RUSSIA, KAZAKHSTAN AGREE TO STRENGTHEN ANTI-DRUG EFFORTS

RIA Novosti
15:19 | 09/ 12/ 2008

MOSCOW, December 9 (RIA Novosti) – The Russian and Kazakh drug agencies
have signed a protocol to strengthen joint efforts in combating drug
trafficking on the border between the two countries, the Russian
Federal Drug Control Service said on Tuesday.

Narcotics trafficking is an acute problem for Central Asian countries
due to the flow of illegal drugs from neighboring Afghanistan,
the world’s largest opium and heroin producer. The drugs are then
smuggled via Russia’s Urals region onto Western Europe.

Russia and Kazakhstan are both members of the Collective Security
Treaty Organization, which also comprises Armenia, Belarus, Kyrgyzstan,
Uzbekistan and Tajikistan.

The members of the CSTO held a successful anti-drug operation between
November 17 and 24, during which a total of 18 metric tons of drugs
were seized.

Russia’s law enforcement and security services seized over 29 metric
tons of drugs in January-September and detected 198,000 drug-related
crimes.