International Narcotics Control Strategy Report - 2007 (Russia)
Russia
I. Summary
In 2006, the Government of Russia (GOR) focused its efforts on prevention, legislation, and combating money laundering in response to the threat of narcotics trafficking along the "Northern Route" from Afghanistan through Central Asia into Russia. Afghan opiates transported along the Northern Route supply Russia's internal demand, as well as transit through Russia to the rest of Europe. In addition, heroin use contributed to a significant increase in the number of persons infected with HIV/AIDS and/or Hepatitis C, directly attributable to intravenous drug use. The Director General of the Federal Drug Control Service (FSKN) emphasized the need for international cooperation to combat drug traffickers that operate without regard to borders. The FSKN continued to work on plans to open liaison offices in ten countries, including Afghanistan. Trafficking in opiates from Afghanistan (primarily opium and processed heroin) and a new synthetic opiate injectable drug comprised of a mixture of heroin and 3-methylfentanyl (Beliy Kitai - White China) and their abuse were major problems facing Russian law enforcement and public health agencies. However, the FSKN reported that the sharp post-Soviet increases in the number of drug users has begun to stabilize. More than 90 percent of Afghan drugs arrive in Russia via Central Asia. The GOR has recognized the extent of the drug trafficking problem and is taking steps to address both the law enforcement and public health issues. Health education programs in schools are beginning to incorporate messages concerning the harmful effects of drug use and the links between injecting drugs and HIV/AIDS. Russia is a party to the 1988 UN Drug Convention.
II. Status of Country
Trafficking. Russia is both a transshipment point and a market for heroin, opium and other dangerous illegal substances such as "White China". Since the beginning of 2006, the FSKN has reported a sharp increase in seizures of 3-methylfentanyl by Russian law enforcement. In the first six months of 2006, FSKN recorded 321 seizures of 3-methylfentanyl, five times more than during the same period in 2005. The majority of these seizures were made in the Northwest and Western parts of Russia. Opiates transiting Russia originate almost exclusively in Afghanistan and are typically destined for the rest of Europe. The Russian border with Kazakhstan is roughly twice the length of the U.S.-Mexican border and poorly patrolled. Considering the resource constraints facing local law enforcement agencies, Russian authorities are unlikely to stop a significant proportion of the heroin entering their country. In February 2006, the FSKN reported that over 100,000 persons died in Russia of drug addiction compared to 30,000 homicide victims and 35,000 deaths due to road accidents- almost 5 percent of all crimes in Russia - are related to drugs. Per the Director, while there are 500,000 people officially registered as drug addicts in Russia, the actual numbers are 5-6 million, and possibly more. The annual revenue from illicit drug trafficking in Russia was estimated to be $15 billion. According to the FSKN, seizures have pushed up the price of almost every kind of drug across Russia. The average price for a gram of heroin (retail) in 2006 was $ 51.54. The average price in 2005 was $40, in 2004, $30 and in 2003, $20. Per gram prices (retail) for heroin were as low as $19 (in Perm Oblast) and as high as $132 (in Murmansk Oblast). The wholesale price for a kilo of heroin in 2006 was about $26,500 kg prices ranged from about $11,300 dollars to about $75,200.
Synthetic drugs produced in Russia usually take the form of amphetamine type stimulants and heroin analogues like methadone and mandrax. Clandestine amphetamine labs are occasionally reported in Russia, typically located in the northwest region of the country close to St. Petersburg or right across the border in the Baltic States. The St. Petersburg area had long been considered the primary gateway for foreign-produced MDMA (Ecstasy) smuggled into Russia. However, the Russian Federal Customs Service (FTS) reported that roughly half of the MDMA it seized in 2005 entered the country from Belarus and is typically manufactured in Poland. In 2006, the Deputy Director of FSKN, confirmed that a significant portion of synthetic drugs are smuggled to Russia from Europe, most often through the Baltic States, as well as through Ukraine and Belarus. The FSKN reported in September 2006 that 680 million doses of synthetic drugs had been seized in Russia since January. Synthetic opiates have shown up in Orenburg Oblast, a region where the USG has projects focused on HIV/AIDS prevention and drug demand reduction. The abuse of these synthetic opiates has directly resulted in an increase in death due to drug overdoses.
