Drug impoundment volumes to top 30 tonnes in Russia this year
MOSCOW. Dec 8 (Interfax) - The Russian law enforcement authorities have seized about 30 tonnes of drugs this year, Federal Drug Control Service (FSKN) Director Viktor Ivanov said.
"The overall volume will top 30 tonnes," he told reporters in Moscow on Monday, answering a question of Interfax.
Ivanov noted that the volume had been seized by all the law enforcement agencies of the whole country.
"The amount of Afghan heroin alone impounded by our service has grown 30% year-on-year. We have seized almost 2.5 tonnes of Afghan heroin. In all, about 3.5 tonnes of Afghan heroin will have been seized as a result of the combined efforts of law enforcement services by the end of this year," Ivanov reported.
He said his service was the leader in terms of volumes of drugs seized and [number of] criminal groups detected. "The FSKN forces have destroyed 84% of organized criminal groups detected by all law enforcement agencies," he said.
According to Ivanov, the quantity of synthetic drugs sold on the Russian black market has been on the rise. "We have seized approximately five tonnes of concentrate, which is sufficient to produce about 20 tonnes of smoking blends," Ivanov said.
According to official Federal Drug Control Service statistics, 1.5 million of the 8 million Russian drug addicts are using Afghan heroin. Ivanov said earlier that drugs were killing between 50,000 and 70,000 young Russians annually.