Six held over cannabis grown in four rented St Petersburg flats; 162 plants seized
Police in St Petersburg detained six men accused of growing cannabis in four rented flats and seized 162 plants and about 18.1 kg of plant material. Four criminal cases were opened for attempted drug sale, and the men were held for 48 hours pending a restraint decision.
🇷🇺 St Petersburg (flats on Zdorovtseva, Planernaya and Ivanovskaya streets and Leninsky Prospekt) · Russia
Police in St Petersburg detained six local men aged 30 to 40 suspected of
growing and selling drug-containing plants.[1]Three of the detained men
allegedly cultivated the plants while the other three packed and sold the banned
substances.[2]Four criminal cases were opened against the detainees for
attempted illegal production, sale or shipment of narcotics.[3]The men were
held for 48 hours in a temporary detention facility awaiting a restraint
decision.[2]
The men had rented four flats on Zdorovtseva, Planernaya and Ivanovskaya streets
and Leninsky Prospekt, where they grew cannabis for production and sale.[1]Officers seized 162 cannabis bushes, about 16.5 kg of plant parts and
cultivation equipment from the rented flats.[2]Officers also seized 1.6 kg of
dried plants at the men’s residences and found more than 100 g of ready
substances described as cannabis, hashish and cocaine, with some powders sent
for examination.[3]The operation was run by the Interior Ministry’s
drug-control directorate for St Petersburg and Leningrad Oblast together with
Vasileostrovsky district police.[1]
Photos and video
Police operational video of the cannabis grow operation in the rented flats. Video: GU MVD Russia for St Petersburg and Leningrad Oblast via 47channel. Source: 47channelSeized cannabis plants from the rented flats in the police handout photo. Photo: GU MVD for St Petersburg and Leningrad Oblast via Fontanka.Photo details
No separate date is given for the detentions or searches; 3 April 2026 is the publication and police-report date and is used as the incident date.
The reported 16.5 kg and 1.6 kg are stated as about and as dried plants or plant parts, so the recorded 18.1 kg is their sum; the additional 100 g-plus of cannabis, hashish and cocaine cannot be separated into cannabis and is excluded.
The men's names were not published and no court outcome was reported; they were held for 48 hours pending a restraint decision.
No value estimate for the seized cannabis was published.
Police in Kaliningrad detained a 32-year-old man accused of growing cannabis at a plot in Kutaisky Lane and preparing it for sale. Officers seized 153.6 grams of the drug and eight cannabis bushes, and a criminal case for attempted large-scale drug sale was opened.
Police in Belokalitvinsky District, Rostov Oblast, detained a 72-year-old man suspected of using and storing cannabis and seized more than four kilograms from his home. He told them he grew the plants from wild cannabis seeds to smoke for his bronchial asthma, and a criminal case was opened under part 2 of article 228.
Police in Naberezhnye Chelny detained a 45-year-old man and found two indoor grow boxes, with examinations identifying 451.04 g of cannabis and 69.86 g of marijuana. A criminal case was opened under part 2 of article 228, carrying up to 10 years' imprisonment, while refusal of a medical test brought five days of administrative arrest.
Sevastopol drug police detained a 43-year-old man who they said stored and packed drugs and laid master stashes for an online shop, and seized a 1.3 kg pressed cannabis briquette from his rented garage. Officers also found single doses of marijuana and amphetamine at his rented house and about a kilogram of mephedrone in a woodland stash near Inkerman; a court ordered him held in custody.
