Russia fears 'gigantic Afghan drug stockpile'

Russia's anti-drug chief expresses concerns over drug trafficking from Afghanistan after the pullout of Nato troops.

DUSHANBE: Russia's anti-drug chief expressed fear Friday that drug trafficking from Afghanistan would increase after the pullout of Nato troops in 2014, saying the country stockpiled enough narcotics to keep the trade going for another decade.

"We estimate that opiates from Afghanistan make up 30% of all narcotics in Russia," said Viktor Ivanov at a meeting with anti-drug officials from Pakistan, Afghanistan, and Tajikistan in the Tajik capital Dushanbe.

"The military operation (in Afghanistan) has been going on for 11 years. Who will take responsibility for this?"

The continuing flow of illicit drugs from Afghanistan has long been a sticking point in ties between Russia and the United States, which leads the military contingent in the country.

Moscow has repeatedly lamented that the International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) is not doing enough to stop drug production and trade in Afghanistan.

When ISAF's mandate in the war-torn country ends in 2014, "gigantic" stockpiles of drugs stored in remote mountains are likely to hit the black market, Ivanov said.

"They amount to 15,000-20,000 tonnes in opium equivalent," he said. "That is a gigantic opium reserve that will make it possible to continue trafficking drugs for 10 years even if production of opium is stopped."

Russia has one of the world's highest rates of heroin addiction, and there are about five million drug users in the country, according to the Federal Drug Control Agency.