BERLIN: German police said on Friday they had arrested Andrei Kovalchuk, the alleged mastermind of a plot to smuggle cocaine to Russia from Moscow鈥檚 embassy in Argentina.
The unusual case came to light last week when Argentine police said they had seized nearly 400 kg of cocaine worth some $62 million hidden in suitcases in the Russian Embassy school.
Russia鈥檚 ambassador had raised the alarm after discovering the drugs in December, prompting the joint operation by the two countries鈥� law enforcement agencies.
Three Russians, including the embassy鈥檚 former maintenance manager, were detained in Moscow in December, the ministry said. Argentina has also detained two suspects. A sixth man, Kovalchuk, was believed to be the man who ran the smuggling ring.
On Thursday night, Berlin forces swooped on the alleged mastermind.
鈥淗e is now in police custody,鈥� said a Berlin police spokesman.
Prosecutors in Berlin said the 49-year-old Russian national was detained as part of an international investigation spearheaded by Moscow.
鈥淭he allegation: Founding of a criminal organization with the aim of smuggling cocaine from Argentina to Russia,鈥� said the prosecutors on Twitter.
Russian news agency Interfax, quoting a source close to the Russian investigation, said Moscow would seek the extradition of Kovalchuk, and that proceedings 鈥渃ould take months, maybe more.鈥�
The case has sparked controversy in Russia, where the media has raised questions over contradictory official accounts of the joint operation snaring the drug ring.
Argentina鈥檚 Security Minister Patricia Bullrich had claimed the gang had sought to use the Russian diplomatic courier service to fly the cocaine to Europe. But Russia鈥檚 Foreign Ministry denied that the diplomatic pouch was involved in the plot.
After Argentinian police tweeted images of a Russian aircraft used in the sting operation that bears the number of security council chief Nikolai Patrushev鈥檚 plane, the Kremlin denied involvement of any of its fleet.
Questions were also raised over the whereabouts of the cocaine, with some reports speculating that it had been flown to Moscow in the sting operation, even though Argentinian police said the drugs had been replaced by flour.
Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov on Wednesday lashed out at what he called 鈥渢argeted efforts to smear鈥� the operation, RIA Novosti state news agency reported.