“‘Occupiers responsible for heroin surge in Russia’

Sun, 28 Feb 2010 03:15:31 GMT

The head of Russia’s federal drug control agency has lambasted the US-led forces for failing to stamp out drug production in Afghanistan.

Victor Ivanov blamed US President Barack Obama’s administration for not doing enough to destroy opium poppy crops and curb the production of heroin in Afghanistan, the BBC reported on Saturday.

At least 30,000 people die in Russia every year due to heroin, 90% of which comes from Afghanistan, Ivanov added.

Senior officials in Moscow say the consequence has been a flood of cheap heroin in Russia and Central Asia.

Poppy production in Afghanistan has actually increased every year since the US-led invasion in 2001 and the country’s poppy market produces 95 percent of the world’s opium.”