U.S. didn't share info on Yaroshenko's involvement in drug trafficking - FSKN
MOSCOW. June 20 (Interfax) - The U.S. has not provided Russia with information confirming the involvement of Russian pilot Konstantin Yaroshenko in drug trafficking, Russian Federal Drug Control Service Director Viktor Ivanov said.
"The U.S. authorities insist that Yaroshenko is involved in illegal drug turnover. We do not have any other information and they have not provided any other information to us," Ivanov told reporters in Moscow on Wednesday.
The trial of the drug smuggling case, which involved Russian pilot Konstantin Yaroshenko and three African men (Chigbo Peter Ume, Nathaniel Frenchik, and Cudufia Mavuko) ended in a New York federal court on April 28, 2011.
The suspects were arrested in the capital of Liberia in late May 2010 and were later taken to the U.S. Yaroshenko was charged with trying to bribe Liberian top officials and involvement in the transportation of cocaine in South America, Africa, and Europe. The pilot's family found the accusations absurd.
The Russian special services said they do not have information on Yaroshenko's illegal activities on the territory of Russia. No materials on Yaroshenko's involvement in cocaine smuggling have been provided to Russia
In the meantime, the U.S. jury agreed with the prosecutors and found Yaroshenko guilty of a criminal plot aimed at smuggling drugs from South America to Africa and the U.S. ON September 8, 2011, Yaroshenko was sentenced in the U.S. to twenty years in prison.
On May 24, 2012, Russian Justice Minister Alexander Konovalov said the Russian Justice Ministry had asked the U.S. to extradite Yaroshenko to Russia. "It is Russia's position that Russian citizens should serve their sentences in their country," the minister said.