A reputed Russian mob big on the run from US authorities was extradited from England last night to face charges that he ran a massive four-continent drug-smuggling and money-laundering operation, The Post has learned.
Ricardo Fanchini, a Polish national worth an estimated $50 million, allegedly headed a criminal group that smuggled and distributed heroin, cocaine and ecstasy from Southeast Asia to Europe and the United States for the last 17 years, according to a federal indictment handed up in October.
The drugs – hidden in electronics and shipped to shell companies used to launder profits – eventually made their way to Brighton Beach and Staten Island for distribution, the indictment charges.
Three alleged cohorts have been arrested in the United States and 300 kilos – about 660 pounds – of cocaine, worth an estimated $10 million, were seized.
Fanchini will be arraigned in Brooklyn federal court today.
He had avoided the United States since a warrant was issued for his arrest in a 1987 burglary in New Jersey. He spent four years in prison in Belgium after pleading guilty in 1997 to embezzlement and fraud.