Astrakhani law enforcers’ case highlights practice of planting drugs

When commenting on a case instituted against former policemen, an advocate has stated that the fabrication of criminal cases on possession of drugs is being practiced by the law enforcement bodies in connection with the availability of wild-growing cannabis in the Astrakhan Region and the possibility of getting promotion.

The “Caucasian Knot” has reported that three former policemen and a resident of Astrakhan have been charged with fraud and abuse of power.

According to the investigators version, in August, two inspectors of the road-and-patrol service (known as DPS) decided to improve their performance and addressed a former policeman they knew with a request to find a person in order to prosecute him for drug trafficking. The former policeman found two residents of Astrakhan and “under pressure and the use of physical force” forced one of them to collect wild-growing cannabis. The DPS inspectors detained the Astrakhan resident, and a criminal case was instituted against him. Now the case has already been closed.

The falsification of criminal drug cases is “a fairly common practice in the police” in the Astrakhan Region, notes local political analyst Mikhail Doliev.

“It’s quite easy to plant a parcel to a victim, and the police always have drugs at hand, because they often seize them ... I know at least three cases when drugs were planted to young people, and those criminal cases did not reach the courts,” the expert explained.

In 2021, in the Astrakhan Region, a policeman was accused of faking the investigation into drug possession crime in order to improve his performance. According to the investigators version, the policeman persuaded an innocent man to confess to the collection and possession of marijuana.

To solve the problem of falsification of criminal cases on drugs, “it is necessary to follow the path of civilized countries,” that is, to legalize the use of marijuana for medicinal purposes, as in Europe and America, Mikhail Doliev believes.