"I know nothing about drugs." Spice dealers are being tried in Vitebsk

A court trial has begun in Vitebsk concerning the region's largest online store that sold spice.

Operatives claim the online store's turnover was approximately one billion rubles, with up to a kilogram of smoking mixture containing a particularly dangerous psychotropic substance being purchased here weekly. The advertisement for the drug stated: "Bliss for your DNA."

…A lively dark-haired girl laughs loudly in the corridor, teasing her friends, and greets with sympathy the mother of someone about to be brought to the courtroom under escort. Beautiful, well-groomed, sociable.

Perhaps a friend of the accused? No. Seventeen-year-old Liza (all names and surnames in the material have been changed) is one of the main defendants in a criminal case involving a particularly serious crime. She has already spent three months behind bars, then was released on bail. This means this grown child can fully realize what awaits her. Does she realize it? Alas. Her sparkling smiles do not disappear even after the words: "All rise, the court is in session!". Liza repeatedly looks back, smiles playfully at someone, tries to talk to her friend, and constantly adjusts her gorgeous mane of thick hair.

Knowing that a minor girl is involved in the case, I wanted to have a heart-to-heart talk with her. I expected to hear a confession from someone who found themselves drawn into such a terrible affair. What confession, what remorse! Liza almost openly laughs when the prosecutor reads out the charges and slightly gets confused in the numerous formulas of the drug she, a lyceum student, is accused of possessing and distributing along with her friends. Then she yawns, first covering her mouth with her hand, and a little later openly. Not only I, but also the elderly jurors, it seems, are surprised.

Perhaps she is truly innocent? Of course, the court will clarify everything. It will examine and analyze all 11 weighty volumes of the criminal case, a fifth of which consist of conclusions from various kinds of expert examinations and research. And it will also hear from over 80 witnesses.

Three defendants will be interrogated in court today. Only one of them, Sergey Antonov, has reached the age of majority. He was brought under escort. Mikhail Gudin, however, came to the hearing with his mother; he had previously been released under parental supervision. The fourth member of the youth group, Pavel Romin, was on the run during the investigation and was put on the wanted list. He has now been apprehended in Russia, and the issue of his extradition is being decided. The young man will be tried later.

The young men are accused of illegally acquiring, storing, and selling particularly dangerous psychotropic substances for the purpose of distribution. Buying drugs was not difficult. A virtual user named "Abrakadabra. Vitebsk" was created on Skype. Clients would communicate with him, order "goods," transfer money to an electronic wallet, and receive the location of the hidden stash.

Everything is like with adults – their own formulation, a social media page, advertising, free samples, hiring stash couriers, price lists, discounts for regular customers, warnings about scammers and fakes, reputation and trading rating assessments, discussions of new products, and even test reports. During the investigation, about 65,000 messages and around a thousand stash locations were discovered.

According to investigators, Liza acted as an operator and packager – she communicated with Skype users and packaged doses. Mikhail was listed as a "miner" and delivered psychotropic substances to addresses, while Sergey was responsible for finances and withdrew money from the card account. Pavel handled correspondence, dealt with reagent supply issues, and coordinated the entire process.

The interrogation begins with Elizaveta Smirnova. She has the right to refuse to testify, which she does. The testimony previously given by the girl is read out in court. It is quite contradictory.

Initially, Liza (who, by the way, had previously come to the attention of the police for a fight) explains that she simply learned about "Abrakadabra" at some point and decided to earn money. She registered online, after which she was offered to pick up a package at a designated location and keep it with her for some time. Then, she claims, they would tell her where to take it and pay her 250,000 rubles for it.

