Russia Arrests Suspected Members of Colombia's Infamous Cartels, Seizes $55 Million in Cocaine Heading to Europe

Russia said on Friday that it had arrested suspected members from Colombia cartel trying to bring tens of millions of dollars worth of cocaine into Europe.

The suspects were caught loading 570 kilograms (1,250 pounds) of the illegal substance into a ship intended for shipment to the European Union, according to Russia's FSB security services.

The FSB said the smugglers brought the drugs into Russia from Peru hidden in a vehicle, and were members of a notorious Colombian cartel. The Cali Quarter.

“570 kilograms of cocaine were seized, the wholesale value of which on the Russian black market is 1.5 billion rubles, the retail value of which exceeds 5.5 billion rubles ($55 million),” the FSB said in its statement on her website.

Colombia is the largest producer and exporter of cocaine in the world, especially to the United States and Europe.

Last year, the South American country set a new record for the production of cocaine and the cultivation of the coca leaf from which the drug is made.

Russia has a zero-tolerance policy on drug use and smuggling, handing out heavy sentences to those convicted of trafficking in small amounts of narcotics.

Russian customs seized nearly three tons of cocaine in the first nine months of the year, according to authorities.

“This is already the fifth batch of Latin American cocaine that has been seized by security agencies this year on the territory of​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​,​​​​,​​​​​​,​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​,​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​frontGeach.

The Cali cartel controlled up to 80 percent of the cocaine trade to the United States at its peak in the mid-1990s, according to US authorities. In 2022, he was the head of the Cali cartel death in prison in North Carolina.

The seizure of drugs linked to Europe by Russian authorities was announced one day later Portuguese police said they had dismantled “one of Europe's largest cocaine laboratories” as part of an operation that led to the arrest of seven people and the seizure of around 1,500 kilograms of the drug. The investigation was launched a year ago after information from Colombian, Spanish and US authorities.

Last week, the police in the Balkans arrested 11 accused members of a criminal syndicate responsible for smuggling cocaine from South America to Europe. Among those arrested was a suspect who is also wanted for his alleged membership in the celebrity “Pink panthers“Jewel heist gang.