Brest region drug-control officers caught two men in the act, an 18-year-old and a 24-year-old citizen of one of the countries of Central Asia.[1][2] The Interior Ministry press service gave the account to the Belta news agency.[1] Officers established that the young men were wholesale and retail couriers for an online drug shop and had come to Belarus on a curator’s instructions.[1][2] Their task was to collect large batches of the goods, package them and spread them through caches, known as zakladki, across the country.[1][2]

The criminal activity lasted about three weeks.[1][2] Officers found and seized about one kilogram of hashish, described as a dangerous narcotic, on the men and in caches.[1][2] Vladimir Zhigar, head of the Brest regional police drug-control and counter-trafficking unit (UNiPTL), said about a kilogram of hashish had been seized from the men and from caches, and that their activity had lasted about three weeks.[3]

Investigators opened a criminal case for illegal trafficking in narcotics for the purpose of sale.[1][2] The two detainees face up to 15 years in prison.[3][2]