The Moscow City Court acquitted those accused of smuggling cocaine to St. Petersburg

The Moscow City Court acquitted three citizens of Lithuania and two Russians in the criminal case of smuggling almost 500 kilograms of cocaine from Ecuador through the port of St. Petersburg. “Vedomosti” writes about it.

The defendants Ernestas Kazlauskas, Mindaugas Koretsas, Igorys Grigas, Georgy and Ivan Radomirovy were accused of creating an organized criminal group for the purpose of supplying drugs. They were threatened with life terms.

The jury considered the smuggling case. The accused were released in the courtroom.

Grigas, who was considered the creator of a criminal group, was found guilty of illegal border crossing, the court sentenced him to prison and released him.

According to the investigation, the accused created a criminal organization in early 2013 and before their arrest in April 2019 committed 15 serious crimes in the field of illegal drug trafficking, including the smuggling of a large batch of cocaine from Ecuador to St. Petersburg.

The Ministry of Internal Affairs stated that the group used for smuggling almost any container that came with commercial and trade cargo to Russia. They allegedly hid cocaine briquettes in technical compartments of containers or together with packaged fruit.

The criminal case on smuggling included 270 volumes. As part of the investigation, more than 200 witnesses were questioned, more than 50 searches and 150 examinations were conducted.

The interlocutor of “Vedomosti”, a retired former employee of the Ministry of Internal Affairs, admitted that the prosecution was not prepared to work with a jury trial, so the version of the prosecutor’s office looked unconvincing.