Belarusian customs officers intercepted an international shipment of drugs and psychotropic substances from the European Union into the Eurasian Economic Union with a total weight of about 1.3 tonnes.[1][2] Operational Customs officers decided to inspect the Polish carrier’s truck thoroughly after scanning its contents with an inspection-and-screening complex.[3] Belarusian and Russian customs officers then carried out joint follow-up operational-search measures because the load was to proceed to Russia after clearance.[1][2] Officers identified and detained members of an international criminal group who are citizens of the European Union, Belarus, Russia and Moldova.[1][2][4] Belarusian Operational Customs and Russia’s Federal Customs Service opened criminal smuggling cases carrying up to 20 years’ imprisonment.[3][2][4]

The smugglers declared the load as mineral water and placed several dozen real water bottles in the truck as cover.[1][2] The truck held 8,000 briquettes containing 915 kg of hashish, the separately supported cannabis component recorded here.[1][2][4] The same truck held 50 boxes containing 367 kg of mephedrone, which is left out of cannabis figures.[3][2][4] Searches of the detained suspects seized about 5 kg more of hashish and mephedrone combined, which cannot be separated by substance.[1]

Customs described the seizure as the largest international drug and psychotropic supply in the history of sovereign Belarus.[3][4] Specialists valued the combined seized shipment at about 62 million United States dollars on the black market.[1][2][4] Authorities said the combined quantity would have yielded almost 2,933,000 single doses.[1][2]