Over 300g hashish seized with stolen Shishkin painting near Minsk
Belarusian drug police detained couriers on a Russia-to-Belarus drug channel in Zhdanovichi and seized over 300 grams of hashish alongside other drugs. Officers also recovered a painting preliminarily identified as Shishkin's Forest, stolen from a Russian museum in 2013.
Belarusian drug police detained suspected drug couriers who were bringing drugs
from Russia into Belarus, seizing drugs and a painting.[1]The detention took
place on 16 January, when the drugs had arrived in Belarus, with support from
Almaz special forces.[2]Officers searched a garage rented by the alleged
organiser, a 36-year-old resident of the agrotown Zhdanovichi.[2]
In the garage officers seized over 300 grams of hashish, reported as the
cannabis part of the haul.[1]The Current Time account rounds the same haul to
300 grams of hashish.[3]Alongside the hashish, officers also seized cocaine
and ecstasy tablets, which are not counted as cannabis here.[1]
In the couriers’ car officers found a painting bearing the inscription I.
Shishkin 1897.[1]The painting was preliminarily identified as Ivan Shishkin’s
Forest (Les. Eli), stolen in 2013 from the Vyazniki history and art museum in
Vladimir region.[1]Police said the painting had been brought to Belarus to be
shown to a potential European buyer, but no deal was reached, and it was to be
taken to Moscow for sale for 100,000 euros and cocaine.[1]The Interior
Ministry said specialists estimated the painting could reach 2 million dollars
at auction.[1]
Case data
Every number and detail the sources state, with the sources that state it.
Интерфаксinterfax.ruRUВ Белоруссии у наркоторговцев нашли картину Шишкина стоимостью $2 млн
Настоящее Времяcurrenttime.tvRUШишкин в обмен на наркотики: милиция Беларуси изъяла картину у наркодилеров, торговавших с Россией
Open questions the AI reported
The hashish amount is given as over 300 grams by BBC and Interfax and rounded to 300 grams by Current Time; 0.3 kg is used as the minimum supported amount.
No exact number of detained people is given; reports refer to couriers and a 36-year-old organiser without stating how many were held.
No charges, pleas or court outcome are reported in the opened sources.
The painting's attribution to Shishkin was preliminary and subject to a month-long museum examination; no final authentication result is in these sources.
Vitebsk customs stopped two Belarusian drivers bringing marijuana in from Russia, one in a Ford Transit and one who had hidden a package in a deodorant bottle. Forensic tests confirmed marijuana, and customs opened criminal cases that carry up to seven years in prison.
Belarus's Operational Customs seized about 2 kg of hashish that had been brought in from Poland hidden in a gearbox housing. Investigators said the intended recipients were two minors, and a criminal case carrying up to 10 years was opened against one of the couriers.
Belarus officers detained a 66-year-old courier in Skidel after he collected balloon-delivered drugs in a forest, seizing 11 kg of hashish from his car and 14 kg more from a nearby cache. A separate balloon recovered from a fish-farm pond in Grodno District held 326 bricks of hashish with GPS trackers and a Lithuanian SIM card.
Belarusian customs found 100 briquettes holding 260 kg of hashish in a Polish carrier's truck that arrived at the Berezovitsa border crossing from Poland in February 2026. A 41-year-old Russian citizen was detained as the consignee after joint work with Russian customs, and Belarusian and Russian customs opened criminal cases.
