MOSCOW, April 2. /TASS/. Criminal syndicates operating in Russia often turn out to be cross-border ones, keeping in touch with foreign secret services, Russian President Vladimir Putin said at a meeting of the Interior Ministry’s board.

He noted that the fight against extremism, suppression of illegal migration and neutralization of organized crime were the ministry’s priorities.

"I mean that such [criminal] groups, and sometimes we are faced with real criminal syndicates, often have a cross-border nature and operate hand in hand with foreign secret services," Putin said.

He pointed out that the activities of such criminal groups were related to cybercrimes, human trafficking, illegal arms trafficking, financial crimes and drug trafficking.