Authorities have succeeded in halting the expansion of drug-related crime in the country, Russia's top anti-narcotics official said Monday.
"Our service has been able — in our opinion — to stop the expansion of drug-related crime and drug addiction," Viktor Ivanov, the head of the Federal Drug Control Service, said at a meeting with President Vladimir Putin.
"Our service has been able — in our opinion — to stop the expansion of drug-related crime and drug addiction," Viktor Ivanov, the head of the Federal Drug Control Service, said at a meeting with President Vladimir Putin.
He also said the agency was able to stop the expansion of criminal gangs that sell drugs and called the crackdown on drug-related crime the agency's main "integral achievement."
The delivery of 2.5 tons of heroin was intercepted last year and over 110 criminal gangs stopped, he said, adding that more than 100,000 people were prosecuted on drug-related charges.
In addition, successful operations against the distribution of heroin led to prices on the drug going up.
"The price, of course, went up. A definite deficit was felt in separate regions, and drug buyers then moved to synthetic drugs," Ivanov said.