VELIKY NOVGOROD, Russia. Feb 26 (Interfax) - A former senior official in Russia's Federal Drug Control Service (FSKN) faces trial following accusations of organizing a drug-trafficking ring.
Sergei Smirnov, deputy head of an investigation arm of the FSKN branch for the Novgorod region, is one of nine members of the alleged ring who are going on trial in the city of Veliky Novgorod, according to a statement from the regional division of Russia's Investigative Committee.
The committee says the group had committed at least 24 serious drug-related crimes in the Novgorod region in 2010-2011.
Three other suspects in the same case have signed plea bargains, while another ex-FSKN official, Oleg Bystrov, who was a key figure in the alleged ring, was sentenced to seven years in a high security prison on February 20.