Russian police seized hundreds of kilos of drugs over the New Year holidays, the Federal Drug Control Service said on Tuesday.

“From January 1 to 9, officers of the Federal Drug Control Service...seized 18.6 kilograms of heroin, 21.7 kilograms of hashish, 826 kilograms of marijuana, 8.2 kilograms of synthetic substances, and 8.1 kilograms of psychotropic substances,” the agency said in a statement.

Last month, Russia’s drug controls chief, Viktor Ivanov, said there were about 5 million drug users in Russia, inclduing "casual" users.

Russia has been one of the countries hardest hit by heroin production in Central Asia, and President Dmitry Medvedev has called it a threat to Russia’s security.