IRKUTSK, October 5 (RIA Novosti) - Authorities in Irkutsk, in east Siberia, are fighting drug dealers and bootleg alcohol producers by offering financial rewards for information on their activities, local officials said.
In the first nine months of the year over 800 informers received 500 rubles ($20) each for information about illegal drug or alcohol dealers, which cost the region's budget a total of 400,000 rubles ($16,000).
The spokesman said the method has proved so effective the reward was being increased to 3,000 rubles ($120).
Overall, residents of the Siberian city have received some 860,000 rubles ($34,500) for information about criminal activities, including illegal possession of firearms, metals and wood.
