MOSCOW, September 25 (RAPSI) – Moscow’s Tverskoy District Court has extended detention for Andrey Kovalchuk, one of the defendants in a criminal case over attempted cocaine smuggling from Argentina to Russia, until December 1, the court’s spokesperson Anastasia Dzyurko has told RAPSI.

Kovalchuk was arrested in Germany on March 1. Later, he was extradited to Russia and put in jail.

Three other defendants in the case are Vladimir Kalmykov, Ishtimir Khudzhamov and Ali Abyanov. In July, their detention was extended till mid-October.

All the men are charged with drug trafficking and illegal production, sale or transportation of drugs.

According to the Russian Foreign Ministry, law enforcement authorities of Russia and Argentina have collaboratively suppressed delivery of a large consignment of drugs (cocaine) from Argentina to Europe. The drugs ready for delivery were found in one of the Russian embassy buildings in Buenos Aires in 2016. Cocaine allegedly belonged to an embassy technical staff member, whose duty journey was over by that time. During the conducted operation, Russian and Argentinean citizens were arrested, the ministry stated earlier.