KRASNOARMEISK (Moscow region). Sept 14 (Interfax) - Member countries of the Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO) have seen a decline in the intensity of drug trafficking from Afghanistan, which posted a 50% increase in the production of drug crops over the year, via their territories, Russian Deputy Interior Minister Igor Zubov told reporters on Tuesday on the sidelines of the CSTO anti-drug drill held in the Moscow region.
"On the whole, we [the CSTO] have achieved positive results in the suppression of drug trafficking. All countries have declared a decline in the rate of drug-related crimes, and the intensity of drug trafficking has been decreasing as well," Zubov said.
CSTO units are supporting anti-drug operations conducted by national law enforcement agencies. Although the production of drug crops in Afghanistan has grown by 50% year-on-year, their trafficking across CSTO member countries has decreased, Zubov said.
"The fact that drug trafficking routes are being moved outside the borders of CSTO member countries is the outcome of these measures," Zubov, who was elected Chairman of the CSTO Coordination Committee of the Heads of Drug Control Agencies in 2016, told the press.
He lauded the CSTO anti-drug drill.
"In the context of the Grom 2017 exercise, we have exchanged opinions on the implementation and procurement of new equipment, which is on display at this exhibition," Zubov said.
"The officers worked competently and professionally and acted as a unit. The event was carried out on quite a high level," Zubov said.
In turn, CSTO Deputy Secretary-General Valery Semerikov declared the successful accomplishment of every mission in the exercise. "Cohesion between units of the participating state was of paramount importance. They acted as a single organism," Semerikov said.
The Grom 2017 anti-drug exercise of CSTO member countries took place at the Geodesiya Research Institute's base in Krasnoarmeisk outside Moscow.