"Azerbaijan Airlines" CJSC (AZAL) has issued a statement to Azerbaijani citizens planning to travel to Russia and carrying harmala with them.
This is reported by Redaksiya, citing AZAL.
The statement noted that while the harmala plant does not constitute a criminal offense under Azerbaijani legislation, its transportation can lead to serious criminal liability in accordance with Article 229.1 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation (illegal trafficking of narcotic drugs).
The company advised citizens not to carry harmala and similar plants with them when traveling to Russia.
AZAL also urged passengers to carefully familiarize themselves with the current legislation and customs regulations of their destination country before traveling.
It should be noted that this article provides for imprisonment from 3 to 20 years for the illegal transit of narcotic drugs and similar substances across the Russian border. The penalty is aggravated depending on the quantity of the substance (large or especially large quantities), and circumstances such as the involvement of an organized group or an official, and an additional fine of up to 1 million rubles may be imposed.