FDCS of Russia: Drug Dealers Use Bitcoin 20 Times as Often

According to RIA Novosti, Dmitri Buyanov, eputy head of the Federal Drug Control Service of the Russian Federation, has stated that Russian drug dealers started using cryptocurrency twenty times as often during the last year.

“There is little evidence that bitcoins are used in servicing terrorist activity and illegal drugs turnover, but that’s just because it’s February 25, 2016. In five years’ time the turnover will become disastrous. During last two years, drug dealers in Russia started using Bitcoins twenty times as often,” he said at a meeting of a working group in the State Duma, the Russian parliament’s lower house.

However, Buyanov provided no confirmation to his information, so it’s hard to tell whether his statements are properly justified.

In early February, Russian ministry of finance stated that so-called money surrogates, which according to many experts incorporate cryptocurrencies, threaten both the country’s economy and national security.
According to amendments to Russian Criminal Code developed by the ministry, using cryptocurrencies will be subject to fees to the tune of up to half a million rubles (around $6,500 at current exchange rate), or to corrective labor for the term of up to two years.

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