ANTI-DRUGS BODY REPORTS RISE IN DRUG ABUSE CASES

During the last 10 years the number of drug users in Russia has
increased by 50 percent, reaching a total of 550,000, according to
new statistics. Experts believe, however, that the real number of
drug addicts in the country could amount to 2.5 million or two
percent of the population, said Vladimir Vladimirov, head of the
Administrative Department of the Federal Drug Control Service,
speaking at a press conference held in St. Petersburg on Friday.

At least 90 percent of illegal drugs in Russia come from Afghanistan,
with the bulk of that volume made up of opiates, including heroin,
Vladimirov said, Rosbalt reported.

"The main targets for drug dealers are developed industrial areas,
those that have higher levels of investment. That is where the drug
industry directs its strike, effective from the point of causing
damage to society, the country and its people," Vladimirov said.

In the northwest region the situation became worse during the last
year, with the total number of drug abusers growing by 5 percent,
while the same figure across the whole country amounted to just 1
percent, he said.

Vladimirov said that another alarming signal is the spread of drug
abuse among children and teenagers. There are 17,000 children and
120,000 teenagers currently registered as drug users. In the
northwest region, 2,000 children and 12,000 teenagers are registered
as drug users.

Vyacheslav Ryabtsev, deputy head of the St. Petersburg and Leningrad
Oblast Federal Penal Service, said the number of prisoners in the
northwest region convicted for drug-related crimes has risen
dramatically. Two years ago 17 percent of prisoners had been
convicted for drug-related offenses, while the same figure currently
stands at 35 percent, Ryabtsev said.

The release of new statistics on drug abuse in the region comes in
the wake of a haul of 37 kilos of cocaine made at St. Petersburg's
port last week.

The customs service found the cocaine hidden on two ships that had
sailed to the city from Latin America. The customs service put the
street value of the cocaine at about $3.5 million, Interfax reported.

During the last eight months, the customs service has seized over 80
kilos of drugs -- an increase of 250 percent over the same period last year.

In a case widely reported by local media, police last week detained a
79-year-old woman for selling heroin. The woman, known among local
drug addicts as "Baba Tonya" (Grandmother Tonya,) lived on Ulitsa
Sofiiskaya, in the Frunzensky district in the south of the city.

The woman had been detained for selling drugs in July but was
released by the police on the condition that she would not leave the city.

In another case, northwest customs officials last week detained a
Tajik citizen carrying 85 packages of heroin in his stomach. In total
the man was carrying 748 grams of heroin.

Russia has also experienced a rise in the number of illegal
laboratories manufacturing controlled substances, according to the
new statistics released by the Federal Drug Control Service.

"This is a new trend we've seen during the last 18 months," said
Valery Rogozin, deputy head of the service's investigation
department, Interfax reported. "It indicates an attempt by dealers
to set up their own drug production facilities in Russia to minimize
losses during transportation."

In 2008, police found eight illegal laboratories in St. Petersburg,
while this year they have already found 33, Rogozin said.