Russia in cooperation with US seizes 330kg of cocaine in rare joint operation

Relationship between two nations is currently strained

Russia’s Federal Security Service (FSB) has announced that it worked with US authorities to seize large quantities of cocaine and dismantle an international drug smuggling ring.

In a rare public show of cooperation between Russia and the US, the FSB announced on Tuesday that it had seized 330kg of cocaine in a joint operation with the US Justice Department’s Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA).

The cocaine, which was mainly seized in the Russian capital Moscow, had an estimated street value of around $13.6m (£10.07m), according to CBS News.

The joint operation also helped the authorities identify and detain members of a criminal group who were smuggling cocaine from South America to Europe, according to Reuters.

Video footage released to Russian newspaper Izvestia by the FSB showed agents in plain clothes dragging suspects from cars and boxes of confiscated drugs and money.

The operation began in May of this year in St Petersburg, Russia, when a drug courier was detained after being caught carrying 1kg of cocaine.

The agents managed to consifcasate 34kg of cocaine a month later, as they detained more members of the criminal gang.

Then “at the final stage of the operation” in November, “a cache was found in the Moscow region, during the examination of which at least 295 kg of the named drug were found,” the FSB wrote in its statement on Tuesday.

The US and Russia’s relationship is currently strained following multiple allegations from the US of election meddling and hacking by Russia and its agents.

Earlier this month, prominent US figures said that Russia was behind a cyber attack on several US government agencies and major private companies such as Microsoft.

Then attorney general William Barr said that “It certainly appears” that Russia was behind the hack, but the country denied the claims, saying that they lacked evidence, according to CBS.

The US and Russia are also struggling to agree on terms for the renewal of the New START nuclear arms control treaty, which expires 16 days after President-elect Joe Biden’s inauguration.

Russian President Vladimir Putin criticised Mr Biden for “quite sharp anti-Russian rhetoric” in November, and the relationship between the US and Russia is not expected to improve during the president-elect’s administration.

However, Reuters reported that the US and Russia will continue to work together on global issues and on international security.