Hearings open in case of Russian cocaine ring in Argentina

MOSCOW – A Moscow court has opened preliminary hearings in the case of suspects accused of attempting to smuggle nearly half a ton of cocaine in diplomatic baggage from Argentina to Russia.

Russian and Argentine officials pooled efforts to catch the suspected drug smugglers after at least 12 bags with cocaine with a street value of about $61 million were found at a Russian Embassy school in the Argentine capital in December 2016.

The authorities ran a joint sting operation to nab the ring that included a Russian businessman and an employee at the Russian Embassy in Buenos Aires.

On Friday, the suspected ringleader, Andrei Kovalchuk, faced a preliminary hearing in Moscow along with three other suspects. They have denied the accusations.