MOSCOW, April 19 (RIA Novosti) - Criminal proceedings were initiated against about a hundred law enforcement officers, who were involved in drug business, in Russia in 2004. This was disclosed by Dmitry Kostinnikov, Head of the International Legal Department of the Russian Federal Drug Control Service, during his speech at Tuesday's hearings in the Federation Council, the upper chamber of the Russian parliament.
According to Kostinnikov, international drug trafficking poses a serious threat to Russia's security. "This results in a threat of rampant drug-related criminality and a demographic setback," the official underlined. About 220 metric tons of heroin alone cross the Russian border annually, he added.
Kostinnikov reported that over 57,000 drug-related criminal actions were initiated in 2004. The Federal Drug Control Agency confiscated 2,440,000 metric tons of narcotics and psychotropic substances.
In his turn, Chairman of the Federation Council Sergei Mironov claimed that some 4 million Russians use drugs, according to official information. The global number of drug users amounts to 185 million people.
