An Israeli national, who has an Interpol warrant against him was intercepted and arrested in Cyprus.
Alexei Kratzgor, aged 47 had arrived on the island nation on a Mano Maritime cruise, apparently unaware that Russia has Initiated an Interpol Notice in his name.
According to the Russian government, Kratzgor played a major part in the Arctic Sea cargo ships hijacking in the Baltic Sea in 2009 – and has been at large since.
was arrested in Cyprus on Saturday under an international warrant issued by Russia over his alleged role in the 2009 hijacking of the cargo ship Arctic Sea in the Baltic Sea, authorities said.
One of the most striking incidents of recent times, the hijacking involved imposters pretending to be police officers, boarding the Arctic Sea (almost a day after it departed Jakobstad port in Finland). The impostors beat up all of the fifteen people who constituted the crew, restrained them and forcibly locked them up in cabins – and then assumed control of the ship themselves.
After this incident, the Arctic Sea could not be found for weeks, sparking all kinds of speculation from intelligence conspiracies to transporting secret and deadly weapons. However, the Russian government denied any and all claims, insisting the ship was a victim of sea piracy.
The vessel was finally intercepted in August 2009 in the Atlantic Ocean near Cape Verde.
The Russian government arrested 8 suspects who were Latvian and Estonian nationals. They were charged with kidnapping and piracy and were subsequently awarded up to fifteen years of prison sentences. Many of them confessed to being hired as mercenaries to test the current scenario as a part of security assessment.
The Latvian authorities conducted a special investigation into the matter – where they named Kratzgor as an organizer. At the time he was deemed to be a Riga-born ad specialist who loved PC games and sushi. They alleged that he in fact recruited the participants and handled all the logistics.
While Kratzgor was arrested, he freed himself on bail and then fled the country, remaining at large since.
If he gets extradited to Russian, he will most probably be charged with extortion, abduction and of course piracy.
