MOSCOW, Nov. 13 (Xinhua) -- The Russian Federal Security Service (FSB) said Wednesday it had suppressed the activities of a major organized criminal group involved in the sale of especially large amounts of narcotic drugs via the Internet.
During a multi-stage operation carried out in 10 Russian regions, 440 kg of varied drugs with an estimated retail value of 650 million rubles (around 10 million U.S. dollars) were seized, an FSB statement said.
It said that seven people suspected of performing functions of couriers in the group were caught red-handed.
According to the statement, two of the detainees were responsible for the delivery of large drug batches of 150-300 kg from Moscow and St. Petersburg to the Central, Volga, Ural and Siberian federal districts.
The FSB said it had opened a criminal investigation on the grounds of the illicit production, sale and transfer of especially large amounts of drugs carried out by the group.
