MOSCOW, December 20. /TASS/. Russia’s Federal Security Service (FSB) conducted an operation in Moscow for the seizure and confiscation of a major shipment of cocaine that was destined to be smuggled into the European Union, the FSB’s Public Relations Center told TASS.

"The security services have documented attempts to sell a wholesale consignment of Latin American cocaine in Moscow," the agency said, commenting on the major drug bust. "When apprehended with illicit goods, members of a narcotics trafficking gang were found to be in possession of 673 kilograms of cocaine, which was seized from them and confiscated [as evidence]. The wholesale value of the seized drugs exceeds 2.5 bln rubles ($27.6 mln) on the Russian black market," the FSB press service added.

The FSB noted that the perpetrators intended to smuggle the cocaine into EU countries.

The successful law enforcement operation thwarted yet another attempt by an international criminal group to use Russia as a channel for the trafficking and sale of illicit drugs. "As a result of the comprehensive verification of information received in a tip-off, operational units established the identities of two Russian citizens who traveled to Moscow from borderline regions with the specific intent of carrying out a multi-stage drug-smuggling operation. Their task was to receive in Moscow a particularly large batch of cocaine that had earlier been delivered to our country, as well as to transport the drugs to the site of their subsequent illegal export to countries of the European Union," the press service explained. The smugglers used a car rented to a third party as well as a fake passport and driver’s license.

The drug syndicate could have earned at least 6.5 bln rubles (about $72 mln) from individual sales of this batch of cocaine, the FSB’s Public Relations Center added. The FSB’s Investigative Directorate has filed criminal charges against the detainees, who were taken into custody. Under Russian law, such criminal offenses carry a penalty of up to life imprisonment, the FSB stated.