Russian police have apprehended a 40-year-old drug trafficking suspect, after he was spotted on CCTV casually carrying what was described as a “dead dolphin” around the Black Sea resort of Sochi.
A bizarre video circulating online shows the man, who was on a wanted list, carrying his ‘catch’ into his apartment.
Local police said on Thursday that after examining the footage, they identified the man as a fugitive from Moscow Region who was being sought on drug-trafficking charges.
Police described the animal as a “dead dolphin,” although footage suggests it was actually a harbor porpoise, a small whale species related more to belugas and narwhals than to dolphins.
The animal was already dead when the suspect found it on the beach, police noted, without elaborating on why he had decided to take it with him.
The suspect was taken into custody at his residence in the beachside town of Adler, just to the south of Sochi. He will shortly be handed over to the authorities of Moscow Region to face charges of trafficking drugs in exceptionally large quantities. If found guilty, he faces between 15 and 20 years behind bars.