Belarus Prosecutors Ignored Alleged Police Involvement in Opium Trafficking

An investigation by Buro alleges that Belarusian prosecutors failed to charge police officers implicated in a Minsk-based opium trafficking scheme, despite testimony that traffickers paid over $475,000 in bribes between 2011 and 2017, including $350,000 to a retired lieutenant colonel who purportedly funneled funds to serving officers. While 29 people were convicted for selling poppy seeds contaminated with narcotic-containing poppy straw, several named officers were neither questioned nor charged; relevant agencies declined to comment and the accused officials denied involvement.