MOSCOW, August 11 (RAPSI) - Alexander Bely, who permanently resides in South Africa, will be tried in a Russian court on criminal charges for organized smuggling and a number of other crimes, the Prosecutor General’s Office announced on its website Monday.

“The preliminary inquiry found that in 2003-2005 the suspect, Alexander Bely, and Russian citizen Andrei Bykov organized a group to smuggle ephedrine from South Africa to Russia by international mail disguised as bath salt and washing powder. The gang included Bykov’s wife, Yevgeniya, and several St. Petersburg residents,” the statement said.

Over the stated period, Bely managed to smuggle six large batches of ephedrine weighing a total of 70 kilos, for which he received over $1 million.

Earlier, it was reported that between 2007 and 2012 South African officials resolved to extradite Bely three times. However, the decisions were not carried out for various technical reasons. Finally in 2013, the drug dealer was extradited to Russia.

In 2008, his three accomplices were found guilty of smuggling and sentenced to long prison terms. Andrey Bykov and his wife were extradited in 2009. They are serving 14 and 18 years respectively.