Drug police have seized 320 kilograms (705 lbs) of Afghan hashish worth some 96 million rubles ($3.1 million) in Russia's second largest city of St. Petersburg, Russia's drug control chief said on Monday.
Three members of an international drug ring were detained during the operation, carried out by Russia's drug police and officials from Azerbaijan's Ministry of National Security, Viktor Ivanov said.
"The cargo was conveyed from Afghanistan to the Iranian port of Anzali, across the sea to Astrakhan [south Russia] and then by truck to St. Petersburg," the Russian official said.
The drugs, equivalent to 1 million doses, were skillfully hidden in wooden boxes.
"Each block of hashish has a mark, which proves that the drugs were produced in Afghanistan," Ivanov said.
Afghan drug production increased dramatically after the U.S.-led invasion that toppled the Taliban in 2001. Russia, which has suffered a steep rise in heroin consumption, has been one of the countries most affected by the increase.
MOSCOW, June 21 (RIA Novosti)
