One-Ton Cocaine Shipment in Russia Reflects New Colombian Link, Officials Say

INTERNATIONAL June 1993

The seizure of more than a ton of cocaine near St. Petersburg in Russia reflects a new relationship between Russian organized-crime figures now living in the United States and Colombian drug cartels, according to Russian and United States law enforcement (AP, "Russian Cocaine Bust Reveals New Colombian Connection," Durham Herald-Sun, 5/12/93, A3).

International drug enforcement authorities have recently expressed concern about cultivation of opium poppies and marijuana in the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS), the states that once comprised the Soviet Union. The new Colombian link merely adds to the bleak scenario. Facing economic crisis and hard strapped for Western currency, the CIS appear to be ripe for emergence as a new Colombia, United Nations antidrug officials fear.