The drug dealer in Russia was first sentenced to life. He brought almost 700 kilograms of heroin into the country

On December 21, the Moscow Regional Court for the first time in Russian history sentenced to a life -long term of drug trafficking - Tajik citizen Sherali Tabarov. The court fully supported the version of the prosecution, according to which Tabarov and his accomplices organized supplies to Russia almost 700 kilograms of heroin in veins with fruits. 14 Tabarov’s accomplices received from six to 25 years in a maximum security colony.

Sherali Tabarov has already been tried in Russia for drug supply. He was sent to Tajikistan. In 2003, the Inzensky District Court of the Ulyanovsk Region sentenced Tabarov to 10 years - for illegal drug trafficking. After that, at the request of the Tajikist authorities, he was extracted to his homeland. Having left the punishment, Tabarov decided to return to Russia. To get to the country, he used a fake passport. “Tabarov is a dangerous recidivist,” said the official representative of the Prosecutor General of the Russian Federation Alexander Kurennoy in the video, which the department removed immediately after the charge in the Moscow Regional Council demanded to give Tabarov a life sentence.

From 2013 to 2015, Tabarov and accomplices organized the supply of 700 kilograms of heroin from Central Asia to Russia. According to investigators, they imported four large batches of heroin to Russia - from 105 to 190 kilograms - and several more small, weighing up to 20 kilograms. The total weight of the drug parties exceeded 696 kilograms. Sherali Tabarov in this scheme, according to the prosecution, was responsible for the logistics and coordination of the supply of heroin from Tajikistan and Afghanistan. The accomplices called him just Cher.

Heroin was transported to Russia under the guise of fruit. According to the investigation, Tabarov and his accomplices transported a drug in trucks with melons and cherry plums, heroin was hidden in pallets and on -board boards. In the Moscow region, the brought drugs bowed to small parties. In 2014, Tabarov was detained, but his accomplices continued to work for about a year. In total, 14 people were accused in the framework of this case, all of them are citizens of Tajikistan. Five more people are on the international wanted list.

On December 17, the Prosecutor General said that the prosecution requested a life sentence for Tabarov. The official representative of the Prosecutor General Alexander Kurenna said that this has not yet happened in the history of Russia and the “prosecutor’s office is creating a precedent”. Tabarov was accused under several articles: the organization of a criminal community, smuggling, drug trafficking on an especially large scale, as well as in several illegal intersections of the Russian border. An article on drug sales after its tightening in 2012 implies the possibility of life imprisonment, but such a measure was really not requested before and was not used in Russian courts.

On December 21, the court sentenced Tabarov to life. The announcement of the verdict Sherali Tabarov and 14 to his accomplices began on December 19 in the Moscow Regional Court. On December 21, Judge Vladimir Zimin announced the deadlines appointed by the accused. The press service of the Meduza Moscow Regional Council specified that Tabarov will be sent to a special regime colony. The rest of the accused received from six to 25 years of strict regime.

Tabarov’s case can lead to even greater tightening punishment for drug circulation. The lawyer of the Agora international human rights group Irina Khrunova (specializes in cases related to drug trafficking) told Medusa that the term of crimes related to drug trafficking is constantly growing. Now you can get 11–13 years of prison for a crime, which was punished five to ten years as five years ago. “It was clear that sooner or later the prosecutor’s office would request such a measure [lifelong]. Why did they do it right now? It can be assumed that they wanted to show how successfully they are fighting against drug mafia, ”says Khrunova. She is sure that the life -long period for the revolution of drugs in especially large sizes, the Prosecutor General’s Office will now demand in other matters.

Human rights activist Lev Levinson, specializing in the topic of state policy in the field of drugs, also notes that the first life sentence will lead to toughening the punishment for the sale of drugs as a whole. However, according to Levinson, on the defendants, who, according to the 228th article of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation, is charged only by acquisition or storage, and not sales, the rigidity of the sentence to Tabarov should not affect.

Pavel Merzlikin