Lebanese man sentenced to 16 years for cocaine smuggling
A court in St. Petersburg sentenced Lebanese citizen Joseph Adchiti to prison for illegal drug trafficking and smuggling of nearly 90 kg of cocaine into Russia in 2015.
Consensus
- Joseph Adchiti, a Lebanese national, was sentenced to 16 years in prison by the Saint Petersburg City Court.
- The sentence was for smuggling over 89 kg of cocaine in 2015.
- The drugs were transported in containers with bananas from Ecuador to Saint Petersburg.
- The operation involved an organized group aiming to transit the drugs through Russia and Georgia to Turkey.
- Adchiti was extradited from Peru to Russia in January 2025.
- Adchiti did not admit guilt during the trial.
- The case was concluded in 2018 with a verdict delivered after the group's activities were disrupted in 2015.
- The court applied Article 229.1, Part 4, Article 228.1, Part 5, and Article 30, Part 1, Paragraphs a and b of the Russian Criminal Code.
Points of divergence
- The trial began on October 19, 2025, and the ship arrived in the Saint Petersburg port on April 18, 2025. — fontanka
- Adchiti was involved in checking the cargo at the port and photographed the cocaine bricks, including one marked 'HABchi R'. — fontanka
- Adchiti claimed he was pressured by threats to his family and came to Russia to inspect vehicles. — fontanka
- The group used a MAN truck with Georgian license plates and a fuel tank hidden compartment of over 238 liters. — fontanka
- The group was led by someone named Peters, and the cocaine was purchased in South America. — fontanka
- The suspect was arrested in a restaurant and later met again on Kannoner Island. — fontanka
- The case was investigated by the FSB, and a separate incident in Moscow Oblast involved the arrest of a Russian man with 311.6 kg of cocaine in September 2024. — vedomosti
- The seized cocaine packages had photos of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky with dollar signs over his eyes. — vedomosti
- Adchiti was declared wanted internationally in August 2017. — vesti
Coverage (3 sources)
- In St. Petersburg, a sentence was handed down for smuggling more than 89 kg of cocaine — Ведомости
- Citizen of Lebanon received 16 years in St. Petersburg for cocaine in Ecuadorian bananas — Фонтанка
- In St. Petersburg, Lebanese Adchiti sentenced for smuggling 89 kg of cocaine — Вести