By IANS/RIA Novosti,
Moscow: The head of a Russian drug control agency admitted Friday there were drug addicts among his staff.
About 40 percent of people applying for a job at the Federal Drug Control Service Moscow Directorate are rejected, including for showing up positive in drug tests, said Lt. Gen. Vyacheslav Davydov.
Despite this, drug addicts have been identified among serving officers, he said.
Davydov did not provide any figures, saying only the number was “a handful” and all were immediately fired.
The Moscow directorate regularly tests its officers for drug use, Davydov said, adding testing was voluntary.
Davydov’s comments follow a scandal at the drug enforcement agency, after investigations unit chief Valery Ayupov and three of his subordinates were fired for accepting bribes in exchange for lenient treatment of drug offence suspects.