In the Moscow City Court fell apart the case of smuggling half a ton of cocaine from Ecuador

All defendants were acquitted by the jury

The consideration of the case on the supply of large consignments of cocaine from Ecuador to Russia ended in a complete fiasco for the investigation. None of the five suspected drug traffickers will be punished.

Employees of the Ministry of Internal Affairs exposed the smugglers in April 2019. Then a large consignment of cocaine was seized in the seaport of St. Petersburg. It turned out that the supply of “coke” came from Ecuador for six years. Criminal cargo was hidden in the technical cavities of containers or among exotic fruits. In total, 472 kg of cocaine came from the Latin American country during this period.

Employees of the Ministry of Internal Affairs, the Federal Security Service and customs were involved in the investigative actions in the case of drug dealers. The investigation lasted more than two years, the criminal case amounted to 255 volumes, the indictment – 44 volumes. Lithuanian citizen Igoras Grigas, two of his compatriots and two Russians were detained on suspicion of smuggling. Initially, the case was to be heard in the city on the Neva, but the Prosecutor General’s Office petitioned the Supreme Court to change jurisdiction. The prosecutors feared that the St. Petersburg jury would be put under pressure and the case would eventually fall apart.

The process was moved to Moscow, but it did not help. On Wednesday, the Moscow City Court acquitted the defendants in a drug smuggling case based on a jury verdict. Only Grigas was found guilty of illegally crossing the border and sentenced to 5.5 years in prison, but he had already served this term while in jail.