SAMARA. Aug 26 (Interfax) - A criminal case has been instituted in Samara against 32-year old UK citizen Richard Philipp Bochius, who is suspected of storing hashish, the press service of the Samara prosecutor's office told Interfax on Tuesday.
"He is detained. Tomorrow, we will decide whether to apply a preventative measure towards him in the form of placement in custody," a spokesperson told Interfax.
According to the spokesperson, Bochius was detained after more than 30 grams of hashish were found in his apartment.
The criminal case has been opened under the Russian Criminal Code Article "Illegal acquisition and storage, without intent to sell, of narcotics in a large amount."
It was reported that Bochius, who was the deputy head of the international cooperation department at Samara State University, was detained while buying 3.8 grams of hashish on August 19.
On August 20, Samara's Oktyabrsky District Court found him guilty of "illegal turnover of narcotic, psychotropic and potent substances by a foreign citizen or a stateless person." The court gave him an administrative punishment in the form of a fine in the amount of 4,000 rubles and administrative expulsion from Russia in the form of a controlled independent departure.
On August 21, Bochius resigned from his post at Samara State University of his own accord. The university's rector Dmitry Bykov said that Bochius was in good standing at his job.
The Samara regional department of the Federal Migration Service said that Bochius had to leave the country within a fortnight.