The Federal Security Service (FSB) of Russia told on Thursday, January 20, about a special operation to detain the defendants in the “Argentine cocaine case”. They were caught during a joint special operation by the FSB, the Foreign Intelligence Service (SVR), the Russian Ministry of Internal Affairs, together with the National Gendarmerie of Argentina, using the “international controlled delivery” method.
Germany also took part in the operation – it helped to detain the organizer of the supplies.
In March 2018, Andrei Kovalchuk, the organizer of the criminal group being developed, was detained in cooperation with law enforcement agencies of Germany, who was later extradited to Russia.
It is noted that at present the FSB of Russia continues to work to bring to justice the accomplices of this case.
On January 20, a court in Moscow announced the verdict on the defendants in the case. The main member of the group, businessman Andrey Kovalchuk, was sentenced to 18 years in prison and fined 1.8 million rubles. The former supply manager of the Russian embassy in Argentina, Ali Abyanov, who, according to the charges, hid suitcases with drugs in the back room of the school at the embassy on Kovalchuk’s order, was sentenced to 17 years and a fine of 1.6 million rubles. Businessmen from Moscow Vladimir Kalmykov and Ishtimir Khudzhamov, who came to pick up cargo at the warehouse of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in the capital of the Russian Federation and were caught red-handed, were sentenced to 16 and 13 years in prison, respectively. Fines for them amounted to 1 million rubles and 900 thousand rubles, respectively.
The verdict has not yet entered into force. The defense of the defendants in the high-profile case already intends to appeal the court’s verdict. According to the lawyer of one of the defendants, Sergei Yurosh, all the defendants still do not plead guilty.
In 2018, the special services of Russia and Argentina stopped the transfer of 389 kg of cocaine to Moscow, which were stored on the territory of the Russian Embassy in Buenos Aires. Russian diplomats told the security forces about the find. According to the defendants, Kovalchuk “misled them” by offering to earn money. The businessman, as they said, presented himself either as an employee of the embassy or as an employee of the special services. The Russian Foreign Ministry stated that he had never worked in the department or in Russian diplomatic missions abroad.
Source: IZ
Jane Stock is a technology author, who has written for 24 Hours World. She writes about the latest in technology news and trends, and is always on the lookout for new and innovative ways to improve his audience’s experience.
