RUSSIA SAYS IT HAS NO INFORMATION ON COLOMBIA DRUG SUB

MOSCOW (Reuters) -- Russia's Foreign Ministry said Monday it had no
information about the alleged involvement of Russian citizens in the
bizarre case of a partly built submarine in Colombia believed to have been
intended to smuggle drugs.

Colombian police last week announced the discovery of a 100-foot submarine
on the outskirts of the capital Bogota, saying it was apparently designed
by Russians and intended to smuggle cocaine or heroin.

"On the basis of what information we have at present, it would be early to
speak of the involvement of Russian citizens in this illegal operation,"
the ministry said in a statement.

"Neither our embassy in Bogota nor the Foreign Ministry of the Russian
Federation have received any information about the incident from the
Colombian authorities," it said.

The ministry said there could be no question of any Russian state
organizations being involved because there are no projects between the two
countries to build any submarines.

Colombian authorities say the vessel, dubbed a "narco-sub" by the local
media, may point to a shadowy, undersea alliance of Russian mobsters and
Colombian and U.S. drug traffickers.

Police say drug gangs from the United States, Russia and Colombia may have
made a three-way deal to build it for drug-running operations off
Colombia's Caribbean or Pacific coasts.

Russian-made tools and engineering documents translated from Russian into
Spanish were found in the warehouse where the submarine was being built.

It remains unclear why it was being assembled in landlocked Bogota, which
sits on an Andean plateau some 8,530 feet above sea level.

In its statement, the Foreign Ministry said: "Russia follows a tough line
on fighting the drugs business and all crimes linked to it."

Colombia supplies around 80 percent of the world's cocaine and up to half
of the heroin sold on U.S. streets.