Drug trafficking becoming real threat for CIS

Synthetic drugs coming from the West to the East pose a real threat for CIS countries, said Russian Federal Security Service (FSB) Director Nikolai Patrushev, who is taking part in a session of the Council of Heads of Security Bodies and Special Services of the CIS, underway in Kyrgyzstan.

Patrushev said it is a principally new way of drug trafficking on CIS territory, and the Commonwealth of Independent States special services have insuffucient experience to fight it.

Issues of combating transportation of drugs from Afghanistan via Central Asian countries to Russia and further to Europe were also discussed at the Council's session.

The FSB Director said the amount of drugs produced in Afghanistan since the beginning of the anti-terrorist operation in that country had increased.

"We've agreed on how to organise the work to counter it," Patrushev said. "We've already encountered this threat and know how to combat it." The 15th session of the CIS Council of Heads of Security Bodies and Special Services started on October 28. CIS special service heads discussed joint measures to fight money laundering as well as interaction in export control to track down and block the most dangerous manifestations of contraband.