MOSCOW, September 13 (RAPSI) – The Russian Drug Control Service will be granted access to the unified transport security information system this fall, the drug service’s head Viktor Ivanov said on Friday.

The unified transport security system contains personal data on individuals crossing the borders as well as cargo specifications. The Federal Security Service and the Interior Ministry already have access to the database.

Ivanov said that access to system will improve the quality of monitoring the narcotics situation in Russian Federation.

In August, customs officers in Russia’s westernmost port of Kaliningrad found some 120 kilograms (265 pounds) of cocaine hidden in boxes of bananas from Ecuador. Another incident same month involved some 210 kilograms (460 pounds) of hashish with a street value of about 40 million rubles ($1.2 million), have been found hidden in flowers imported from the Netherlands.

About 8 million Russians use drugs, and almost 150,000 people are jailed annually for drug-related crimes, according to 2013 figures from the Federal Drug Control Service.