STAVROPOL. Jan 24 (Interfax-AVN) - Servicemen of the North Caucasus regional border guard department detained over 1,100 violators last year, the department's acting chief Lieutenant General Valery Putov told a Friday session devoted to results of the year 2002.
"In 2002, border guards of the regional department detained over 1,100 border violators and over 2,600 trespassers of the border zone, they found and handed over to law-enforcement agencies over 50 people involved in illegal armed formations," Putov said.
Together with bodies of the State Customs Committee, border guards seized smuggled goods worth over USD157,072, over 100 pieces of firearms, over 72,500 pieces of various ammo, over 240kg of explosives and some 10kg of drugs.
Over 7.3 million people crossed the Russian border last year.
"Muslims on hajj are still crossing the Yarag-Kazmalyar checkpoint on the Russian-Azerbaijani border. Some 88 people and six vehicles passed the checkpoint in the past 24 hours," Putov added.