KHABAROVSK, December 4 (RIA Novosti) - Police in Russia's Far East seized more than 3.5 metric tons of narcotics and 2.2 tons of drug precursors in an operation conducted between May and November this year, a regional anti-drugs official said.
"Apart from cannabis and opium poppies, drug police seized during the period over 12 kg of opium, eight kg of heroin, and 103 kg of unlicensed diet pills imported from China," he said.
Police also spotted and destroyed more than 200 fields where cannabis and opium poppies had been illegally cultivated. They also destroyed 1,700 hectares of wild-growing cannabis.
The official said police had resolved nearly 3,900 crimes connected with illegal drugs, a 20% improvement on last year's figure.
Russia's Far East has a notoriously high level of illicit drug cultivation. Cannabis grows wild in areas throughout the Primorye and Khabarovsk territories, the Jewish Autonomous Area, the Amur Region, and southern Yakutia.
