Spy mania

[beluga25]

I interdicted Ruslan's Black Lotus drop off but after bribing him 500 rubles for silence
the quest doesn't clear and I can't see a way to clear it by turning him into the "donor" (whatever that means) per an online walkthrough.

[Falka]

I think if you go with that option, he also asks you to put the black lotus back. Have you tried that?

[beluga25]

actually, yes, but nothing happened, maybe didn't wait long enough, lol ?

[beluga25]

okay, waited around some more and spoke with Aqil Pugachev (quest giver) again and this time there was an option to talk about Ruslan and resolve the quest in a couple of different ways. i think the statement i saw in walkthroughs to talk to the "donor" was bad translation from Russian for the quest "giver".

[ralphrepo_01]

The quest is like this; wait and observe Ruslan leave the flop for the secret hide spot, a pile of industrial sized wire rollers (next to the pharmacist building entrance), then as he departs from the stash, search it to find a packet of Black Lotus (an illegal drug). Confront him with this and force him to pay you off; he offers 500 Rubles, and you agree, but if you're good, you can then squeeze him for an additional 200 Rubles. Thereafter, go next door to the paranoid neighbor (who originally gave you the quest) and tell him that the real reason Ruslan is acting suspicious is because he's a drug courier. He had feared Ruslan was a northern infiltration agent but upon hearing he's just a common drug dealer, angrily reports him. He immediately goes to the beat cop and tells him all about it. if you had approached the officer about it yourself, he will do nothing, claiming that he needs another corroborating witness. However, with the neighbor's complaint, the cop will now go to Ruslan's room to confront him, finding additional evidence of illegal drugs, hauling Ruslan off to jail. The Black Lotus that was in the stash you can keep to do with as you will.