Yuri Safronov, deputy head of the Main Directorate of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Russia for the Samara Region, and Alexander Remnev, head of the center for economic and service support of the regional police (TsKhiSO), will be fired from the internal affairs bodies. This decision was made after the identification of channels for the illegal sale of the deadly drink “Mr. Cider”. The police found that they could have used an “alcohol-containing liquid” stolen from the TsKhiSO warehouse to make it. 31 people have already become victims of the drink, and 96 more are in hospitals.
The head of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Russia, Vladimir Kolokoltsev, decided to dismiss the deputy head of the Main Directorate of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Russia for the Samara Region, Major General Yuri Safronov, who oversaw the activities of rear units. Also, Colonel Alexander Remnev, the head of the TsKhiSO of the Main Directorate of the Ministry of Internal Affairs, will be fired from the Department of Internal Affairs. The decision was made after the police established channels for the sale of lethal alcohol under the brand name “Mr. Cider”.
While identifying suppliers of raw materials for the manufacture of the drink, employees of the Ministry of Internal Affairs revealed the theft of “alcohol-containing liquid” from the warehouse of the TsKhiSO in Samara.
According to security officials, this batch of raw materials has been stored since 2012 after it was seized during inspections. Why it was not destroyed during this time is still unknown: usually such decisions are made by the courts rather quickly.
For theft, the police detained two residents of Samara. Now their accomplices are being established. Also arrested was a police sergeant who guarded the warehouse and let the suspects into the territory. “Materials on these facts have been handed over to the investigating authorities,” said the official representative of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of the Russian Federation, Irina Volk. Accordingly, the TFR will initiate cases of theft and, apparently, abuse of power (Article 158 and Article 286 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation), which, obviously, will be combined with the main investigation under Part 3 of Art. 238 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation (provision of services that do not meet safety requirements, resulting in the death of two or more persons through negligence).
Since June 5, first in the Volga Federal District, and then throughout the country, there have been mass poisonings after drinking the alcoholic drink “Mr. Cider”. The total number of victims has risen to 31 people, 96 are in hospitals. Doctors assess the condition of three patients as extremely serious, another 29 people are in serious condition, 32 are in moderate condition.
After the incident, almost 14,000 liters of the Mister Cider drink were confiscated in warehouses and shops in Udmurtia, and 53,000 liters of a surrogate were seized in the Nizhny Novgorod region. Large batches were found in the Ulyanovsk, Samara and Penza regions. The drink was also seized in Moscow, the Chelyabinsk region and Sevastopol.
According to the results of examinations, impurities of methanol and ethyl butyrate were found in liquids in proportions that pose a threat to the life and health of consumers.
The dangerous drink was produced at the private brewery Varka, founded in 2020 in the Samara region. The supplier of “Mister Sidra” was an individual entrepreneur, the owner of LLC “Andi” Anar Huseynov. He was charged under Art. 238 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation, which the defendant did not recognize. His lawyer explained to the court that another employee of the company, who had already been detained thanks to the cooperation of the accused with the investigation, allegedly could supply alcohol with an admixture of methanol.