MOSCOW, November 18. /TASS/. About 145,000 drug-related crimes have been exposed this year, with more than 25 tons of banned substances seized, Russian Interior Minister Vladimir Kolokoltsev said.

“About 145,000 drug-related crimes were revealed in Russia this year. Drug-related crimes accounted for one tenth of all recorded crimes. About 70% of such crimes have been cleared. Law enforcement officers seized more than 25 tons of prohibited substances. ”, said the press center of the ministry, quoted by it at a meeting of the joint council of the Russian and Tajik interior ministries.

According to the minister, illegal drug trafficking accounts for more than a third of organized crime in Russia, with drug traffickers maintaining international ties. “Thus, a joint investigation team investigates related criminal cases against members of a transnational criminal community. It was established that its organizer is a citizen of Tajikistan. While he was outside the two countries, he remotely established drug sales groups, arranged their illegal transportation by rail and road, as a result of teamwork, approximately 140 kilograms of drugs, including about 100 kilograms of heroin and 30 kilograms of hashish of Afghan origin,” Kolokoltsev said.