OREANDA-NEWS. The Federal Security Service of Russia (FSB), together with the Ministry of Internal Affairs, prevented the smuggling of precious metals into Germany.

The cost of the seized metals amounted to about 200 million roubles (more than 2.7 million US dollars). The criminal group of organizers included citizens of Russia and Lithuania, the FSB Center for Public Relations reported. It is specified that platinum, palladium and rhodium were illegally transported from the territory of Russia to Germany through Belarus and Lithuania.

In the Smolensk Region, near the Russian-Belarusian border, during a search of a truck bound for Lithuania, bags with ground autocatalysts containing precious metals were found. Their total weight amounted to more than 11 tons.

After that, officers of the FSB and the Ministry of Internal Affairs in the Moscow Region seized more than 162 kilograms of gold and silver and more than 700 kilograms of ground autocatalysts.