In Saint Petersburg, law enforcement officers detained businessmen from Azerbaijan

In the Vsevolozhsk district of the Leningrad region, law enforcement agencies detained four police department chiefs for corruption. During further operations, Azerbaijani entrepreneurs were arrested for selling smuggled alcohol and cigarettes without excise stamps, as well as for paying bribes to the mentioned police officers, Russian media report.

According to the investigation, the Azerbaijani businessmen are suspected of selling smuggled products and using illegal migrant labor.

The detained entrepreneurs - Vusal Orujev, Ibadat Ismayilov, Asif Allahverdiyev, and Arastun Talibov - are accused of giving bribes to police officers. They have been placed in custody until September 9.

The arrested Azerbaijanis deny their guilt and oppose being held in custody.

Earlier in Voronezh, special forces searched the home of Azerbaijani businessman Yusif Khalilov, owner of a well-known restaurant and co-owner of a large market. In Yekaterinburg, security forces conducted an operation against the head of the "Azerbaijan-Ural" organization Shahin Shikhlinskiy, cordoning off the building.