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Russian security official notes shifts in Afghanistan-based drug trafficking

Nikolay Patrushev pointed out that "the supplies of Afghan-made drugs along traditional routes are not diminishing"

BISHKEK, February 16. /TASS/. Smugglers will start bringing old supplies of Afghan-made opioid drugs into Central Asia, Russian Security Council Secretary Nikolay Patrushev cautioned at a meeting in Bishkek of security council secretaries devoted to discussing Afghan issues.

"Information about the situation with narcotics in Central Asian countries points to the fact that the supplies of Afghan-made drugs along traditional routes are not diminishing. That said, the ratio of the confiscated types of drugs is changing, where methamphetamine increasingly prevails," the top Russian security official noted.

"According to our estimates, in the short-term perspective, we should expect the smuggling of opioid drugs from the stocks accumulated by criminal groups over past years. Work on detecting such batches and their potential storage locations has become particularly important," he added.

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Foreign policy Afghanistan Nikolay Patrushev

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