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Russian drug control service chief: Over 3 mln people killed by drugs worldwide

Over the past five years, drug trafficking has been destabilizing the countries of North Africa and the annual profit from drug trade there reaches $500 billion, Russian drug control service head said

Viktor Ivanov, head of Russia’s federal drug control service Anton Novoderezhkin/ITAR-TASS

Viktor Ivanov, head of Russia’s federal drug control service

© Anton Novoderezhkin/ITAR-TASS

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MOSCOW, March 9. /TASS/. Afghan opiates and South American cocaine have killed more than 3 million people around the world over the past 20 years, the head of Russia’s federal drug control service said on Wednesday.

"The drugs made in these two centers are estimated at four trillion dollars that were sent to transnational criminal networks," said Viktor Ivanov, who is currently on a working visit to South Africa.

The large-scale production and further transit of drugs to other markets result in a sharp growth in violence and directly undermine social and political stability especially in the transit regions, he said.

Over the past five years, drug trafficking has been destabilizing the countries of North Africa and the annual profit from drug trade there reaches $500 billion, Ivanov said.

Annual profits from drug trafficking give rise to new powerful groups such as the Islamic State and Boko Haram, he said. These groups inevitably become rivals to the state and "transform the social and political environment.".

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