Russia urges USA to intensify fight against drug trafficking in Afghanistan

The resources and opportunities that the USA has in Afghanistan to fight drug trafficking are being used inefficiently, head of the state committee for overseeing the trafficking of drugs and psychotropic substances Viktor Cherkesov said at his meeting with President Putin in the Kremlin today. Cherkesov advised the president of the results of a conference on fighting drug trafficking that was held in Kabul, Afghanistan, recently.

The official emphasized that Afghan resources were insufficient for slackening the production of drugs. The number of Afghan provinces growing opium rose from twenty-eight in 2002 to thirty-two in 2003. Cherkesov noted that opiates accounted for the bulk of the Russian drug trafficking volume, mainly heroin that came from abroad. The key strategic objective for Russia lies, therefore, in intensifying cooperation with other nations in order to balk drug exports from Afghanistan.