Combatting drug production in Afghanistan on the agenda of Ufa Summit

As part of its Shanghai Cooperation Organisation Presidency, Russia will seek to ensure that the final documents of the next SCO Heads of State Council Meeting in Ufa reflect the need to put a stop to drug production in Afghanistan, Director of the Russian Federal Drug Control Service Viktor Ivanov said at the Collective Security Treaty Organisation's Coordination Council of Heads of Counternarcotics Agencies Meeting.

"Drug trafficking is a common problem for our countries. Its solution requires coordinated efforts on the part of the world community to develop an anti-drug policy and to implement a common approach through international cooperation both to combat drug trafficking and to take consolidated decisions on the political level, including in international formats," he said.

Heroin production in Afghanistan has a decisive effect on the drug situation, as well as on the security in the region, Viktor Ivanov said. For that reason, large-scale production of hard drugs must be halted as soon as possible.

"We need to ensure that the final documents of the upcoming 2015 SCO Summit in Russia present combatting drug production in Afghanistan as a priority task, as this is a destructive factor for the security of our countries and the region as a whole," he said.

Mr. Ivanov also believes that focus should be placed on planning and carrying out international anti-drug operations aimed at eliminating drug trafficking channels and the drug smuggling and selling infrastructure.