MINSK -- Two deputy prosecutors in the Belarusian capital, Minsk, have been arrested on drugs-related charges.
The Prosecutor-General’s Office said on April 6 that deputy prosecutors for Minsk's Lenin and Soviet districts had been charged under a criminal code article that punishes "illegal production, processing, purchasing, keeping, transportation, and trafficking without aim to sell of narcotic substances" by up to 5 years in prison.
The two officials, whose identities were not disclosed, were fired from their posts after the arrests, the Prosecutor-General's Office said.
Last August, President Alyaksandr Lukashenka publicly criticized and reprimanded law enforcement for what he called the "failure" to prevent and investigate drug trafficking in the country.
In December 2016, two former KGB officers and a former police officer were among 17 people convicted and sentenced to lengthy prison terms in a high-profile case against what the authorities called one of the biggest drug rings in Belarus.
