About 300 Tons Of Drugs Are Smuggled Into Russia From Afghanistan Annually

About 300 tons of drugs are smuggled into Russia from Afghanistan annually, with only about 5% of that quantity confiscated on the border. These figures were mentioned by Boris Gryzlov, Russia's Interior Minister, in the Russian Parliament on Wednesday. Russia has become a real titbit for the drug barons, for it not only consumes drugs itself, but is also a trans-shipment point for the transit of drugs to the West, said the minister. He said that there are currently 451,000 officially registered drug-addicts in the country, whereas experts believe that their actual number is as high as three million. The Minister came out for intensifying criminal responsibility for drug-trafficking in Russia and for increasing the financing of interior bodies who are directly involved in combating the spread of drugs.