Russia Seeks to Halt Flow of Drugs

By SERGEI SHARGORODSKY

MOSCOW (AP) On his desk, Police Gen. Alexander Sergeyev keeps a small jar
of dried opium poppies, a constant reminder of the drug epidemic that has
swept Russia since the Soviet collapse.

The stocky police general, who heads the Interior Ministry's narcotics
control department, says he's fighting a losing battle to keep drugs out of a
country plagued by porous borders, widespread corruption and money
laundering.

Hard drugs have become increasingly common in Russia as the illegal
substances of past years, such as marijuana and hashish, have been joined by
opium from Central Asia, synthetic drugs from Europe and even cocaine from
Latin America.

The Soviet breakup proved a boon to drug smugglers, as oncesealed borders
opened up. This is particularly the case in Central Asia, where opium is
grown in Afghanistan, refined into heroin, and smuggled north.

``Over the past five years, the problem of drugs in Russia has worsened
considerably,'' Sergeyev said in an interview. ``Today, it is a serious and
dangerous social problem.''

The number of drug users, estimated at about 300,000 a decade ago, now stands
at 2 million, according to Russian Interior Ministry figures.

Seeking to develop a coordinated antidrug strategy for the former Soviet
republics, the U.N. Drug Control Program is sponsoring a conference Wednesday
and Thursday in Moscow.

U.N. officials say Russian authorities recognize the extent of the country's
drug problem and are willing to cooperate on an international level. But
Russia's lack of resources and its depressed economy make a dramatic
turnabout unlikely.

There are great profits to be made in the drug trade.

A little over two pounds of opium costs only $100 when it leaves Afghanistan
and reaches the rugged mountainous borders of the former Soviet republics in
Central Asia, such as Tajikistan.

By the time it arrives at the capital cities of Central Asia, the price can
reach $3,000. And when it hits Moscow, the same amount of opium can fetch as
much as $8,000, according to Kazakstan's Interior Ministry.

Organized crime groups specializing in the drug trade have emerged in recent
years. Smugglers from the Caucasus Mountains region and Central Asia have
formed rings in major cities or teamed up with Russian distributors,
officials say.

The former Soviet Union used to play down its drug problems. Sergeyev
recalled those days with an air of nostalgia, saying that drugs in fact were
not a serious threat then.

``These drug users, we knew each of them. We put their names in our records,
tried to treat them. They used to break into pharmacies, steal, present fake
receipts, smoke marijuana and hashish,'' most of which was grown in Russia,
he said.

Now more than half the narcotics are imported and Russia has become a key
transit point for the international drug trade, he said.