Animal dope

Yaroslavl drug police exposed another “veterinary mafia”

The scandal surrounding criminal cases against veterinarians is taking a new turn. Employees of the State Drug Control Service of the Yaroslavl Region managed to initiate and bring to court three criminal cases at once for the use of a harmless drug in the treatment of animals, which is not even on the list of prohibited for use. Today, in the Krasnoperekopsky District Court of Yaroslavl, preliminary hearings will begin in the case of a “gang of veterinarians” accused of illegally selling absolutely legal laurabolin. This drug is used to restore skin and muscle tissue during postoperative rehabilitation.

On February 28 of this year, ten employees of the State Drug Control Service came to the Yaroslavl private veterinary clinic and announced to doctors Alexander Melessky and Alexander Shchukin that criminal cases had been initiated against them. As it turned out, during January-February, three control purchases of ampoules of laurabolin were carried out in their clinic. At the same time, the drug police first installed wiretapping of all telephone conversations in the clinic, and then they called and, introducing themselves as owners of cats and dogs, asked to sell the drug. For some reason, the operatives sent the ampoules purchased in this way for examination to the anti-doping center at the Federal Agency for Physical Education and Sports in Moscow. One of the experts of this center is senior researcher E.A. Simonov came to the conclusion that laurabolin contains the drug nandrolone, which belongs to the category of potent substances prohibited for circulation. This examination formed the basis of the charges. The investigation decided that veterinarians Melessky and Shchukin created a criminal group, planned everything in advance and acted according to the distribution of roles. At the same time, Mr. Melessky was charged with committing three crimes under Part 2 and Part 3 of Art. 234 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation (sale of potent substances) by the number of test purchases. In addition, during a search, an ampoule of the “criminal” substance ketamine was found in his bag and he was accused of illegal possession and sale of a psychotropic drug (Part 1 of Article 228 of the Criminal Code). And to the head of the veterinary clinic, Alexander Shchukin, in addition to Art. 234 was also charged with laundering proceeds from crime, because the money received from the sale of laurabolin was officially transferred to the clinic’s cash desk.

At the same time, Yaroslavl drug police discovered exactly such a “mafia of veterinarians” in the city of Rybinsk at the Aibolit veterinary clinic, and on February 28 they charged two of its employees under the same article. 234 CC. A week earlier, a similar criminal case was initiated against entrepreneur Elena Zolotova, who sold laurabolin to veterinary clinics. Her company is the official distributor of the Dutch company Intervet Int., which has been operating in Russia for seven years and has all the necessary certificates of conformity from the Standing Committee for Drug Control and Gosstandart. True, on June 22 of this year the criminal case against Ms. Zolotova was dropped for lack of evidence of a crime, but the veterinarians were out of luck.

Lawyer Evgeny Chernousov, who has long been involved in the affairs of veterinarians, submitted a request to the Standing Committee for Drug Control, which is responsible for compiling lists of narcotic, psychotropic and potent substances prohibited for circulation. The chairman of the committee, Doctor of Medical Sciences, Professor Eduard Babayan, in his response to the lawyer, wrote: “The drug laurabolin is not included in the list of narcotic, psychotropic, as well as potent and toxic substances. It is unlawful to subject this drug to the same controls as controlled substances. Laurabolin is a long-acting combination veterinary drug. It is unclear how an expert could give a conclusion that this drug is potent.” In addition, Mr. Babayan’s letter notes that “only the committee has the right to evaluate certain drugs, and law enforcement and judicial authorities, when making decisions, should be guided only by the decisions of the committee.”

These arguments will be heard today in the Krasnoperekopsky District Court of Yaroslavl, where preliminary hearings in the case of veterinarians Melessky and Shchukin are scheduled. “We will demand an end to this absurd case. The examination of the anti-doping center was carried out illegally, and this was confirmed by the drug control committee. He generally does not have the right to give opinions on drugs in criminal cases; this is dealt with by the expert services of law enforcement agencies. As for the ketamine found on Melessky, he himself claims that it was planted on him during the search, and this is confirmed by the absence of the accused’s fingerprints,” Mr. Chernousov told Vremya Novostey. He has no doubt that his clients will be acquitted. “As soon as the case is closed, we will immediately file a complaint against the State Drug Control Service employees for illegal criminal prosecution. I have no more strength to tolerate this lawlessness,” lawyer Evgeniy Chernousov was indignant.

Ekaterina BUTORINA