Corruption

Russian Officials Search Home Of Customs Chief In Smuggling Probe

Russian investigators said on July 26 that they have searched the office and home of the country's top customs official in connection with a smuggling case, the second high-profile security services action against another government agency in a week. 
 
The federal Investigative Committee said in a July 26 statement that its agents searched the office and home of Andrei Belyaninov, head of the Federal Customs Agency, and the home of his former adviser, businessman Sergei Lobanov, earlier in the day.
 
The committee, Russia's analogue to the U.S. FBI, said the searches were conducted in connection with a criminal case involving alcohol smuggling that led to the arrest of three businessmen in St. Petersburg in March.