Vladimir Ustinov's comments come in the wake of a number of high-profile firings from major law-enforcement agencies as part of an anti-corruption drive announced by President Vladimir Putin.
"Organized criminal groups are everywhere [in Russia], no matter what sphere we are talking about," Vladimir Ustinov said. "Organized crime more often than not involves state and law-enforcement bodies."
He said measures taken to combat the problem had yet to produce concrete results.
"The fight against organized crime being waged on paper only," Ustinov said. "There had been made nothing to the effect."
He also said the level of organized crime was particularly high in customs bodies.
"Organized crime is firmly entrenched at custom checkpoints and feels at home there," Ustinov said, adding that: "It is high time to stop hiding behind statistics, as powerful criminal structures continue to act in Russia and leaders of organized groups avoid criminal punishment."
President Vladimir Putin fired a number of senior security officers from the Federal Security Service (FSB) and Prime Minister Mikhail Fradkov dismissed high-ranking officials from the Federal Customs Service as investigators opened a probe into corruption.
"We have still not managed to eradicate corruption, which is the most serious obstacle to the country's development," Putin said on May 10 in his annual state of the nation address.
In March, Ustinov told the Federation Council, or upper house of parliament, that 1,270 policemen and 450 officers had been charged with concealing crimes in 2005. He also criticized police investigators for their low profile, adding that 80,000 officers work as investigators, while far fewer work in better-known security services and drug-enforcement agencies.