Although the MDMA tablets produced in Russia are of poor quality, the low prices (as little as $ 5.00 per tablet) are attractive to Russian youth compared to the $ 20.00 typically charged per tablet for MDMA tablets from the Netherlands. Methamphetamine is extremely rare in Russia. Cocaine trafficking is not widespread in Russia. Cocaine prices in Russia remain very high, though the drug is easily obtained. Disposable incomes in Russia have risen steadily over the past few years, while cocaine prices have remained static, making the drug more affordable to a growing pool of potential users. Cocaine is frequently brought into Russia through the port of St. Petersburg. Sailors aboard fruit carriers and other vessels operating between Russia and Latin America provide a convenient pool of potential couriers. Cocaine also enters Russia in cargo containers. Couriers traveling on commercial flights bring cocaine into Russia, often traveling through third countries in Europe as well as through the U.S. FSKN officials have identified a disturbing new trend in narcotics trafficking - the use of the Internet to sell illegal drugs. According to the FSKN, Russia is home to hundred of websites which market illegal drugs both in Russia and abroad. The FSKN has reported that it is attempting to develop technology to interrupt web-based drug trafficking.
Addict/User Population. The FSKN reports that there are 1.5 million drug users with 400,000 officially registered drug addicts in Russia's treatment centers. New models of cognitive therapy are being implemented in treatment centers in St. Petersburg, but substitution therapy has not been fully explored and remains politically sensitive. The Ministry of Health (MOH) estimates that up to six million Russians take drugs on a regular basis. The FSKN Deputy Director confirmed that around six million Russians take drugs, thus agreeing with the MOH estimate, adding that only one in twenty drug addicts are officially diagnosed. These figures are significantly higher than FSKN statistics cited in 2004 and suggest a new willingness by the GOR to acknowledge and combat drug use in Russia. In 2004, Cherkesov claimed that there were only 390,000 officially registered drug addicts in Russia and four to five million Russians who use drugs regularly, and in 2006, claimed that the rise in the number of drug addicts had been halted.) While the number of registered cases of drug use has stabilized, the number of drug overdoses in many regions is increasing due to the introduction of dangerous new substances such as White China. The lack of drug maintenance therapy to treat drug users contributes to the small number of registered cases of IDUs (Intravenous Drug Users) in treatment centers.
According to the MOH, as of August 2006, there were over 350,000 officially registered HIV/AIDS cases in Russia. However, unofficial estimates, including those by the United Nations AIDS program, put the figure much higher, with some suggesting that there are over one million HIV- positive Russians. Intravenous drug use continues to be the most common method of transmission of HIV/AIDS and Hepatitis C in Russia. There are estimates that nearly 70 percent of new HIV cases can be attributed to intravenous drug use and 90 percent of injecting drug users are Hepatitis C positive. With FY06 HIV/AIDS funding, the National Institute of Health has just begun work with Russian research facilities in St. Petersburg to explore alternative drug treatment regimens acceptable to the GOR. Naltrexone and Bupanorfin are two drugs currently registered in Russia, which may prove to be useful alternative drug treatment measures. A sign of progress is that the MOH has recently requested a special report prepared on medication assisted drug therapy. A group of key MOH health and social welfare officials and NGOs have recently returned from a study tour to the U.S. financed by USAID to observe effective social programs for high risk families and communities affected by drug use. This has resulted in a new committee in the MOH, which plans to put into action lessons learned from Baltimore, Providence, and New York City. In November 2006, the USG in collaboration with the MOH and the FSKN will sponsor a major technical workshop in St. Petersburg to improve access and quality of drug treatment and rehabilitation services for IDUs.
Trafficking Organizations. At the wholesale level, the trade in Afghan opiates within Russia is dominated by Central Asians. Tajiks, Uzbeks, and others with family, clan, and business ties to Central Asia transport Afghan heroin across the southern border with Kazakhstan (Russia shares a 7,000 km border with Kazakhstan) and into European Russia and western Siberia. The FSKN claims that 90 percent of drug kingpins in Russia are from Central Asia. Retail distribution of heroin and other drugs is carried out by a variety of criminal groups. Again, these organizations are typically organized along ethnic lines with Central Asian, Caucasian, Russian/Slavic, and Roma groups all active in drug trafficking.
