Narcotics are being raised in people's gardens. Drug-producing plants are being cultivated at dachas, in garden plots, on balconies and even in pots on the windowsills of city apartments. All types of people, from teenagers to pensioners, are involved.


According to official statistics provided by the Interior Ministry, 1.5 million Russians are drug addicts: that is, nearly 1 percent of the population. Independent statistics put the figure as high as 6 million. Twenty million Russians have tried illegal drugs at least once.


Despite the fact that -- according to information from the government's Anti-Drug Administration -- Russia has nearly 1 million hectares of naturally growing wild hemp and poppies, imported "hard" drugs have made considerable headway into the Russian market. In 1993, the trade in illegal drugs was a $100 million business. In the first eight months of 1994, 40,000 drug-related crimes were recorded and 13.3 tons of narcotics were confiscated.


However, the professionalism and organization of the drug business continues to improve. So far this year, 3,300 separate groups involved in the manufacture, transport and sale of drugs were identified. It is estimated that 30-35 percent of all drugs are imported from abroad. In Moscow, St. Petersburg and other major cities, that figure is as high as 80-90 percent. In Moscow, a gram of cocaine costs 5 to 10 times as much as in New York. A gram of heroin goes for between $200 and $300 here.


This, of course, makes Russia a very attractive market for the international mafia. Representatives of the infamous Columbian Medellin drug cartel have already visited Moscow and now have permanent agents here. "Delegates" from local criminal societies have likewise traveled to Latin America. In recent months, the major cities of Russia have been literally flooded with Columbian cocaine. The amount of high-quality heroin from the so-called "Golden Triangle" (Hong Kong, China and Taiwan) has also increased noticeably.


However, another dangerous trend in the Russian drug business is the local production and widespread distribution of highly psychoactive synthetic narcotics. The most popular of these is trimethylfentanyl, which is estimated to be 100 times more potent and more dangerous than heroin. This drug was invented independently, but nearly simultaneously in underground laboratories in Russia and the United States. The fact that Russia was able to so quickly catch up with the United States in this field is easy to understand. Our country currently has a huge number of underused chemico-technical facilities and unemployed but highly qualified specialists. Without these things, the production of trimenthylfentanyl and other synthetic narcotics would simply be impossible.


In Russia trimenthylfentanyl was invented by four talented chemistry students at Kazan University. In fact, the facilities at establishments of higher education are very often used to produce such drugs. Quite recently, agents of the Anti-Drug Administration located a group at the university in Kirov that was producing another powerful narcotic: the hallucinogen fencyclidine. Moreover, Russia recently began producing trinisilintoline, which until now had only been manufactured in the United States. One gram of this drug is enough to produce dozens of liters of a narcotic that is more powerful than heroin or cocaine.


The dynamics of drug distribution in Russia remains unchanged. Judging by the number of confiscations, the drug trade increases by about 30 percent each year. A large portion of the drug trade enters Russia through the countries of the near abroad: Ukraine, Kyrgyzstan, Azerbaijan, Lithuania and Tajikistan. The transparency of Russia's borders remains a serious issue. In the Belgorod district alone, nearly 100 paved roads cross the border between Russia and Ukraine, but there are only 16 customs stations.


In addition, many narcotics pass through Russia either from or on their way to America, Europe and Southeast Asia. Recently a woman who is a permanent resident of the United States was detained at a Moscow airport. She was en route from Yerevan to Los Angeles and was found to be carrying almost four kilograms of heroin. Moscow has increasingly become a transit point for narcotics traffickers from around the world. They bring in opium from China and Korea and marijuana from India.


The battle against drug trafficking is severely hindered by Russia's incomplete legal code. For example, possession of five grams of drugs receives the same punishment as possession of five kilograms. Nonethless, the Interior Ministry has 3,500 agents working exclusively on the drug problem, and in the first eight months of this year, they solved 40,400 drug-related crimes. In the first half of this year, Russian customs agents seized nearly a ton of narcotics.


However, it is far too early to speak of stemming the flood of illegal drugs coming into Russia. Recently, President Boris Yeltsin signed a statement entitled "A Plan for the Government's Battle Against Drugs." A commission headed by Deputy Prime Minister Sergei Shakhrai was charged with working out an integrated program for combating drug abuse and the illegal drug trade. In addition, the Duma will soon begin consideration of two laws concerning the sale of illegal and legal narcotics which would introduce sterner sanctions against those convicted of drug-related crimes. Whether these efforts will bring results remains unclear.


My prognosis for the next five years is pretty grim. At the very least, until Russia has adopted a complete body of laws covering this area, it will be impossible even to think about stopping the wave of narcotics sweeping across Russia from virtually every other country in the world.





Valery Ivanov is a reporter for Novaya Yezhednevnaya Gazeta. He contributed this comment to The Moscow Times.