Svetlana Varganova, a Russian silver medalist in the women’s 200-meter breaststroke at the 1980 Olympics in Moscow and former world record holder in the event, was arrested in India earlier this month for her alleged involvement in an “international drug cartel.”
According to the Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB) unit in Goa, India, the 58-year-old Varganova was working with a local Indian accomplice as well as a former Russian police officer named Andre, who was identified as the “kingpin.” She was apprehended on April 14 with drugs in her possession, and the other two members of the cartel were caught this past weekend.
“(Andre) has been operating a drug cartel in Goa for a long time,” the NCB said of the former Russian policeman. “He had visited many cities to spread his network and had been managing the well-spread network of street peddlers.”
Authorities say they seized 88 LSD blots, 8.8 grams of cocaine, 242.5 grams of charas, 1.4 kilograms of hydroponic weed, 16.49 grams of hash oil, 410 grams of hash cake, two grams of methamphetamine, cash in three different currencies, and fake identity documents from the trio. The recovered money totaled less than $10,000.
“She supplied narcotics to foreign nationals only,” an NCB official said of Varganova’s role in the supposed cartel. “She also had a hookah bar set-up at home where foreigners could come and consume drugs.”
The NCB official also said that Varganova has been residing in India for several years now.
Varganova set the 200 breast world record in 1979 at just 14 years old, but the St. Petersburg native only held the mark (2:31.09) for one week before Soviet Union countrywoman Lina Kaciusyte got her record back (2:28.36). After her runner-up finish at the 1980 Olympics behind Kaciusyte at age 15, Varganova went on to win a world title in 1982, lowering the World Championships record along the way with a personal-best 2:28.82.
Wow these comments are pretty harsh. She wasn’t hurting anyone, just living a low-key retirement serving pleasure-seeking tourists
The Missy Giove of the swimming world.
Her Olympic medal would have given her a good deal of privilege in Soviet times and a pathway to a fairly comfortable life in that system. I’d be curious to hear the full story of how she ended up in India- was it because she found herself in a bad spot during the messy and economically painful transition from USSR to Russia through no fault of her own, or was it because she made a series of poor decisions about her life?
The fact she was involved in what has been termed a “cartel” suggests she was still in a pretty privileged position – But how much privilege is enough?
Also, she was in Goa, a very popular tourism destination for Westerners and the wealthiest state in India – About 10× wealthier than the poorest state. She wasn’t exactly traipsing the streets of Mumbai trying to make ends meet. To me, it reeks of privileged greed.
typical russian behavior
Elongation 😁
Thank you. I try.
Say my name
turned to heisenberg post retirement 😭😭
This comment section will be juicy
Gracious land sakes alive!
I’ll save the SwimSwam-afarians the trouble. What? No PEDs seized? And she is Russian? What happened to her? Shameful. She is giving the Motherland a bad name. Did I miss anything?
based
Yeah this says a lot about her character. A clear lack of scruples. Really makes me wonder what she was up to back in her competitive years.
Her competitive days were 40 years ago. In the 1980s, KGB was at its scariest. She was doing one thing and only one thing back then. She was doing was she was told. Nothing more. Nothing less.