MOSCOW, March 12. /TASS/. Moscow calls for establishing a Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) anti-drug body as soon as possible for it would help create an effective mechanism to counter Afghan drug trafficking, Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Oleg Syromolotov said at joint event organized by the SCO and the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC), as the Foreign Ministry said in a statement published on its website.

While addressing the event, dubbed The United Nations and SCO in Countering Drug Trafficking: New Challenges and Joint Actions, Syromolotov "emphasized the SCO’s strategic role in countering modern challenges, including drug threat." "In this connection, it was stressed that there is a need to establish an SCO anti-drug body as soon as possible, which could serve as a basis for creating an effective mechanism for countering Afghan drug trafficking, as the production of opiates in Afghanistan reached record highs in 2017," the Russian Foreign Ministry said, adding that "this task is particularly important as foreign military presence has shown little effectiveness in combating drug production in the country."

In addition, the Russian deputy foreign ministry "presented detailed information about the system of training anti-drug officers from Afghanistan and Central Asian countries at the Russian Interior Ministry’s educational facilities, as well as about further steps aimed at boosting this aspect of the fight against drug trafficking. "The Russian delegation head particularly highlighted the need to prevent attempts to finance terrorist activities using profits from drug trafficking," the Foreign Ministry stressed.