Russia has asked the United States for information about a number of people suspected of organizing the trafficking of Afghan drugs to Russia, a Russian official said on Thursday.
"We have identified several people who live in the U.S. and organize the trafficking of drugs from Afghanistan to Russia. We have passed this information on to the appropriate U.S. entities and we are waiting for confirmation," Russia's drug chief, Viktor Ivanov, told an international anti-drug forum in Moscow.
He said he hopes efficient mutual cooperation will help detain the dealers and halt the flow of drugs.
Nearly 200 experts, politicians and drug-control specialists from 40 countries attended the anti-drugs forum on Wednesday and Thursday to discuss ways of stopping the trafficking of narcotics from Afghanistan.
Afghan drug production increased dramatically after the U.S.-led invasion that toppled the Taliban in 2001. Russia has been one of the countries most affected by the increase.
According to the Federal Drug Control Service, Afghan opium kills around 100,000 people around the world every year, including some 30,000 Russians.
MOSCOW, June 10 (RIA Novosti)
