"Berlin forces have arrested Mr Kovalchuk. He is now under police custody," said a police spokesman.
Prosecutors in Berlin said the 49-year-old Russian national was detained as part of an international investigation launched by Moscow.
"The allegation: founding of a criminal organisation with the aim of smuggling cocaine from Argentina to Russia," said the prosecutors on Twitter.
Argentine police said last week they had seized nearly 400 kilogramme of cocaine worth some USD 62 million hidden in suitcases in the Russian embassy school.
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