17. /TASS/. The police have detained one of the suspected leaders of an international drug trafficking ring that delivered narcotic drugs from South America to Russia, Interior Ministry’s spokeswoman Irina Volk told the media on Tuesday. 

Russia’s Interior Ministry in cooperation with foreign partners carried out a joint operation in which one of the suspected leaders of a crime ring was detained in Medellin, Colombia, Volk said.

The detained Russian is suspected of creating a smuggling scheme to bring narcotic drugs from South America via Spain to Russia.

"The police are now probing into his likely contacts with Colombian drug cartels," Volk said. A decision on his extradition to Russia is to be made. The detainee is now in custody.

Last April, Russian police detained six drug trafficking ring members in St. Petersburg and the Kursk and Belgorod regions. Eighteen searches were made and 130 kilograms of various narcotic drugs, such as cocaine, MDMA, LSD, hashish and hashish oil, was seized. Criminal proceedings have been launched against all of them. All suspects are under arrest. Three suspected accomplices are on the in international wanted list.