MOSCOW. Oct 29 (Interfax) - Federal Drug Control Service chief Viktor Ivanov said cooperation with the United States in destroying drug laboratories in Afghanistan will hopefully continue.
"We are interested in further cooperation in destroying drug laboratories. According to our sources, in Badakhshan alone, there are more than 400 drug laboratories and a large number are located in Helmand. The number of laboratories is huge, as we see," he said.
Ivanov said earlier that Russia and the United States have destroyed four drug laboratories in the mountains in Afghanistan near the border with Pakistan. Seventy personnel were involved in the operation. Helicopter gunships and Afghan police provided the air and ground cover for the operation," he said.
Ivanov announced that the Federal Drug Control Service was prepared to send instructors to Kabul to train Afghan anti-drug personnel. "This prospect has not been negotiated yet. The Afghan governmnet has yet to decide on this," he said.
Asked whether it is worthwhile to send a Russian law enforcement contingent to Afghanistan to carry out regular anti-heroin operations jointly with NATO, Ivanov said, "This issue is not within my competence. It is an issue within the competence of the commander-in-chief and the Federation Council, the upper house of parliament."