Viktor Ivanov attends a meeting in Moscow on April, 2011. VLADIMIR RODIONOV/AFP/Getty Images
Viktor Ivanov, head of the Russian anti-narcotics service (FSKN) and a frequent critic of Western policies, said on October 4 that “foreign mercenaries in Syria” — a regular Russian term for non-Syrian jihadist fighters — “might flow to the Caucasus to win control over the lucrative transit of Afghan drugs.” His statement, delivered at a press conference in Yerevan, Armenia, reflects Moscow’s concern about events in Syria and Afghanistan, as well as internal politics within the Russian security apparatus.
Moscow genuinely believes that the Syrian insurgency is becoming a cradle for global jihadism and that, given the presence of fighters from Russia’s own troubled North Caucasus - up to 400, according to the Federal Security Service (FSB) — it will in due course lead to an influx of battle-hardened terrorists back over Russia’s borders.
It is also concerned about the growing flow of Afghan heroin through the so-called “Northern Route” via Russia. Around a third of all Afghanistan’s opiates now travel by this route, some heading towards China, but most feeding Russia’s growing drug problem or moving to Europe, where the greatest profits can be made.
In a previous statement, Ivanov had said that almost 1,900 organized criminal groups and 150 major drug cartels in Central Asia traffic Afghan drugs through and into Russia, with some 20,000 active members.
According to Ivanov, “the Caucasus is under a strong pressure of huge amounts of Afghan heroin and hashish coming from various sources.” He said that “up to ten [metric] tonnes of heroin and more than 20 tonnes of hashish are trafficked annually via this region” for a total turnover of around one billion narco-dollars.
Ivanov is a relatively hawkish individual whose service has cooperated with Western counterparts such as the U.S. Drug Enforcement Agency, but who has, as noted, frequently offered harsh words on Western policy. In 2010, he accused NATO of showing a “lack of will and a lack of capability to effectively tackle the drug trade” with Russia paying the price of its “kid glove approach”.
He has proposed that the Russia-dominated Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO) set up a working group to report on drug trafficking across the Caucasus. However, his words were almost certainly just as much intended for the Kremlin. At present, the security agencies are once again jostling for power and influence behind the scenes. Investigations Committee chief Alexander Bastrykin just secured a 55% pay rise (Ivanov’s rose by a mere 43%) and the FSB is currently receiving a great deal of Kremlin attention because of preparations for the 2014 Sochi Winter Olympics.
Ivanov, overshadowed by his peers, may well also have concluded — not unreasonably — that in the present climate a little scare-mongering and anti-Western rhetoric would not be frowned on by the Kremlin.
