The state prosecutor asked the court to sentence the accused in the Argentine cocaine case to terms ranging from 15 to 19 years. Lawyer Sergei Yurosh said that the defense would insist on an acquittal. According to the official version, Russia and Argentina carried out a joint operation in 2017, during which they found 367 kg of cocaine in one of the buildings of the Russian embassy in Buenos Aires.
The state prosecution requested for Andrei Kovalchuk, who is accused of organizing a scheme for the supply of cocaine, 19 years in a strict regime colony and a fine of 1.8 million rubles. The Dorogomilovsky court of Moscow told Interfax that other defendants in the case – Ishimir Khudzhamov, Viktor Kalmykov and Ali Abyanov – were requested from 15 to 18 years in prison and fines of 1.5 million rubles. to each.
On December 13, the jury issued a guilty verdict against all the defendants in the case. At the same time, they were recognized as deserving of leniency, because of which they can avoid life imprisonment.
The Russian Foreign Ministry previously stated that the drugs found in the embassy building belonged to Ali Abyanov, the former manager of the diplomatic mission. Andrey Kovalchuk is considered the organizer of the criminal group. He argued that what had happened to him was “a provocation of the Argentine and American special services against Russia.”
About the decision of the jury – in the material “Kommersant” “The jury appreciated the Argentinean cocaine.”
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