Source: RT.com
The Federal Drug Service reported that over 175 kilograms of heroin have been seized in a year long police operation in Naberezhniye Chelny. The record haul points to failed drug-trafficking efforts by coalition forces in Afghanistan.
For the past four years, Russian police have been on the trail of a transnational drug-trafficking ring that has tentacles penetrating deep into Russia. This week, the sting operation, codenamed ‘Operation Cartel,’ made a spectacular haul.
Viktor Ivanov, Federal Drug Control Service chief, gave details of the final moments of the operation that focused on the Volga and Northwestern regions.
“A BMW X-5 with Russian license plates was stopped in Naberezhniye Chelny on the morning of November 23, and 90 kilograms of 50 percent pure heroin was seized from hiding places (inside of the vehicle),” Ivanov told reporters in Moscow on Tuesday.
Another 85 kilograms of heroin was subsequently seized in the course of police searches at the suspects’ apartments.In total, “more than 175 kilograms of heroin” was seized, he said. To put into scale the significance of the operation, 750 kilograms of heroin were “tracked down and destroyed” in the previous year, the official added.
As the Russian anti-drug chief reported about the success of his agency he once again pointed out the problems it was facing both at home and especially abroad as the failed coalition policy in Afghanistan allows this country to remain world’s top illegal drug producer.
Categories: Afghanistan, Americas, Asia, Russia, United States
Someone who worked for the CIA airline ‘Air America’ during the Vietnam war confirmed to me that at that time the CIA was directly involved in the drug trade. They brought in weapons into Cambodia (which was not officially at war in those days) and took out opium.
Not sure what is going on in Afghanistan now-a-days. The fact is that opium production is higher than ever. Before the US and other foreign troops ‘liberated’ Afghanistan from the Taliban the opium production was way down.