MOSCOW. July 5 (Interfax) - Members of a drug-dealing network were detained and a mephedrone lab was shut down in the Moscow region at the beginning of 2023, Russian Interior Minister Vladimir Kolokoltsev said.
"Investigative procedures led to the shutdown of an illegal mephedrone lab and four online stores. Over 200 kilograms of drugs, over 500 kilograms of chemical reagent and 40 pieces of equipment were seized. Two organizers and ten members of the criminal network were brought to justice," the ministry's press service quoted Kolokoltsev as saying at a meeting of the State Anti-Drug Committee.
Members of the criminal network were selling various kinds of drugs online, using dead drops in the Moscow, Kursk and Oryol regions.
The defendants include couriers of an illegal online store who placed the drugs at the dead drops, and members of other groups who bought and distributed illegal substances.
A criminal case was opened on counts of establishing and participating in a criminal network. An earlier investigation of the drug lab's operations resulted in the opening of a criminal case on counts of attempted illegal production, distribution or transfer of narcotics to the public, the police told Interfax.
Kolokoltsev told the State Anti-Drug Committee that the number of drug-related crimes investigated by the police on charges of aiding and abetting had nearly doubled.
He noted the need to substitute imports of the equipment used to counter the illegal distribution of drugs, first and foremost in order to provide healthcare establishments and expert groups with lab tools for diagnostics and identification of prohibited substances, and also in order to produce medical narcotics for the treatment of severe illnesses.
"This task acquires paramount importance, given that [our] economic relations with the traditional suppliers of imported products have been broken. We need balanced solutions to prevent any disruption from occurring," Kolokoltsev said.
The State Anti-Drug Committee also discussed achieving greater effectiveness in anti-drug information online. "The number of websites with information on distributing drugs which were blocked by Roskomnadzor grew 20% last year alone. In total, access was blocked to 83,000 websites and webpages. The number of cases where promoting drugs was prevented by the police practically doubled," the minister said.