“The Mariinsky Municipal Court of the Kemerovo Region delivered its judgment on the criminal case initiated against five locals. They were found guilty of perpetration of 21 crimes stipulated by Clauses “a” and “b” Part 4 Article 158 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation. Businessmen of the Kemerovo, Novosibirsk, Irkutsk and Samara Regions, of the Krasnoyarsk and Altai Territories, of the Republics of Tyva, Khakassia and Buryatia, as well as Moscow had become victims of the malefactors. The damage inflicted had totaled almost 4,000,000 rubles,” said Russian MIA official representative Irina Volk.

Investigators of the General Investigation Administration of the Russian MIA General Administration for the Kemerovo Region established that from 2012 through 2014 the members of the criminal group had stolen products from heavy vehicles transiting through the Siberian Federal District. The malefactors had robbed long-distance truck drivers in the north of the Kemerovo Region, in the Novosibirsk and Tomsk Regions, in the Krasnoyarsk Territory, and in the Republic of Khakassia. Besides, they had acted so that the drivers had learnt about their crimes only upon arrival to places of destination. The gang members had opened up and robbed trailers at parkings near roadside cafés where the victims had stopped to have a rest. They had also perpetrated thefts from moving trucks. The convicts had tracked the routes of long-distance truck drivers and then, at road sections where the latter had had to reduce the speed, the malefactors had driven up close to the trucks in their vehicle. One of the gang members had jumped onto a moving trailer, opened up locking devices with a special tool, got inside, and thrown down the goods onto the roadside. The criminal had stolen foods, spare parts, household appliances, expensive furs, and other clothes. The investigators even provided the information that they had stolen large-sized refrigerators from moving trucks. Later, the accomplices had sold the stolen goods through small stores and market outlets, and had distributed the obtained money among them.

Employees of the Russian MIA General Administration for the Kemerovo Region developed and performed a special operation to detain the members of the criminal group. As was found, between their raids, the suspects had hidden in a lodge in the thick taiga located several dozens kilometers away from the nearest settlement. Servicemen of the Special Rapid Response Unit and criminal investigation policemen of the Russian MIA General Administration for the Kemerovo Region landed from the helicopter in the forest and detained the malefactors. Simultaneously with the detention, policemen carried out searches at the detained men's places of residence and confiscated a large amount of stolen goods.

The General Investigation Administration of the Russian MIA General Administration for the Kemerovo Region initiated criminal cases on the facts of the thefts that were later on consolidated. The police questioned over 100 witnesses, carried out 10 searches, checked a large number of facilities, grounds and vehicles, and seized physical evidence and documents. Besides, over 30 forensic examinations were performed.

After the collection of the evidence base, the criminal case consisting of 41 volumes was forwarded for consideration to the Mariinsky Municipal Court of the Kemerovo Region. One of the gang members entered into a plea bargain with the investigation unit and was convicted in June 2015. Other members of the organized criminal group were sentenced the day before to imprisonment ranging from 4 to 6.5 years in a strict regime colony. The court ruling has not taken legal effect yet.

The leader of the criminal group – Aleksandr Klyshta aged 41 – is currently on the federal wanted list. If you have any information about his location, please, call to the Duty Unit of the Russian MIA General Administration for the Kemerovo Region or at telephone number 02. Anonymity is guaranteed.

Download the official comment given by Russian MIA official representative Irina Volk

Download the video about the operations