MOSCOW, January 20. /TASS/. A court in Moscow sentenced the defendants in the case of the shipment of cocaine from Argentina to Russia and Europe to between 13 and 18 years in prison. According to the court’s press office, the main defendant, Andrey Kovalchuk, who pretended to be a Russian intelligence employee, was sentenced to 18 years behind bars and was fined 1.8 million rubles ($23,490).

"The court found Kovalchuk guilty and sentenced him to 18 years in prison and a fine of 1.8 million rubles via partial summation of penalties," the press office said.

Other defendants also received sentences: Abyanov - to 17 years in prison and a 1.6 million ruble fine; Kalmykov - to 16 years in prison and a 1 million ruble fine; Khudjamov - to 13 years in prison and a 900,000 ruble fine. The sentence has not yet entered into effect and is subject to appeal.

The court began hearings in November, 2020. Later, the court dismissed the bench as one of Kovalchuk’s lawyers’ competence was not confirmed. During the hearing, Russian Ambassador to Mexico and ex-Ambassador to Argentina Viktor Koronelli testified in the court.

The criminal case was initiated by the Investigative Department of the Russian Ministry of the Interior on November 15, 2017. In late February, 2018, the Russian Foreign Ministry announced the "12 queens" joint operation of Russian and Argentine law enforcement. According to the Ministry, a 367-kg batch of cocaine was discovered in the Russian Embassy building, belonging to Ali Abyanov - a technical mission employee, who had already completed his tour of duty by then.

During the investigation, three suspects - Vladimir Kalmykov, Ishtimir Khudjamov and Ali Abyanov were detained in Russia, and two more were detained in Argentina. The suspected mastermind, Andrey Kovalchuk, was detained in Germany.