STAVROPOL. July 13 (Interfax) - Around 9 million people and more than one million vehicles crossed the Russian southern border in January-June 2012, head of the Southern Regional Border Directorate of the Russian Federal Security Service Nikolai Lisinsky told a press conference on Thursday.
"During the Soviet period, such numbers would have been seen in the region probably over a 10-year period," Lisinsky said.
Over 100 people were held for illegal border crossing, over 1,500 for violation of the border rules, and more than 12,000 people were found to be in possession of fake documents, the official said.
Also, southern Russian border guards foiled over 20 illegal border crossing attempts by migrants from Central Asia and Africa, Lisinsky said.
As regards water bio resources protection, border guards seized over 140 small watercrafts, around 120 steering control systems, over 400 kilometers of fishnet and 13 tonnes of seafood over the six-month period. Five poaching stations have been destroyed, Lisinsky said.
The detected violations led to 133 criminal cases, about 650 administrative cases and fines amounting in total to over 1.8 million rubles.