Russian kickboxing champion Alexander Bolshakov charged after gang detained with over 70kg of narcotics

It is not often you get to hear about a kickboxer who also happens to run a drug smuggling business on the side. Well…

By: Karim Zidan | 9 years ago
Russian kickboxing champion Alexander Bolshakov charged after gang detained with over 70kg of narcotics
Bloody Elbow 2.0 | Anton Tabuena

It is not often you get to hear about a kickboxer who also happens to run a drug smuggling business on the side.

Well today is your lucky day.

European kickboxing champion Alexander Bolshakov, who holds a 22-0-1 record as a professional, appears to have been brought to justice after it was discovered that he ran a drug smuggling gang that attempted the transportation and sale of narcotics from Latin America.

According to Russian website MMABoxing.ru, the kickboxer and his entire gang were accused of attempting to smuggle and distribute 72 kg of narcotics from the Uruguayan capital city of Montevideo. Apart from 12 kg of cocaine, the Federal Drug Control Service found an additional 60 kg of narcotics including hashish.

It appears that Bolshakov is the leader of the gang, which was revealed when members of his crew were detained in the St Petersburg airport and that ultimately led to his arrest shortly thereafter.

Here are more details from the article:

“It is reported that Bolshakov instructed one of the wards to buy 12 kilograms of cocaine in Montevideo, the capital of Uruguay. As you understand, dear readers of MMABoxing, the courier was detained and brought justice to the head of criminal community whom there was a known kickboxer Alexander Bolshakov.

It is known that in the past Bolshakov worked in FDCS as the employee and therefore this case looks even more defiant, discrediting official authority and reputation of single combats. Charge under article 229.1 of the criminal code of Russian Federation part 4 that plus a penalty to one million rubles threatens with imprisonment from 15 to 20 years is brought to all gang, but can also be threatened with lifelong terms of imprisonment.”

Watch his most recent fight here:

Translation provided by MMABoxing.ru.

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About the author
Karim Zidan
Karim Zidan

Karim Zidan is a investigative reporter and feature writer focusing on the intersection of sports and politics. He has written for BloodyElbow since 2014 and has served as an associate editor since 2016. He also writes for The New York Times and The Guardian. Karim has been invited to speak about his work at numerous universities, including Princeton, and was a panelist at the South by Southwest (SXSW) film festival and the Oslo Freedom Forum. He also participated in the United Nations counter-terrorism conference in 2021. His reporting on Ramzan Kadyrov’s involvement in MMA, much of which was done for Bloody Elbow, has led to numerous award nominations, and was the basis of an award-winning HBO Real Sports documentary.

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