Armenia Seizes 301kg of Drugs in First Half of 2025, MIA Reports

On September 10, Minister of Internal Affairs Arpine Sargsyan held a meeting with the staff of the Department for Combating Illicit Drug Trafficking of the Criminal Police. The leadership of the Ministry of Internal Affairs and the Police were present.

The head of the Main Department of Criminal Police, Deputy Chief of Police Vardan Vardanyan, presented the situation in the republic regarding illicit drug trafficking.

According to the data of the information center of the Police of the Ministry of Internal Affairs, in the first seven months of this year, 2,161 drug-related crimes were registered in the republic, 59.3 percent of which are cases related to the Criminal Police.

As a result of the measures taken by the law enforcement bodies of the republic in the first half of 2025, according to expert examinations, twice as much as the 150 kg of the previous year, 301 kg of drugs were seized from illicit trafficking. The police colonel also presented in detail the work done by the regional divisions of the Criminal Police.

The head of the department for combating illicit drug trafficking of the CDGD, Artur Zakaryan, noted that in the eight months of this year, as a result of only 127 discoveries by the department, about 92 kg of drugs, 1,157 tablets containing drugs, 33 psychotropic pills, 77 cannabis plants, and 22 ml of precursors were removed from illicit trafficking. The department's employees have uncovered 15 criminal groups and blocked 30 Telegram platforms.

The Minister of Internal Affairs, generally assessing the work of the department positively, instructed to intensify the fight, especially in the direction of uncovering cases of drug smuggling and their sale via the internet. Arpine Sargsyan noted that although a significant part of the drugs in our country is imported, it is necessary to keep in focus and take preventive actions against the activities of possible drug laboratories in the republic.

The Minister emphasized the close cooperation in the fight against illicit drug trafficking, both with other law enforcement agencies and international partners, as well as between police units. In this direction, the Minister of Internal Affairs gave specific instructions.

"The results at this moment are in line with our adopted strategy, as we are focused on production and import and will continue to maintain this pace. The criminal police must deal with large-scale cases; the chain of import and sale must be broken," said Arpine Sargsyan.

The Minister of Internal Affairs instructed to continue monitoring the work of the specialized departments dealing with drugs in the regional divisions to assess their effectiveness, as well as their cooperation with the central apparatus. The Minister also instructed to continue the analysis, to clarify the likely areas of drug trafficking, and to coordinate the work of the patrol service and the community police in this direction.

Arpine Sargsyan instructed to keep the work with minors in the center of attention and to implement preventive measures on a daily basis.

Arpine Sargsyan also emphasized the work of the interdepartmental commission on the prevention of the circulation and illicit trafficking of drugs and psychotropic substances in Armenia.

Emphasizing the need for continuous capacity building, issues related to the acquisition of new software were also discussed.