Citizen Smuggles 845 Grams of Drugs into Armenia via Air

The State Revenue Committee, committed to safeguarding the interests of the state and public, continues its resolute and uncompromising fight against the illegal transportation of drugs across Armenia's borders. Recently, in cooperation with international partners, the Anti-Smuggling Department of the RA State Revenue Committee received information regarding a citizen from the Netherlands, R.D., who may have smuggled drugs into Armenia.

As a result of operational and investigative measures undertaken, it was discovered that the citizen arrived in Armenia on the same day via a Vienna-Yerevan flight and settled at a hotel in Yerevan. Following search operations, the citizen from the Netherlands was located and invited to the customs control zone, where he underwent a personal customs inspection using X-ray scanning. The results indicated suspicious foreign objects in his abdominal area.

R.D. was transported to the 'Armenia' Republican Medical Center, where 50 capsules containing a total of 845 grams of cocaine were extracted from his body. He was arrested based on strong suspicions of drug smuggling. Employees from the Anti-Smuggling Department of the State Revenue Committee and the NSS Anti-Corruption and Economic Security Agency conducted extensive operational-investigative measures. They identified individuals involved in the importation of drugs into Armenia and their subsequent distribution within the country.

In the context of the operational investigative measure titled 'Controlled Supply and Purchase', based on strong direct evidence of drug smuggling and distribution in Yerevan, two additional citizens were arrested and transferred to the Anti-Smuggling Department. The arrested individuals R.D., A.P., and S.M. were presented to the RA Investigative Committee's Main Investigation Department for Economic Crimes and Smugglings, where they were detained based on Articles 393 and 399 of the RA Criminal Code, and searches were conducted at their residences.