Employees of the Federal Security Service of Russia have identified and thwarted the activities of an inter-regional group that organized one of the largest underground online drug stores. This was reported in the Center for Public Relations (CSP) of the FSB.

“As a result of a multi-stage special operation, the Federal Security Service of the Russian Federation suppressed the activities of an organized criminal community specializing in organizing the illegal sale of especially large quantities of drugs using the information and telecommunications network Internet,” the press release said.

So, in the Tver, Voronezh, Moscow, Novosibirsk, Omsk, Orenburg, Saratov, Tyumen, Tomsk and Chelyabinsk regions, representatives of the special services seized 440 kg of drugs (MDMA, a-PVP, mephedrone, hashish). According to experts, the retail value of prohibited funds reaches 650 million rubles.

“During their transportation and marketing seven employees of one of the largest illegal online stores, performing the functions of inter-regional and regional couriers in it, were detained red-handed,” the department explained.

As indicated in the FSB, two detainees were responsible for the delivery of especially large consignments (from 150 to 300 kg) of drugs to large cities of the Central, Volga, Ural and Siberian federal districts from Moscow and St. Petersburg. The remaining five were involved in wholesale sales of narcotic substances in specific regions.

All the detainees were arrested; seven criminal cases were instituted against them on the grounds of crimes stipulated by the fifth part of Article 228.1 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation (illegal production, sale or transfer of narcotic drugs).

“The operational-search and investigative actions are ongoing,” the FSB concluded in the TsOS.

In addition, on Wednesday, November 13, employees of the drug trafficking control department of the Main Directorate of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Russia in the Rostov Region liquidated the drug laboratory in the administrative center of the region. Police officers detained a 34-year-old man who organized the production of synthetic drugs in his compound. Laboratory equipment, ingredients for production, as well as a psychotropic substance weighing more than 5.5 kg, totaling more than 5.5 million rubles, were confiscated from him.

“The suspect admitted that he himself is also addicted to drugs and that he prepares everything he prepares for himself.” A criminal case has been instituted against the detainee under part 3 of article 30 and h. 5 Art. 228.1 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation. The sanction of this article provides for the maximum punishment in the form of life imprisonment, ”the department said.

Putin's order of criminal punishment for drug propaganda on the Internet

In late October, Russian President Vladimir Putin instructed the government to amend legislation to criminalize drug propaganda on the Internet. Currently, for such violations only a fine is provided - up to 5 thousand rubles for individuals, up to 1 million rubles for legal entities. A report on the implementation of the order must be submitted to the head of state by January 10, 2020. The Prime Minister of Russia Dmitry Medvedev has been appointed responsible for the execution.

In addition, a similar period was given to Minister of the Interior Vladimir Kolokoltsev for the implementation of two other instructions. The first relates to the fact that the Ministry of Internal Affairs must resolve the issues of material and personnel support in the fight against drug trafficking via the Internet. The second refers to the anti-drug committee, which should give recommendations on the interaction between regional authorities, social activists and other organizations involved in the fight against drugs.

Note that the Ministry of Internal Affairs is already working on a law on punishment for drug propaganda on the Internet. The corresponding document was published on the federal portal of draft regulatory legal acts on November 6. The project is currently at the public comment stage.

“The draft federal law proposes to establish criminal liability for inducing the consumption or promotion of narcotic drugs, psychotropic substances or their analogues using the information and telecommunication network Internet,” the document justifies.