The head of the department's press service Alyona Butakova told RIA Novosti that the criminals specialised in big wholesale heroin deliveries to Irkutsk. The confiscated drug weighted about six and a half kilogrammes. This is the biggest consignment of heroin confiscated by the drug control policemen.
The preparations for the operation lasted for more than six months with the participation of the law enforcement bodies of the Federal Security Service and the Interior Transport Department and of Customs officers. The criminal group consisted of Aerbaijanians, Uzbeks and Russians.
According to the preliminary estimates of the drug control's experts, the confiscated heroin is of a high concentration, which would have made it possible for the dealers to "dilute" it approximately by half.
The total cost of the withdrawn drug is estimated at more than six million roubles (1 dollar = some 29 roubles).
A criminal case has been launched, the investigation is going on. The articles of the Criminal Code under which the detained have been accused provide for eight to 20 years of imprisonment.
