Far East takes extra measures against poaching, smuggling, illegal migration

The authorities of Russia's Far East have decided to take extra measures against poaching, smuggling, and illegal migration.

The decision was announced during a Thursday session of an interdepartmental commission on border policy, which affiliates to Konstantin Pulikovsky, the Russian president's plenipotentiary to the Far Eastern Federal District.

The session began with the assembly observing one minute's silence for Border Guards General Vitaly Gamov, whose death had presumably been staged by the mafia he had been combating.

Pulikovsky's press secretary, Yevgeny Anoshin, reported that the session had been considering the possibility of closing down some of the 82 checkpoints functioning in the Far Eastern Federal District. /The previous session had decided to close down 19 of them./ According to the regional authorities, all those checkpoints were set up "without regard for economic expediency" and are not even properly equipped. Insanitary conditions and domination of criminal structures make it practically impossible to conduct proper checks.

The commission has proposed to close down 12 of 19 checkpoints in the Sakhalin region alone.

The plenipotentiary's commission, which unites officials from 20 federal structures responsible for the state's border policy, has recommended the leaders of Federation members to speed up the process of closing down unnecessary checkpoints in Russia's Far East.