The Wild, Wild East

According to the Deputy Prosecutor-General for the Far Eastern Federal District of Konstantin Chayka, the Russian law-enforcement bodies are not doing enough to expose illegal gold mining and illegal trade in gold and precious stones. Speaking at a news conference in Moscow, he said the law-enforcement bodies seized about 80 kg of unprocessed gold from illegal circulation last year. In addition, about 100 businessmen lost their licenses for gold mining in 2003 for various irregularities.

According to the Russian Interior Ministry, nearly 2,000 crimes connected with illegal trade in precious metals were registered last year, most of them in the Russian Far East. In Yakutia alone, 62 crimes connected with illegal trade in precious stones were registered.