Two police officials in a city just outside Moscow are under investigation on suspicion of drug dealing, investigators said on Monday adding to a string of recent scandals over police abuses.
The officers and another man were arrested in Balashikha on Monday, the federal Investigation Committee's branch in the Moscow Region said, adding the three admitted "their part in drug trafficking."
The maximum prison term on drug trafficking charges is 20 years.
Reports of police abuses have hit headlines in Russia since President Dmitry Medvedev ordered a major overhaul of police ranks late last year in the wake of a series of scandals from a drunk shooting spree by a police officer to beating a journalist to death in custody.
Medvedev ordered Interior Ministry personnel cuts by 20% over the next two years to be balanced by higher salaries for remaining staff in a bid to address public anger and avert negative perceptions of police, also fueled by widespread corruption.
MOSCOW, February 16 (RIA Novosti)
