Group leader handed to Lithuania faces Bugavičius murder trial

Sergejus Beglikas, described by prosecutors as one of the leaders of an armed criminal association, will stand trial over the 2015 murder of Deimantas Bugavičius and an attempted murder, LRT reported. The case against 13 people has been referred to the Vilnius Regional Court.

The suspects face charges including crimes against life and health, possession and smuggling of very large quantities of drugs, money laundering, illegal possession of firearms and ammunition, and other offences, the Prosecutor General’s Office said.

Beglikas, who was handed over to Lithuania from Spain last year, is accused of organising and leading the armed criminal association. He also faces charges related to large-scale drug possession and smuggling, money laundering and customs fraud.

According to prosecutors, the group operated across several continents, including Europe, South America and Africa. The investigation was conducted by officers from the Lithuanian Criminal Police Bureau under the leadership of prosecutors from the Prosecutor General’s Office’s Department for the Investigation of Organised Crime and Corruption.

Investigators say the alleged offences were committed between 2014 and 2020. From 2014 to 2019, while in Spain, Beglikas and Renaldas Kanius allegedly organised the acquisition of cocaine in South America and hashish in Africa and Spain, as well as the transport and storage of drugs.

The drugs were allegedly transported from Spain through several European countries to the Netherlands, the United Kingdom, Romania, Poland, Lithuania and Russia. They were hidden on ships, in trucks and other vehicles, in maritime containers and in specially equipped hiding places.

According to the case file, the defendants acquired, transported and stored at least 2.4 tonnes of cocaine and at least 6.915 tonnes of hashish between 2014 and 2019.

During the same period, nearly 674 million euros in funds allegedly obtained from criminal activity were brought into or taken out of Lithuania and other European Union countries without being declared to customs and in order to evade customs controls.

Prosecutors say the evidence gives grounds to believe that Beglikas, acting with other members of the association for financial gain, organised a murder using a method dangerous to other people’s lives and attempted to kill another person.