Two More Internet Drug Dealers Arrested in Russia

As a result of an ongoing operation into drug trafficking on the area, the Federal Drug Control Service of the Russian Federation (FSKN) arrested two members of a group responsible for the production and distribution of amphetamine in St. Petersburg. The two suspects sold their products through an online drug store.

The FSKN identified an organized crime ring operating out of St. Petersburg, a Russian port city. In late May, officials in the Leningrad region annoyed the arrests statistics for arrests in the Leningrad region and St. Petersburg in particular. The arrests were a part of an ongoing and permanent operation in the Northwestern Federal District. (The Children of Russia 2017 campaign is not exclusive to the Northwestern Federal District, but this specific operation was linked to the 11 regions within it. Other Districts are currently running their own operations and campaigns.)

As of the latest announcement, the operation (start date unknown) led to the arrest of 457 people. As many as 90 of those were arrested for possession or distribution of substances. Many were minors. The first two weeks of June brought numerous arrests, many of which were of large criminal groups or online vendors—both darknet and clearnet.

One such arrest occurred on June 16; officers identified two suspects of a drug distribution organisation in St. Petersburg. Officers then tracked down a location linked to the suspects. The location in question was an apartment that, according the FSKN, was set up as an amphetamine production center.

Police officers detained both suspects upon the discovery of nearly 300 grams of a mixed amphetamine substance. As seen in several other arrests region—in connection with the ongoing investigation—both suspects were young. The first suspect was only 22-years-old and the second was 24-years-old. A week and a half prior, law enforcement in the same region completed the case against another 24-year-old for the same crime.

The second 24-year-old also sold methamphetamine, asking with an amphetamine mixture. He was caught with a 28-year-old co-defendant and the two men had a combined weight of 202 grams of amphetamine. They received one count of the illegal sale of narcotics and psychotropic substances in quantities. The most recent two, though, received one count of illegally producing and selling of psychotropic substances.

Officers found all the necessary equipment and materials to produce amphetamine, the press release explained. Both men were arrested and detained but one was assigned a coercive measure as a commitment to appear. Both gave a maximum sentence of life in prison if convicted of production and distribution.

Officials in Leningrad launched a campaign asking for public assistance in catching narcotics dealers. That asked that “anyone [with] information about the consumption of narcotic drugs [or] illicit drug trafficking in the Leningrad region” call a “Drug Free Zone” hotline. Seems they are serious about cracking down on drug trafficking and especially so for online drug markets.