III. Country Actions Against Drugs In 2006
Policy Initiatives. The FSKN was established in 2003 as the State Committee for the Control of Traffic in Narcotic and Psychotropic Substances (GKPN). Russian President Putin restructured the agency in 2004, which is now known as the Federal Drug Control Service (FSKN). The FSKN has 35,000 employees, with branch offices in every region of Russia. Since its creation the FSKN has stressed the importance of attacking money laundering and other financial aspects of the drug trade. The money laundering division of the FSKN cooperates closely with the Ministry of the Interior (MVD), the Federal Security Service (FSB), and the Federal Customs Service (FTS), but its main partner is the Federal Service for Financial Monitoring (FSFM). The FSKN has also continued its efforts to implement effective monitoring of the chemical industry. Prior to the creation of FSKN, precursor chemicals and pharmaceuticals were governed by a patchwork of regulations enforced by different agencies. Production, transportation, distribution, and import/export of controlled substances now require licensing from FSKN. The GOR has signed many bilateral agreements on counternarcotics cooperation. In 2005, during a visit of the FSKN Director to the U.S., the FSKN signed a Memorandum of Understanding with the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration to enhance bilateral cooperation to combat illegal drugs and their precursor chemicals. Multilaterally, Russia and the other member nations of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) have attempted to use the SCO as a vehicle to combat narcotics trafficking in Afghanistan and Central Asia. In 2006, Russia hosted the Paris II-Moscow I Ministerial Conference on Drug Routes from Afghanistan. This conference, organized by the MFA and UNODC, was a follow-on conference to a similar meeting in Paris in 2003 and addressed ways to combat Afghan drug trafficking, including the illicit traffic in precursors for the production of heroin. Representatives of more than 50 countries and 23 international organizations attended the conference.
Accomplishments. Russia now has a legislative and financial monitoring structure that facilitates the tracking, seizure, and forfeiture of all criminal proceeds. Russian legislation provides for investigative techniques such as search, seizure and the compulsion of documents production. Legislation passed in 2004 entitled "On Protection of Victims, Witnesses and Other Participants in Criminal Proceedings" extends legal protection to all parties involved in a criminal trial. Prosecutors or investigators may recommend that a judge implement witness protection measures if they learn of a threat to the life or property of a participant in a trial. Steps taken to protect a program participant could include personal and property protection, change of appearance, change of identity, relocation, and transfer to a new job. In 2005, the GOR issued implementing regulations and provided money from the Federal budget for implementation of the legislation.
One of the key obstacles in Russia's struggle with drug trafficking is a lack of experience with prosecuting narcotic-related cases. The FSKN Director has commented publicly that the courts must give stiffer sentences to drug traffickers. It is rare that criminals who have committed serious drug crimes in Russia are given the maximum 20-year sentence. However, Russia's legislators and politicians continue to address this problem, demanding stiffer sentences for narcotic-related crimes and establishing a legal framework that is beginning to work effectively against drug dealers. On February 7, 2006, the GOR approved amendments to the Criminal Code that reduce the minimum punishable amounts of illegal drugs subject to prosecution. This amendment was a reversal of a legislative change adopted in November 2003, which had reduced the sentence for possession of drugs for personal use from a maximum of three years in jail to a fine. The amendments introduced the sizes of "large" and "especially large" amounts of drugs to be used in determining sentences for drug-related crimes and eliminated the category of average dose. The amendments classified as large/especially large amounts exceeding the following amounts in grams of: poppy straw (20/500), hashish (2/25), heroin (0.5/2.5), marijuana (6/100), opium (1/25), and methadone (0.5/2.5).
Law Enforcement Efforts. On March 27, 2006, President Putin issued Decree No. 263 On Official Representatives of the Federal Drug Control Service of the Russian Federation to Foreign States authorizing FSKN to station 50 officers (representatives and their deputies) in foreign states to facilitate information sharing and joint investigations. The officers will be based in Russian diplomatic missions but will not be part of embassy staff in order to give them more flexibility in dealing with their counterparts. The FSKN had earlier already established a drug liaison office in Dushanbe, Tajikistan and is now on track to open an office in Kabul in 2007. Seizure statistics: The following figures reflect total drug seizures for 2005 and the first half of 2006 by all law enforcement agencies in Russia: (all figures are in kg/source: FSKN)
Substance
2005
First Half of 2006
Hashish
2,101
1,065
Marijuana
30,618
13,942
Poppy Straw
3,209
833
Opium
1,523
417
Heroin
4,676
2,538
Cocaine
109
32
Controlled substances
95,174
8,602
(Pharmaceuticals, etc.)
