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Joint Russia-Belarus operation seizes 135 kg of hashish in huge drug bust

According to the Russian Federal Customs Service, the drugs were being transported from EU countries via Belarus in a big rig equipped with sophisticated hidden compartments

MOSCOW, December 23. /TASS/. The Russian Federal Customs Service, the Federal Security Service, and the Interior Ministry, along with Belarusian customs officers, stopped the attempted smuggling of more than 135 kilograms of hashish into Russia, the press service reported.

"Employees of Russia’s Federal Customs Service, the Federal Security Service, and the Interior Ministry, along with the Belarusian State Customs Committee, thwarted the activities of a transnational criminal network that supplied large quantities of hashish into Russia. Once the criminal enterprise became known, authorities were able to detect and detain a cargo truck transporting over 135 kilograms of hashish. Its street value is over 400 million rubles (approximately 5.09 million dollars)," the statement said.

According to the Russian Federal Customs Service, the drugs were being transported from EU countries via Belarus in a big rig equipped with sophisticated hidden compartments. "Eight members of the organized criminal network, which included Russian and Belarusian citizens, were detained: regular members, accomplices, and drug recipients," the press service noted.

The Russian Interior Ministry launched criminal cases for selling narcotic drugs by an organized criminal group in substantial quantities, as well as attempted large-scale drug trafficking. These crimes carry a punishment of up to life imprisonment.

According to Russian Interior Ministry Spokeswoman Irina Volk, the criminal network members were detained. Those detained in Belarus will also be tried for complicity in drug smuggling.

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