MOSCOW, February 21 (RIA Novosti) – Russian law enforcement officers seized 70 kilograms of narcotics at Moscow’s Domodedovo Airport from baggage originating in Peru, the country’s customs service said Friday.
While searching passengers’ luggage, customs officers found almost 400 tea bags filled with coca leaves and 65 liters of dissolved dimethyltryptamine (DMT) in 26 bottles, according to a statement by the Federal Customs Service.
Coca tea, a popular and legal beverage in western South America, contains much lower levels of the euphoric alkaloids found in cocaine than in its refined form used recreationally across the world.
DMT is a naturally-occurring psychedelic derived from plant roots and bark and is found in the ayahuasca or yage drink taken by indigenous Amazonian peoples for traditional shamanic rituals.
The statement added that the suspected smugglers were Ukrainians and Russians traveling from Lima to Moscow via London and Madrid.
