KOSTROMA, March 14 (RIA Novosti) – A police anti-narcotics squad in the central Russian city of Kostroma has detained a criminal gang engaged in wholesale drugs dealing with the connivance of a local law-enforcement officer, the regional branch of the Federal Drugs Control Service (FSKN) reported on Thursday.

The police also seized about five kilos (11 pounds) of hashish and 500,000 “marked” rubles ($16,700) from the gang members, who trafficked drugs from Moscow to Kostroma.

The hashish seized from the gang was the largest seizure in the region since the start of this year, the local Drugs Control Service said.

© RIA Novosti.

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The gang members were detained at the scene of the crime red-handed as they tried to get rid of the cash marked by the police for the operation.

“The operation to identify and detain the criminal group was complex because it worked under the cover of a law-enforcement officer,” the Drug Control Service said in a statement, without specifying which law-enforcement agency the officer was from.

The four gang members detained by the police, including the corrupt law-enforcer, have been formally arrested, the FSKN said.