Several Russians detained in Azerbaijan on suspicion of drug trafficking

Russian citizens who are members of two organized crime groups have been detained in the capital of Azerbaijan, Baku. They are suspected of drug trafficking, online drug sales, and cybercrime. Investigative operations are currently ongoing.

Earlier, seven people were detained as a result of searches at the office of the Russian media outlet Sputnik Azerbaijan in Baku. The head of the editorial board and editor-in-chief of Sputnik Azerbaijan, Igor Kartavykh and Yevgeny Belousov, have been charged with being FSB agents. They are charged with fraud, illegal entrepreneurship, and legalization of property obtained by criminal means.

The actions of the Azerbaijani authorities followed the detention of Azerbaijani citizens and persons of Azerbaijani origin in Yekaterinburg on June 27 by employees of the Russian National Guard, the Ministry of Internal Affairs, and the FSB. They are suspected of involvement in previously committed crimes. Some of them were tortured, two died - 60-year-old Guseyn Safarov and his brother, 55-year-old Ziyaddin Safarov. Six people were sent to pretrial detention.

The Prosecutor General's Office of Azerbaijan has opened a criminal case on the fact of torture and premeditated murder with particular cruelty of two citizens of the country and persons of Azerbaijani origin by Russian law enforcement officers.

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