MOSCOW. Nov 3 (Interfax) - A suspected mobster wanted by Spain has been detained in Moscow, a law enforcement source told Interfax on Wednesday.
Vladimir Tyurin, who is accused of money laundering and forming a criminal association in Spain, was arrested at a restaurant on Novy Arbat street on Tuesday evening by officers from the Moscow Criminal Investigation Unit and the Federal Security Service (FSB).
Tyurin is believed to be the leader of the Bratskaya organized crime group which controlled the aluminum industry and energy sector in the town of Bratsk in the 1990s, the source said.
In the late 1990s, Tyurin moved to Spain and led the group from there, working with convicted criminal Zakhary Kalashov, the source said.
In 2005, Spanish police conducted a large-scale operation codenamed Avispa against the group set up by Kalashov and Tyurin, leading to Kalashov being sentenced to seven years and six months in prison, while Tyurin escaped arrest as he was in Russia at the time.
Russian and Spanish authorities had been working on legal formalities up until Tyurin's arrest on Tuesday, the source said.
The arrest warrant issued by Spain must now be upheld by a Russian court, the source said. However, Tyurin will not be extradited and will be prosecuted in Russia under Russian laws.
It will be the first example of such cooperation, the source said.