Massive cannabis bust in Russia
Police officers in Russia’s Kherson region have discovered a deserted cow barn filled with cannabis, local law enforcement announced on Tuesday. The building held a total of 123 containers of marijuana as well as over 400 hemp plants.
According to the police report, the total mass of the seized drugs amounted to 666 kg.
A video published by the Russian news outlet ‘MVD media,’ and shared by the regional police department’s official Telegram channel, purports to show the deserted barn filled with rows of large cardboard boxes and huge piles of what appear to be cut and dried hemp plants.
A search is underway for other potential storage sites and cultivation spots, police said, adding that two suspects aged 49 and 37 were detained as part of a probe into “illegal drug production and trade on a massive scale.” The identities of the suspects have not been revealed.
The police raid on the barn appears to be one of the largest known drug seizures in the Kherson region, which borders Ukraine, since it joined Russia. Previously, local law enforcement reported detaining locals possessing between 100 and 600 grams of cannabis on numerous occasions.
This fall, the regions of Kherson and Zaporozhye as well as the Donetsk and Lugansk people’s republics formally joined Russia after voting overwhelmingly in favor of the move in referendums amid the ongoing conflict between Moscow and Kiev.
The Ukrainian government has rejected the results of the referendums and pledged to use military force to oust Russia from all lands that Ukraine considers its own.
