Moscow releases last Chinese detained for alleged drug trafficking

Chinese passengers walk out of the Sheremetyevo airport after being released in Moscow, Russia, March 7, 2015. [Photo/Xinhua]

MOSCOW -The Chinese Embassy here confirmed Saturday that Russia has released the last detained Chinese worker after a thorough security check.

"With great effort of the Chinese Embassy to Russia, as well as the helping hand of our countrymen, Russian law enforcement agencies speeded up the examination of detained luggage. The possibility of drug trafficking was eventually ruled out and all 39 detained Chinese workers have been released as of 16:57 Moscow Time (1357 GMT) on Saturday," the embassy said in an online statement.

All of the workers are in generally good physical and spiritual conditions, according to the embassy.

Those Chinese employees of a company in northeast China's Heilongjiang Province were detained Thursday at Moscow's Sheremetyevo airport for bringing food materials which Russian Customs officials thought were methamphetamine.

The embassy confirmed earlier that the so-called methamphetamine turned out to be bittern. Mainly composed of magnesium chloride and calcium chloride, the white solid material is widely used in China to make tofu.

The Russian side has carried out tests and analysis of chemical composition and proved the bittern, although with similar appearance to that of methamphetamine, is not any kind of narcotics.