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FSB prevents smuggling 1,750 kg of cocaine worth over $240 mln

As a result of analyzing data received from foreign partners, on August 29, 2025, a total of 1,500 bricks with drugs were found in a container that arrived with a shipment of bananas on the Cool Emerald ship from the Republic of Ecuador to St. Petersburg

MOSCOW, September 19. /TASS/. Federal Security Service (FSB) officers, in cooperation with the Russian Federal Customs Service, have thwarted a smuggling operation attempting to deliver a shipment of cocaine weighing 1,750 kg from Latin America to Russia, with an estimated value exceeding 20 billion rubles ($240 million), the FSB reported.

"The Russian Federal Security Service, in cooperation with the Russian Federal Customs Service, has prevented a smuggling operation aimed at delivering an especially large shipment of cocaine from Latin America to Russia by sea. As a result of analyzing data received from foreign partners, on August 29, 2025, a total of 1,500 bricks with drugs were found in a container that arrived with a shipment of bananas on the Cool Emerald ship from the Republic of Ecuador to St. Petersburg. There were 1,500 bricks containing the narcotic substance 'cocaine' with a total weight of 1,750 kg with packaging (net weight was 1,515 kg)," the press service said.

The estimated black-market value of the seized drugs exceeds 20 billion rubles ($240 million).

The Baltic Customs Service has initiated a criminal case under Article 229.1, Part 4, clause "b" of the Russian Criminal Code (smuggling of drugs on an especially large scale). A series of operational and investigative measures are underway to identify and detain all participants in the trafficking operation.

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