Pubdate: Thu, 18 Feb 1999 Source: ITAR-TASS (Russia) Copyright: 1999 ITAR-TASS. RUSSIA POLICE SEIZING JUST 12 PERCENT OF NARCOTICS: OFFICIAL. MOSCOW, - A senior official said on Thursday that police at the present time only seize 10 to 12 percent of all drugs smuggled into Russia. Moscow accounts for some 80 percent of the incoming drugs, head of the city department for combating drug-trafficking Vladimir Kharetdinov told a news conference. Participating in the conference were officials from the State Customs Committee, or GTK. Kharetdinov said the Russian capital has the highest rate of crimes related to drug-trafficking in the country. It reported some 10,000 such offenses last year from about 1,500 in 1993. Hard drugs, such as cocaine and heroine were very rare cases in the early 90s, he said, adding that last year police seized heroine in almost 6,000 cases. "The most deplorable fact is that drug-addiction and related crimes are notably spreading not only among young people, but also schoolchildren, Kharetdinov stated. City police have files on some 400 schoolchildren and about 4,000 college students and pupils at vocational training schools. In all, more than 7,000 people were charged with drug-related offenses. Of those, 70 percent were aged below 24. According to the State Customs Committee, hard drugs mostly come through channels located in the Asian region: Afghanistan, Pakistan and Tajikistan. Other sources are Nigeria and Latin America. Soft drugs come from the Commonwealth of Independent States: Central Asia, Ukraine, Georgia and Azerbaijan. The drug-traffickers operating in Moscow form ethnic clans, as a rule. Customs agents seized more than 43 million drug dosages last year. They confiscated 43.7 kilograms of heroine, 50.1 kilograms of cocaine and 128.9 kg of opium. However, the GTK said there had been an increase in the volume of heroine smuggled into Russia. Heroine is now cornering cheaper drugs on the black market. Profits from drug-trafficking may reach up to 2,000 percent. Russia's drug turnover in the first half of 1998 was estimated at 1.2 billion US dollars, the GTK said. - --- MAP posted-by: Derek Rea