Belgium extradites Dutch national accused of drug trafficking to Russia
MOSCOW. April 24 (Interfax) - The Belgian authorities have extradited to Russia a Dutch national charged with smuggling drugs from South America to the United Kingdom via Russia, Alexander Kurennoi, the spokesperson for the Russian Prosecutor General's Office, said.
"At the request of the Russian Prosecutor General's Office, the competent Belgian authorities are extraditing Dutch national Guido Wolters to Russia. The investigative bodies charged him with organizing a crime syndicate, smuggling narcotic substances, and illegally purchasing, storing, transporting, or producing narcotic substances," Kurennoi said on Tuesday.
Investigators believe that "as part of an organized criminal group, Wolters was involved in the illegal shipment of narcotic substances in an especially large amount from South American countries to the United Kingdom via Russia in order to sell them."
The investigative department of the Russian Interior Ministry is investigating the criminal case against Wolters.
Because he fled prosecution, he was declared internationally wanted in April 2010, the Prosecutor General's Office said.
In May 2013, after it was learned that he was in Belgium, the Prosecutor General's Office requested his extradition in order to hold him criminally liable. The request was granted this March.
Wolters, 58, was brought to Moscow, Interior Ministry spokeswoman Irina Volk told Interfax.
"He was brought to Moscow today, accompanied by employees of Interpol's National Central Bureau, the Russian Interior Ministry, and the Russian Federal Penitentiary Service," she said.