Other
1,335
815
Corruption. Controlling corruption has been a stated priority for the Putin administration. However implementing this policy is a constant challenge. Inadequate budgets, low salaries, and lack of technical resources hamper performance, sap morale, and encourage corruption. Evidence indicates the scope and scale of official corruption have grown markedly in the past several years. Officials from the FSKN report that corruption is a problem within their agency. In an effort to decrease corruption, the FSKN Director endorsed a Code of Honor in 2005 for FSKN personnel. The Code is a brief list of rules of conduct that guide the activities of every FSKN employee. FSKN officials report that over 100 law enforcement officers were arrested in 2005 for drug trafficking. Figures for 2006 are not yet available. In May 2006, five FSKN officers were accused of extortion and detained in Moscow. The case is currently under investigation. There were no reported cases of high-level narcotics related corruption. As a matter of government policy, the GOR does not encourage or facilitate illicit production or distribution of narcotic or psychotropic drugs or other controlled substances, or the laundering of proceeds from illegal drug transactions. No GOR senior officials were known to engage in, encourage, or facilitate the illicit production or distribution of such drugs or substances, or the laundering of proceeds from illegal drug transactions.
Agreements and Treaties. Russia is party to the 1988 UN Drug Convention, the 1961 Single Convention on Psychotropic Substances and its 1972 Protocol, and the 1971 UN Convention on Psychotropic Substances. The U.S.-Russia Mutual Legal Assistance Treaty (MLAT), entered into force on January 31, 2002.Russia is a party to the 1994 Agreement on Coordination and Cooperation of Customs Authorities in Combating Illicit Distribution of Narcotics and Psychotropic Substances signed by Belarus, Ukraine, Armenia, Georgia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan. Russia is a party to the UN Corruption Convention and the UN Convention against Transnational Organized Crime and its protocols against trafficking in persons and migrant smuggling.
Cultivation/Production. There are no official statistics on the extent of opium cultivation in Russia, and the USG has no evidence to suggest that more than 1,000 hectares of opium are cultivated. In Russia, there are small, illicit opium poppy fields ranging in size from one to two hectares. Typically the opium fields are small backyard plots or are located in the countryside concealed by other crops. In Siberia, in the Central Asian border region, and in the Omsk-Novosibirsk-Tomsk area, opium poppies are widely cultivated. Cannabis grows wild throughout Russia and is also cultivated in quantities ranging from a few plants to plots of several hectares. Every year, Russian authorities carry out the "Operation Poppy" eradication effort, aimed at illicit cannabis and poppy cultivation. In 2006, Operation Poppy identified numerous illicit plantations of cannabis, primarily in Primorskiy Kray and Altay Kray and about 40 metric tons of narcotic plants were destroyed. Primary cannabis cultivation areas are Primorye, Altay, as well as Amur Oblast and the Republic of Tuva.
Drug Flow/Transit. Opiates (and hashish to a lesser degree) from Afghanistan are carried across the Central Asian states and into Russia. The FSKN estimates that 60 metric tons of heroin are annually smuggled into Russia from Afghanistan via Central Asian countries on the "Northern Route." Contraband is typically carried in vehicles along the region's highway system that connects it to the populated areas of southwestern Russia and western Siberia. The Russian cities of Yekaterinburg, Samara, Omsk, and Novorossisk have emerged as hubs of trafficking activity. Couriers also frequently use the region's passenger trains. Incidents involving internal body carry or "swallowers" are common. Cocaine destined both for Russia and transit to Western Europe enters the country through the port of St. Petersburg. Synthetic drugs manufactured in Russia and elsewhere in Europe flow in both directions across Russia's western borders. Again, much of this smuggling activity appears to be concentrated in the northwest area around St. Petersburg.
