MOSCOW. Feb 18 (Interfax) - Russian police have put an end to the operations of a transborder drug trafficking network and have seized over 30 kilograms of heroin, Russian Interior Minister Vladimir Kolokoltsev said.
"A heroin pipeline to the Moscow region, the Krasnodar Territory and the Saratov and Chelyabinsk regions has been blocked together with the Federal Security Service. Nineteen members of the criminal network have been detained, including the organizers," Kolokoltsev said at a ministry board meeting on Thursday.
Fifty criminal cases were opened, he said.
According to the ministry press center, the network was supplying heroin to Russia from Central Asia. Most network members were citizens of Central Asian countries.
"Over 31 kilograms of heroin, or approximately 75,000 single doses, were seized. The cost of the seized batch exceeds 185 million rubles," the press center said.
An investigative team comprised of officers from central staffs of the Russian Interior Ministry, the Federal Security Service and the Federal Penitentiary Service, the Drug Control Department of the Krasnodar Territory, and regional and territorial braches of the Federal Security Service was set up to detect every link of the criminal chain.
Network members were detained in the Moscow region and the Krasnodar Territory at different times.
In addition, a heroin pipeline from Russia to Abkhazia was blocked in March 2021.
"The so-called warehouses from where partners in crime procured the drugs for distribution in various parts of Russia were found" in the Moscow region, the ministry said.
"Over ten searches were conducted, including at the residences of the detainees. Two vehicles with more than 12.3 kilograms of heroin packed in identical plastic bottles were found in a car repair shop in Serpukhov," it said.
According to the ministry, the network committed at least 49 crimes, such as smuggling, drug dealing and money laundering, between April 2020 and April 2021. All criminal cases were combined into a single proceeding.
A case has been opened on counts of establishing or participating in a criminal enterprise against four ringleaders and 15 members of the criminal network. The defendants are in custody.
The number of detained drug dealers has grown nearly 10% amidst a general decline in drug dealing cases, Kolokoltsev said.
"Emphasis was put on the detection of drug-related crimes committed by groups or in organized forms. More than 19,000 crimes of the kind, or a fifth of the total number of drug dealing cases, have been solved. More than 100 episodes of the establishment of drug dealing groups have been detected," the ministry said, adding that the ministry shut down 215 illegal drug labs last year.