A second man has been charged with the murder of an Israeli druglord linked to the Russian Mafia in a plush London hotel.

Andre Melnikov, 31, will appear at Bow Street magistrate's court today after being detained in Tel Aviv.

The body of Simon Turkov, 45, was discovered in the £240-a-night Mariott Hotel near Marble Arch on 28 March after a suspected international gangland hit. Test showed he was strangled or suffocated.

Earlier that day Kent police found bloodstained clothes and a Mariott receipt in a bin near the Channel Tunnel terminal at Folkestone.

Mr Turkov had fled to Britain under the name Yermia Yunataev after escaping from prison in Israel last year. He had served part of an eight-year sentence for trying to smuggle 100,000 ecstasy tablets from Egypt to Israel.

Police investigated allegations that Mr Turkov, who has links to the Russian Mafia, was assassinated after running up huge debts in Israel.

His estranged wife and two daughters lived in Poole, Dorset, at the time of his death.

Mr Melnikov faces charges of murder, conspiracy to murder, false imprisonment and attempting to pervert the cause of justice.

Another suspect, Michael Antonelli, 53, was extradited from Belgium in July and is awaiting trail.