Each year, law enforcement agencies of Russia and several of its neighbors participate in Operation Kanal. Kanal is an interdiction blitz during which extra personnel are stationed at railroad stations, airports, border crossings, and other checkpoints. During Kanal 2005, 881 individuals were detained and 1,396 kg of illegal drugs were seized in Russia. Kanal 2006 is being implemented in three phases: the first phase took place in May 2006 and focused on the interdiction of precursor chemicals. The second phase is currently underway and is focusing on synthetic drugs. The third phase had not yet been scheduled at the time this report was drafted. For the first time, DEA agents have been invited to observe. FSKN officials continue to report a significant increase in drug trafficking into Russia following the withdrawal of Russian border guards from the Afghan/Tajik border in 2005. Russian forces had been stationed in Tajikistan after the dissolution of the Soviet Union, but departed after the expiration of the agreement governing their presence.
Domestic Programs/Demand Reduction. Russian authorities are attempting to implement a comprehensive counternarcotics strategy that would combine education, health and law enforcement. FSKN is tasked with demand reduction among its other responsibilities and has recently begun a large-scale public awareness campaign. Russian law enforcement authorities also have come to support the idea that demand reduction should complement law enforcement efforts to reduce supply. With support from the USAID Healthy Russia 2020 project, demand reduction messages are being incorporated into a Ministry of Education sanctioned health education curriculum for high school students and training materials for teachers. This program has been tested in Ivanovo (the eighth poorest oblast in Russia) and has been expanded to Irkutsk and Orenburg, two oblasts on the key drug trafficking routes. The problem of drug use among homeless teens has reportedly reached extraordinary levels in St. Petersburg. The Doctors of the World Program, which works with street children, reported that about 70 percent of children age 11 and younger (on a small sample of 30) were injecting homemade substances and 30 percent of these young people were HIV positive. While the knowledge of HIV risks is high even among drug users, the messages have not yet translated into behavioral changes and injecting practices. In 2006, the FSKN and National Health League launched a preventive program called Health Wave - Take Care of Yourself aimed at children's health and prevention of drug addiction in four cities (Samara, Saratov, Volgograd and Astrakhan).
IV. U.S. Policy Initiatives and Programs
Policy Objectives. The principal U.S. counternarcotics programmatic goal in Russia is to help strengthen Russia's law enforcement capacity, both to meet the challenges of international drug trafficking into and across Russia, and to help improve cooperation of Russian law enforcement authorities with U.S. law enforcement agencies.
Bilateral Accomplishments. In 2002, the U.S. Department of State, Bureau of International Narcotics and Law Enforcement Affairs (INL) negotiated a Letter of Agreement (LOA) with the GOR allowing direct assistance to the GOR in the area of counternarcotics and law enforcement assistance. DEA provided INL-funded counternarcotics training to over 100 trainees in 2006, drawn from the FSKN, the MVD, and the Federal Customs Service. In 2007, DEA will again offer INL-funded counternarcotics training to Russian law enforcement. In FY 2006, the DEA Office of International Training and the Moscow Country Office, with funds provided by INL, worked together to organize numerous additional narcotics law enforcement training events. In FY 2007, DEA is planning to hold a one-week Forensic Chemist Seminar, funded by INL. This seminar will focus on advanced signature (i.e., seized opiate origin) analysis techniques, including the analysis of Southwest Asian heroin, and to explore joint experience in conducting signature analysis. Progress continued on the Southern Border Project, an effort that will eventually lead to the establishment of three mobile drug interdiction task forces based in Orenburg, Chelyabinsk, and Omsk, all near the Russian- Kazakh border. The U.S. also provided technical assistance in support of institutional change in the areas of criminal justice reform, mutual legal assistance, anticorruption and money laundering.
The Road Ahead. The GOR places high priority on counternarcotics efforts and has indicated a desire to deepen and strengthen its cooperation with the United States and other countries, particularly in light of its 2006 chairmanship of the G-8 and chairmanship of the Council of Europe. The USG will continue to encourage and assist Russia to implement its comprehensive, long-term national strategy against drug trafficking and use with multidisciplinary sustainable law enforcement assistance projects that combine equipment, technical assistance and expert advisors.