MOSCOW, Sept. 9 (Xinhua) -- Russia's Federal Customs Service said Tuesday that it seized about 300 kg of drugs concealed in a shipment of apples.
The narcotics, hidden in a secret compartment of a truck trailer carrying more than 21 tons of apples from Moldova, were stopped in the Moscow region during a joint operation conducted with the Federal Security Service.
The haul, including caffeine, methadone and hashish, was valued at 250 million rubles (around 3 million U.S. dollars), according to the customs service.
A criminal case has been opened under the Russian Criminal Code for organized large-scale drug trafficking, an offense punishable by up to life imprisonment, it said. ■
