Cocaine seized in Russia bore images of Zelensky on packaging

Russia's Federal Security Service (FSB) has announced the detention of a Russian citizen born in 2001 in the Moscow region, suspected of involvement in an international drug smuggling scheme. Authorities seized 311.6 kilograms of cocaine, which the man was transporting at the time of his arrest.

Footage released by the FSB shows bags packed with cocaine bricks. Some of the packages bear an image of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, depicted with dollar signs in place of his eyes, along with the number "2026" printed on the packaging. This detail has quickly become a central focus of Russian media coverage of the arrest, though the FSB has not explained who produced the packaging or why the Ukrainian president's image was used.

FSB's account of the smuggling route

According to the agency, the detained man was an active member of an organized criminal group involved in large-scale drug distribution via the dark web. The FSB claims the cocaine originated in Latin America and that Russia was used as a transit point for further shipment to European Union countries. This account comes solely from the FSB, and independent confirmation of its details is not currently available.

A criminal case has been opened against the detained man for attempting to distribute narcotics on an especially large scale, and a court has ordered his pretrial detention.

Russian authorities have previously reported other large cocaine shipments arriving from South America. This latest seizure of roughly 300 kilograms has drawn additional attention specifically because of the packaging's imagery — the reason behind the Ukrainian president's depiction remains unexplained.