She picked up the package and unpacked it at home – a watering can, flasks, scales, jars with liquid and powder. She guessed, of course, that the goods were suspicious, but no one was in a hurry to pick them up. But she wanted money. So she kept it in the nightstand. And then the police… Quick-witted Elizaveta, of course, tried to get rid of the compromising evidence – she discreetly threw the "parcel" out the window. But the operatives still found it, they say. Yes, she withdrew money from the card. 4-6 million rubles at a time. Sergey asked her to do it. She regrets taking and storing the package…

A little later, the suspect changed her position and "remembered" that everything was not so. She admitted that she knew what "Abracadabra" was doing. She herself picked up the mixtures at the designated place, checked how much "grass" was in the batch. She unpacked it into small bags of 0.5, 1, and 2 grams. She measured it on the scales. There were many doses. She wrote down how many bundles she got and found out what to do with them next. For this, she was paid 1-2 million rubles. Yes, she went to the bank and withdrew money. The package that the police found was brought by Pavel. But she didn't know that her friends also worked for "Abracadabra".

The "courier" Mikhail also has his own version. He allegedly got a job but didn't know what exactly he was delivering and carefully hiding in electrical boxes, behind garbage chutes, under apartment mats, and in other secret places. The black plastic bags did not arouse his suspicion – as long as they paid him money. He thought everything was legal. Perhaps the company, legally selling non-prohibited smoking mixtures, was simply avoiding taxes this way? He didn't bother with extra questions. He realized he was in trouble only after being detained. He was surprised that he was distributing drugs, it turns out. Even when he saw the plant-based powder in the rented apartment where the guys were "relaxing," he didn't suspect anything. Yes, someone then "tested the sample" – smoked a cigarette and assessed the quality: "It's fine!"

- No, I don't know anything about drugs, mixes, or spice, I haven't seen them before and haven't read anything about them! - naively claims Gudin, who will turn eighteen in December.

The prosecutor reads out the previous testimony. It turns out he knew, he heard. He told the investigators who, in his opinion, was doing what in the group. Now the guy is speaking indistinctly, explaining illogically, clearly getting lost, unable to formulate his thoughts. Perhaps, also the influence of spice? No, all three claim: they themselves - not a bit! Although during the preliminary investigation, Mikhail let slip: he heard that Liza was messing around with drugs. And Sergey confessed in court: he tried the stuff once, felt sick, and didn't try it again.

Sergey Antonov turned out to be the most laconic. And it seemed to me that he was simply (like Liza, only not openly, but secretly) mocking the court. Yes, they gathered with the mentioned group, sometimes even every day - they discussed models of motorcycles, cars, and nothing more. He found the powder seized during the search by chance in the entrance hall. The empty black bag was between the window frames. Why did he pick it up? He just liked it. A sealing device? He didn't know what it was and how it ended up at home. What is "Abracadabra"? "I have no idea, I just replied to a mass mailing and agreed to a part-time job. Yes, I withdrew money from the card. I was paid 10 percent for it, 800 thousand rubles or a million for an hour of work."

- And didn't such high earnings seem suspicious to you? - the judge couldn't hold back.

- No, they didn't seem suspicious, - the accused answers confidently and condescendingly.

One can only envy such calmness. The distant and mysterious octopus named "Abracadabra," according to the accused, continues to live and prosper somewhere in the shadows, and they have nothing to do with organizing the online store's operations. Just pawns in a big game. None of the guys admitted their guilt.

But how long will this ostentatious calmness last? Sergey, handcuffed, ran away too quickly, accompanied by a convoy, from his distressed mother, who had been waiting for him all day outside the court. And Mikhail's lips clearly trembled when his upset mother felt unwell during the interrogation, and the judge had to take a break.

Lisa's mother will also come from Moscow to the next hearing. The girl, who should now be thinking about her studies, who should be admiring wedding dress shop windows with delight, faces up to 10 years in prison. Mikhail faces the same prospects. That is, if their guilt is proven in court, of course. And Sergey, as an adult, could be sent to places not so distant for up to 13 years. Deferrals and suspended sentences are not provided for under the article incriminated to the protagonists of "Abracadabra"...

Since the beginning of the year, more than 520 criminal cases have been initiated in the Vitebsk region for the storage, distribution, and use of narcotic and psychotropic substances, including spice.

...From the correspondence of "Abracadabra" with clients, it is clear that many of them are already "bogged down" in the quagmire of intoxication and suffer from drug addiction. They ask for spice on credit, complain about their poor health, and threaten to deal with the suppliers if they are not urgently given a new dose of "high".

Elena Begunova, "SB Belarus Today"