RFE/RL: Argentina - Five arrests in Russian Embassy cocaine probe - Feb. 23, 2018

RFE/RL: Argentina – Five arrests in Russian Embassy cocaine probe

Undated handout picture released on February 22, 2018 by Argentina's Security Ministry taken in Buenos Aires during a police sting operation which resulted in the seizure of nearly 400 kilos of cocaine from the Russian embassy in Buenos Aires and arrested several members of a drug trafficking gang.Argentina's Security Minister Patricia Bullrich announced in a press conference on February 22, 2018 that the drugs were discovered in an annex of the embassy. "A gang of narco-criminals was trying to use the diplomatic courier service of the Russian embassy" to ship the drugs to Europe, she said, adding that Russian and Argentine police had decided to mount a sting operation after the Russian ambassador informed them of the drugs find in December 2016. / AFP PHOTO / Argentina's Security Ministry / HO / RESTRICTED TO EDITORIAL USE - MANDATORY CREDIT "AFP PHOTO / ARGENTINA'S SECURITY MINISTRY /HO" - NO MARKETING NO ADVERTISING CAMPAIGNS - DISTRIBUTED AS A SERVICE TO CLIENTS

Photo by AFP

Five suspected members of a drug trafficking ring were arrested in Argentina and Russia as part of a joint police investigation that was launched more than a year ago after 389 kilograms of cocaine were found in the Russian Embassy in Buenos Aires, Argentinian officials say.

Argentina’s Security Minister Patricia Bullrich said that the probe led to the arrest on February 22 of a naturalized Russian who was a member of the police force in Buenos Aires and another citizen of the South American country.