KEMEROVO, October 15 (RAPSI) – Police, Federal Security Service and customs officials uncovered an illegal coal smuggling operation, with Gibraltar at the receiving end, Interior Ministry reported on Tuesday.

“A company located at Leninsk-Kuznetsky (Kemerovo Region) exported 3,06 tons of coal worth $270,000. The receiver was listed as a company in the offshore zone of Gibraltar. The company that allegedly shipped the coal was registered in the name of a local woman who works as a pastry chef, and has no connections to the enterprise,” – the Interior Ministry’s report says.

The documents filed with the customs marked the coal as prospected at one of the major coal pits of Kuzbass. However, a probe showed that that particular kind of coal did not come from the source claimed.

A criminal case on the contraband of strategic resources was initiated by the authorities.