Travel, music and ecstasy: the Austrian DJ who carried almost eight kilos of MDMA in his suitcase Prosecution and confiscation of the millionaire

Alexander Rostobutko He is 40 years old, Is a DJ, music producer and founder of a record label. He was known by his nickname Astralex. Two weeks ago, he arrived in Argentina on a KLM flight from Amsterdam, Netherlands. But he didn’t come to play: The purpose of his lightning trip was to deliver nearly eight kilograms of powdered MDMA. Enough methamphetamine to produce more than 30,000 ecstasy pills. However, he could not fulfill his mission because Three packages of synthetic drugs worth nearly half a million dollars were found in the wrong bottom of one of his suitcases by customs officials at Ezesa International Airport..

“It can be concluded that Rostobudko came to the country for a short period of time and, in principle, for the sole purpose of entering the seized drug into the country, and due to its volume, it will be commercialized.” Economic Crimes Judge Marcelo Aquinas In a resolution signed at the last hour, he sued Astralex for detention.

Magistrate Bhooti A A $50 million lien on the musician’s assetsBorn on August 2, 1982 in Salzburg, Austria.

The investigation, involving economic crime lawyer Emilio Guerberoff, began on the 14th of last month, shortly after KLM flight 701 from the Netherlands landed at Ezeiza International Airport.

“Analysis of the information received in advance marked the passenger in question as a ‘risk case’ based on indicators such as country of birth, age and number of bags.”, said the Directorate General of Customs at the appropriate time.

According to court filings, The 7.76 kilograms of MDMA They were bundled in three packages that were found in the wrong bottom of a black fabric suitcase belonging to the musician by the Airtex Paris brand.

Baggage Carousel No. in the Arrivals section of Terminal A. At 8, DJ’s fortunes began to change. Metropolitan Operational Support Unit Division of the Metropolitan Drug Trafficking Investigation Unit of the Directorate General of Customs’ Narcotics Trafficking and Related Crimes Department He approached her and asked her to identify herself.

After submitting your data, Rostobudko He went to the scanner with the customs staff and got his luggage checked.

“Scanner operators were able to observe three large packages in a cloth suitcase,” the case sources explained. When asked if you have items to declare, Rostobudko He replied no.

“With the prior permission of the court, the detention staff first opened and re-examined the suitcase, where it was possible to observe that there were three packages at the bottom of the luggage. For this reason, the acting staff began to separate the inner lining, finding a hard planchet made of wood, which was extracted, and it was possible to observe that there were holes under it. Three packages wrapped in brown packing tape. A small cut is made in one of them, chosen at random, and exposed A white powdery substance, which underwent a specific MDMA reaction, gave a positive effect”, reads the court file.

Astralex, as a result, was held in the custody of Judge Aguinsky. During the trial, he exercised his right not to testify.

Taking into account the purity and quantity of the drug seized, more than 31,000 ecstasy pills could have been produced. In the local market, the drug in question fetches close to USD 45,000 per kilogram and USD 15 per pill.”The customs are explained in the above press release.

Rostobudko He had a ticket to leave Argentina on February 19 -Five days after his arrival-, but he had A reservation for one night at a hotel in the Buenos Aires neighborhood of Montserrat.

“According to the airline, the return flight to Amsterdam was scheduled for February 19. Rostobudko had booked only one day at the hotel, and it was not revealed from the case records where he was going to stay for the rest of the days or whether he would participate in the conduct under third-party analysis. It is worth noting that Rostobudko, as he said, is dedicated to music as an independent artistic producer, so it cannot be ruled out that the drugs that tried to enter the country will be marketed at later held festivals. The festival was held during the holidays”, confirmed Judge Aguinsky while questioning the suspect.

The judge intervened for the special crime branch of the city police for complex technical crimes to provide an expert opinion on the two phones stolen from the suspect.

As far as he could tell Nation Sources familiar with the investigation said the musician’s mobile phone technology is “advanced”, so the expert opinion is yet to go ahead. A technician with the software needed to unlock and analyze cellphones could arrive in Argentina from abroad in the next few days.

“The investigation is not over. Through the analysis of cell phones, it is expected to advance on those who are about to receive illegal goods. that is, Local connection of Rostobudko“, I said Nation A qualified litigator.

While the defendants in other drug trafficking cases are foreigners, there was speculation in court that Rostobutko’s side did not appeal, so that the file would be brought to trial quickly, and once half of the sentence was served, the musician requested to serve the rest of the sentence in his country of birth.

“The circumstances surrounding this Rostobudko had sent the luggage – according to the seized documents, mainly the luggage receipt.— with the meaning and hidden form already mentioned in the preceding paragraphs, may be allowed to be inferred with a degree of clarity, and at this time, named The statute involved the attempted secret exchange alleged here. In connection with that A clear marketing target for the productIt will be deemed authorized due to the quantity of drugs attempted to enter the country, which would give a total weight of 7760 grams including packaging,” the magistrate said while prosecuting the case.

A week after DJ Astralex’s arrest, customs again found MDMA in the luggage of a passenger arriving in Argentina. The discovery occurred at the metropolitan airport on a flight from Barcelona, ​​after a stopover in Chile.

At that time, 4.3 kg of MDMA was seized and the Mexican national was arrested. Economic Crime Judge Juan Galvan and Attorney Pablo Durano intervened in the case.

The seizure of two shipments of MDMA within a few days of each other is a source of pride Presence of drug gangs in the country, with logistics to manufacture and distribute large quantities of ecstasy pills.