BEIJING, November 13. /TASS/. Large mafia groups in the sphere of global drug trade give way to small and more elusive groups, which should be fought against only through well-orchestrated international efforts, employee of the Main Directorate for Drug Trafficking Control of the Russian Interior Ministry Anton Kochetov said on Tuesday.

"It is definitely undeniable that criminal communities were split into small drug groups in several years. It firstly simplifies drug trade, as a certain group is responsible for each segment of drugs delivery," he noted in his speech at an expert session of the Paris Pact Initiative held in Beijing.

The situation when certain gangs transport drugs and others sell them was established, the expert said. Moreover, organizers of deliveries of banned psychotropic substances are staying outside Russia, acting through proxies, beyond the reach of law enforcement authorities of a state.

"It is the essence of our today’s working meeting - to note the need for regional cooperation. Criminals have neither borders nor nationality," Kochetov concluded.

On November 13 a three-day session of leading experts on cross-border cooperation of the Paris Pact Initiative opened within the Secretariat of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization in Beijing. Sixty delegates - heads and senior officials - from 18 countries and 10 international organizations are taking part in the event. Among the participants are China’s Deputy Minister of Public Security Liu Yuejin, a representative of the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime in Afghanistan and a coordinator of the Paris Pact Initiative. The session focused on the international fight against drug trade and trans-border criminality.

The Paris Pact was signed in 2003. This document contains the basic principles of international cooperation in the fight against drug smuggling from Afghanistan, including through Russia, Iran, Pakistan, Turkey, the Balkan states and Central Asia.