Argentina: Convicted individuals in the "cocaine case" have been returned to prison.

Former police officer Ivan Bliznyuk and ship mechanic Alexander Chikalo (both from Russia and residing in Argentina since the 1990s) were detained in late December 2024 and returned to Marcos Paz prison near Buenos Aires. They had been in custody there since February 2018 and were released on parole a few months after receiving a guilty verdict in April 2022. Bliznyuk was sentenced to seven years and seven months in prison, while Chikalo received six years. By the time of the verdict, they had already been in detention for over four years.

According to investigators, Bliznyuk and Chikalo were part of an international criminal organization that purchased, stored in a school basement at the Russian embassy in Buenos Aires, and attempted to smuggle nearly four hundred kilograms of cocaine to Europe. Experts estimate that such a drug shipment, packed into 12 suitcases, could be worth around $39 million in Russia.

In order to identify those involved in drug trafficking, the cocaine was replaced with flour and sent to Moscow. Investigators claim that the cocaine was intended for delivery to Russia, Germany, and the Netherlands.

In addition to Bliznyuk and Chikalo, the criminal group allegedly included four other individuals: entrepreneur Andrey Kovalchuk, whom the prosecution considered the gang leader, former embassy property manager Ali Abyanov, as well as businessmen Vladimir Kalmykov and Ishtimir Khudjamov. Kovalchuk, Abyanov, Kalmykov, and Khudjamov were tried in a closed court session in Moscow and sentenced to prison terms ranging from 13 to 18 years. All defendants denied their guilt. No current employees of the Russian embassy were held accountable.

Argentinian prosecutor Abel Cordoba, in September 2024, successfully petitioned the Supreme Court to increase the sentences for Bliznyuk and Chikalo and to have them arrested again. The judges determined that Cordoba was able to provide evidence that the roles of the former police officer and mechanic in the criminal conspiracy were more significant than previously thought. Consequently, Ivan Bliznyuk's sentence was increased from seven years and seven months to 10 years, and Alexander Chikalo's from six to eight years.

The defense is attempting to contest the re-arrest of those released on parole. Lawyer Liliana Borisuk believes that the unexpected review of the sentences may be related to the return of Patricia Bullrich as head of Argentina's Ministry of Internal Affairs. She held this position from 2015 to 2019. Bullrich had previously detailed to the media a joint successful operation by the FSB and Argentine intelligence services well before the trial and verdict, publicly labeling Bliznyuk and Chikalo as guilty and publishing a book in which she dedicated a chapter to the embassy cocaine case. The lawyers for Bliznyuk and Chikalo attempted several times to summon Patricia Bullrich to court for testimony, but she never appeared. In December 2023, when Argentina saw a change in presidency, she resumed her role at the Ministry of Internal Affairs.