21.07.2012
One of these days a criminal case against 9 members of a criminal group providing a sustainable supply chain of delivery of drugs from Ecuador to Russia was taken to court. For ten years they regularly sent cocaine in containers with bananas going through Saint Petersburg.
By the moment, the criminals are charged of smuggling 70 kg. of cocaine, its total price is approximately $ 85. However, criminal investigators assume that the real amount of transported cocaine is several times more. The investigation revealed that money for the drugs made about 7% of all money transfer from Russia to Ecuador.
Drug police got a tip about the existence of the group in 2002. The group was amazingly well organized. Each its member was very well trained and was in good shape. The scheme of drugs delivery was well-oiled. A member of the group used to receive cocaine from local manufacturers in Ecuador and sent it to Russia in packages hidden in containers with various cargo, mostly bananas. Specially trained people in Russia used to take “the goods” for a fee of $5,000 -10,000 and transported them to the gang’s storage place.
Deputy chief of Prevention of Smuggling Head Department of the Federal Customs Service of Russia Vladimir Charykov explained the difficulties of catching drugs mules in the following way: “The length of the ship is not less than 100 meters, it is as high as 6 storey building. It’s a very big ship, so we are unable to inspectall the containers. Once, following a tip, we had to examine all 160 containers. It took us 6 days to do it.” It’s noteworthy that a kilo of cocaine costs about $2,000 in Ecuador, but after it’s delivered to Russia, it costs 500 times more, about 50,000 – 60,000 euro per kilo. Besides, drug dealer never sell cocaine in its pure form, they always blend it with other substances. So, “European cocaine” contains only 40% of pure cocaine and “Russian cocaine” contains no more than 15% of pure cocaine.
