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Spanish police announced on Tuesday that they had seized 13 tons of banned chemicals, including “possible” chemical weapons precursors, that were destined for Russia, despite sanctions against Russia over its invasion of Ukraine.
Police say they have arrested four suspected members of a criminal organization believed to have been trying to evade Western sanctions by illegally supplying chemical products to Russia through shell companies run by “Russian nationals.”
In a joint statement, the national police and tax authorities said: “During the investigation, it was discovered that some internationally recognized chemicals that could be precursors to chemical weapons and nerve agents had previously used this corporate regime. It has been proven that the products were exported in the same way.”
The statement did not say what chemicals were seized in the operation.
The chemicals were found in a container at Barcelona’s port, and four suspects were arrested in the nearby villages of Sant Feliu de Guixols, Cerdanyola del Valles and Santa Perpetua de Mogoda. They are charged with persistent smuggling of prohibited items.
According to police, the Spanish company had established a sophisticated logistics and financial network for exporting internationally licensed chemical products to Russia.
It added that in addition to the Moscow subsidiary that ultimately received the chemicals, several shell companies were set up in countries such as Armenia and Kyrgyzstan to hide the true destination of the goods, which were later rerouted to Russia.
The European Union, which has imposed comprehensive sanctions on Russia starting in 2022, said it is cracking down on companies that sell military supplies to Russia via Central Asian countries to avoid sanctions.
The United States and Britain have both accused Russia of violating an international ban on the use of chemical weapons on the battlefield in Ukraine, and London has imposed sanctions on chemical weapons forces for their involvement in the use of chemical weapons. There is.
But Russia has repeatedly denied the accusations, and Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters in May that Russia remains bound by its obligations under the Chemical Weapons Convention.
