Penza, 10 July 2015. PenzaNews. A total of 75% of the crimes committed in the Penza region over the first half of 2015 were solved, the police major general Yuri Ruzlyaev, head of the regional Ministry of the Interior department, announced during his report at the collegial session dedicated to the semiannual result analysis held on Friday, July 10.

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According to him, the police increased their effectiveness in solving cases of murder, grievous bodily harm, thefts, fraud schemes and break-and-enter.

In his speech, Yuri Ruzlyaev noted the Penza region has shown overall positive results in the police work.

“The most effective departments are in the Narovchat area, Kolyshley and Nikolsk,” he added.

The head of the regional Ministry of the Interior department stressed that fighting drug and counterfeit alcohol traffic remains one of the main objectives.

“Over the six months of 2015, we shut down several illegal drug and mind-altering substance trafficking channels to the Penza region from Moscow, Nizhny Novgorod, the Samara region and the countries adjacent to Russia. I would like to point out that we seized a total of 20 kilograms of drugs in 2013 and 16 kilograms in 2014. We already have intercepted over 45 kilograms in the first six months of this year,” he clarified.

Moreover, according to Yuri Ruzlyaev, the preventive measures successfully helped avoid 500 administrative violations in alcohol sales field.

“We initiated 69 criminal cases since the beginning of the year, including nine related to falsified alcohol stamps. The violators were fined a total of over 3.5 million rubles. Overall, the police have seized over 100,000 liters of alcoholic beverages for a total cost surpassing 40 million rubles, the sum the regional budget would normally collect through alcohol taxes,” he noted.

Yuri Ruzlyaev named several objectives for his subordinates, including improving the quality and accessibility of police services for the populace, definite fulfillment of the state program on graft prevention and public safety, as well as maintaining discipline and the rule of law.

“I would like to remind all chiefs that we must maintain public order during the united vote day [September 13, 2015], the most important political event for the Penza region this year,” he stressed.