The key facts
- A brother and sister sold fish and caviar via messengers from November 2019 to September 2025
- Urotropine, banned in Russia's food industry, was found in the seized products
- The verdict: three and two years suspended, fines of 500,000 rubles, with phones and 520,000 rubles confiscated
Suspended sentences for dangerous delicacies
The Yelizovo District Court found a 47-year-old man and his 44-year-old sister guilty, who had been selling red caviar and fish of unknown origin online for almost six years. According to the Kamchatka Krai Prosecutor's Office, the relatives ran the illegal business from November 2019 to September 2025, finding buyers through messenger groups and ignoring product labeling and safety requirements.
How the sellers were tracked down and what was found in the products
Law enforcement discovered the illegal trade after an advertisement to which tourists responded. The suspects were detained near a hotel complex in Yelizovo as they were about to hand over another batch of goods to buyers. During searches, more than 100 kilograms of fish and caviar worth over 700,000 rubles were seized from circulation.
A banned preservative and the punishment
The main problem turned out to be not just the missing labeling: laboratory testing revealed urotropine in the delicacies — a preservative whose use in food production is banned in Russia. According to the prosecutor's office, consuming products containing this component poses a danger to consumers' lives and health.
The verdict has not yet taken effect
The court qualified the relatives' actions as illegal trafficking of unlabeled food products and the sale of goods that fail to meet safety requirements. The defendants received suspended sentences of three and two years, with fines totaling 500,000 rubles. In addition, their mobile phones and 520,000 rubles were confiscated. According to the Kamchatka Krai Prosecutor's Office, the verdict has not yet entered into legal force.
