Large quantities of heroin, designer drugs seized in two FSKN operations
MOSCOW. March 6 (Interfax) - A hundred kilograms of high concentration heroin and another hundred kilograms of designer drugs have been seized in two Federal Drug Control Service(FSKN) operations, the Service's Director Viktor Ivanov said.
"The large-scale operations were held all across the Russian territory. The operative potential of our entire service was applied," Ivanov said at a press conference in Moscow on Friday.
A hundred kilograms of Afghan heroin were seized in Operation Asian Retail, and the FSKN caught drug dealers operating in the Moscow, Vladimir, Ivanovo, Yaroslavl and some other regions, Ivanov reported.
"We held the operation in 15 regions," Ivanov said, adding that 30 kilograms of heroin were impounded in the first stage of the operation and another 70 kilograms in the second stage.
The FSKN reported the detention of 82 gang members and the detection of extensive money laundering schemes.
The second operation dubbed 'Siberian Loop' helped catch a gang, which had been supplying synthetic drugs from Southeast Asia for years, Ivanov said. The drugs were distributed in the Novosibirsk and Nizhny Novgorod regions and the Altai territory.
"The gang leader and 20 active members of the gang were apprehended," he said.
Ivanov said they had seized over 100 kilograms of high concentration designer drugs sufficient for making two tonnes of smoking blends.
The distribution of 4 billion rubles worth of drugs was prevented, the FSKN director said.
According to statistical data of the Federal Drug Control Service, 1.5 million out of 8 million Russian drug addicts are using Afghan heroin. Drugs kill from 50,000 to 70,000 young Russians each year.
