Russian Security Council Secretary Speaks About The Effectiveness Of The Operations To Check The Channels For Drug Trafficking

Russian Security Council Secretary Vladimir Rushailo pointed out the high effectiveness of the Kanal joint operations to check drug trafficking in the member-countries of the Commonwealth of Independent States. In 2001, twelve Kanal operations were carried out, Vladimir Rushailo told Russian reporters in Minsk. In the course of them 3,735 crimes connected with drugs were disclosed, as well as 1 ton and 214 kilogrammes of drugs and over 1,130 pieces of blank and fire arms were confiscated. According to Vladimir Rushailo, beginning with 1997, the CIS countries have been regularly holding such inter-departmental operational-protective operations to check the channels for drug smuggling. Russia conducted such operations jointly with its Belarussian, Georgian, Kazakh, Tajik and Ukrainian colleagues. Vladimir Rushailo believes that it is necessary to search for new approaches and inter-state decisions for coordinating the efforts in combating drug trafficking. "In order to counter the spread of drugs and psychotropic substances coming from Afghanistan, it is necessary to intensify the work and join efforts for the creation of the second belt to check the channels of drug smuggling from the countries of the Golden Crescent," said Vladimir Rushailo. He explained that the first "security belt" goes along the Afghan frontier. "We are already taking measures for coordinating our work in this direction and in drawing the attention to this problems of the international public within the framework of the United Nations," said Vladimir Rushailo. He told the reporters about the operation conducted by the Russian Interior Ministry and Federal Security Service, jointly with their colleagues from Kazakhstan, for checking the activity of an international group of drug traffickers who had organised mass deliveries of drugs from Kazakhstan to Russia. More than twenty members of the criminal community were detained and about 500 kilogrammes of drugs were confiscated. Joint operations with the CIS countries substantially contribute to the fight against drug trafficking which is used to fiance international terrorism, pointed out the Russian Security Council Secretary.