Russian authorities have uncovered the country’s largest haul of cocaine from Latin America this year, hidden beneath a shipment of bananas.
According to the Izvestia newspaper, cocaine smuggling into Russia has surged over the past two years. Traffickers are increasingly using the country as a transit hub, partly due to the inaccessibility of Ukraine’s Odesa port following Russia’s ongoing military offensive.
Russia’s customs service, working in collaboration with the FSB security agency, reported seizing a shipment of cocaine worth more than 12 billion rubles (approximately $153 million). The drugs were concealed in a hidden compartment beneath the bananas and packaged in briquettes bearing the label of a French luxury fashion house.
Authorities said they acted on intelligence received from international counterparts, who had warned of a South American criminal group’s plan to establish a cocaine smuggling route into Russia.
An investigation has been launched into large-scale drug trafficking — an offence that carries a maximum sentence of life imprisonment under Russian law.
Russia enforces a strict zero-tolerance policy on drug offences, routinely imposing lengthy sentences, even for the possession or smuggling of small quantities. Foreign nationals are not exempt from these penalties.