MOSCOW. Nov 23 (Interfax-AVN) - About 500 police officers have been charged with drug-related crimes in the past three years, Federal Drug Control Service Director General Viktor Cherkesov told the regional media in Moscow on Thursday.
Police officers' involvement in drug trafficking "is both Russian and international problem," he said. "There is always someone taking advantage of the authorized access to drugs."
"The situation would have been much better if drug dealers had not enjoyed support of certain police officers," he said.
Internal security services have exposed 162 staff members of the Federal Drug Control Service involved in drug-related crimes over the recent years, a source at the service's public relations center told Interfax.
Up to six million Russians use illegal drugs, while about 1.8 million are drug addicts, the service said.