Russia arrests suspected members of infamous Colombia cartel, seizes $55 million of cocaine bound for Europe

Russia stated Friday it had arrested suspected members of a Colombian cartel attempting to smuggle tens of hundreds of thousands of {dollars} value of cocaine into Europe.

The suspects had been caught loading 570 kilograms (1,250 kilos) of the unlawful substance right into a container supposed for cargo to the European Union, based on Russia’s FSB safety providers.

The FSB stated the smugglers introduced the medicine into Russia from Peru hidden in a automobile, and that they had been members of Colombia’s notorious Cali cartel.

“570 kilograms of cocaine had been seized, the wholesale worth of which on the Russian black market is 1.5 billion rubles, the retail worth exceeding 5.5 billion rubles ($55 million),” the FSB stated in a statement on its website.

Colombia is the world’s greatest cocaine producer and exporter, primarily to the US and Europe.

Final 12 months, the South American nation set a brand new report for cocaine manufacturing and cultivation of the coca leaf the drug is made out of.

Russia has a zero tolerance coverage in direction of drug use and smuggling, handing heavy sentences to these convicted of trafficking small quantities of narcotics.

Russian customs seized nearly three tons of cocaine within the first 9 months of the 12 months, based on authorities.

“That is already the fifth batch of Latin American cocaine seized by safety companies this 12 months on Russian territory, supposed for additional transit to EU international locations,” the FSB stated.

The Cali cartel managed as much as 80 % of the cocaine commerce to the US at its peak within the mid-Nineteen Nineties, based on U.S. authorities. In 2022, the previous head of the Cali cartel died in a prison in North Carolina.

The seizure of Europe-bound medicine by Russian authorities was introduced at some point after Portuguese police said that they had dismantled “one of many largest” cocaine laboratories in Europe as a part of an operation that led to seven arrests and the seizure of some 1,500 kilograms of the drug. The investigation was launched a 12 months in the past following data from Colombian, Spanish and U.S. authorities.

Final week, police within the Balkans arrested 11 alleged members of a felony syndicate answerable for smuggling cocaine from South America to Europe. Among the many folks arrested was a suspect who can also be wished for his alleged membership within the infamous “Pink Panthers” jewel heist gang.