VORONEZH, European Russia. Dec 20 (Interfax-AVN) - Border guards of the Western regional department have seized and destroyed 24,850kg of drugs this year, the department's press service reported on Thursday.
The situation on the Russian-Ukrainian border "has been characterized by a high level of illegal activity and a growth in the scale of drug trafficking and illegal migration" in 2001, the press service told Interfax-Military News Agency.
The Western department has checked over 23 million people and about 2.6 million vehicles entering and leaving Russia this year. It detected over 8,000 people trying to cross the border using alien, fake or invalid documents.
The scale of economic contraband continues increasing on the Russian-Ukrainian border. The value of seized goods and cargoes has exceeded RUB11m (USD362,920).
Mobile detachments of the Western department continue serving in the North Caucasus and on the Tajik-Afghan border, the press service stressed.