The Russian interior ministry has announced that it has discovered a major criminal gang who have been running an illegal cheese trading operation, worth some 2 billion rubles (€26m).

Six people were detained after police and security services made a number of coordinated arrests and carried out warehouse searches near Moscow.

Russia banned food imports from the EU, the US, Canada and Australia last year, in a response to sanctions imposed on the state by the EU and other Western nations in retaliation to Russia's involvement in the Ukrainian conflict.

“An organised international criminal group has been uncovered, which was engaging in the distribution of sanctioned products from abroad,” said a statement from the ministry.

The group is estimated to have been in possession of 500 tons of contraband cheese.

The Guardian reports that the cheese may have been fake - with the group illegally importing ingredients to make European-style cheese, and selling it on as a luxury item.

Russian officials have said that about 600 tonnes of food has been destroyed since new “destroy on site” rules came into effect on August 6th.