Former Russian soldier sentenced to life imprisonment captured in Salvador following Interpol alert
Sergei Kotelnikov, 29, was arrested in the Águas Claras neighbourhood and is suspected of negotiating arms sales with Brazilian criminal factions.
Russian with Interpol red notice detained in Bahia after passing through São Paulo and Rio de Janeiro
Former Russian soldier Sergei Kotelnikov, 29, was arrested on Saturday (10) in the Águas Claras neighbourhood in Salvador, where he had been hiding for a few days in a rented residence. According to g1.globo.com, he spoke little English and relied on a translation application to communicate with people around him.
Sentenced to life imprisonment in Russia after being caught with 600 kg of cocaine and in possession of a forged document, Kotelnikov was the subject of an Interpol red notice — a mechanism used to request the location and provisional arrest of persons wanted by other countries.
The capture occurred during another phase of Operation Artemis, conducted by the Integrated Force to Combat Organised Crime (FICCO) Bahia, with support from the Military Police and partnership with Interpol.
According to the Bahia State Public Security Secretariat (SSP-BA), the suspect intended to sell weapons and ammunition to Brazilian criminal factions and establish a network for distributing weapons, ammunition and drugs in the country. The names of the organisations with which he allegedly negotiated were not released, nor was the scale of the structure he planned to set up.
The SSP-BA also informed that Kotelnikov passed through São Paulo and Rio de Janeiro before arriving in Bahia, where he had been for less than a month when he was located. The state public security secretary, Marcelo Werner, said that the teams stepped up operations after receiving a warning from Interpol.
"We intensified intelligence operations after Interpol warned us of the possibility of him trying to hide in Bahia. He chose the wrong place and ended up arrested," Werner stated.
After his detention, the foreigner was taken to the Federal Police headquarters in Salvador, where he awaits extradition. There is no information about when the transfer to Russia will take place.
Source: Google News BR — Crime