The Moscow office of the Russian federal drug control service has managed to shut down 50 large drug trafficking routes since the beginning of 2004, head of the service Major Police General Alexei Chuvayev told Interfax. \"The majority of drugs come from countries in Central Asia - Tajikistan, Kyrgyzstan and Kazakhstan. There are several ethnic groups that distribute these drugs in Moscow. The Tajik-Afghan group is the largest, the Azerbaijani group is second, and gypsies are third. Gypsies however, are not involved in large shipments of drug, they sell small portions,\" Chuvayev said. He said that the size of these groups varies from 500 to 1500 people, 90% of whom are in Moscow without registration. \"The money made in drug sales is transferred abroad, and most of the money is laundered there,\" Chuvayev said. He said that there are about 30,000 registered drug addicts in Moscow, but according to experts\' estimates, the actual number of drug users is between 150,000 and 500,000. Approximately 1 million residents of Moscow have tried drugs at least once. Chuvayev said there are currently approximately 100 nightclubs in Moscow where drugs are sold. \"Drugs are sold by students, DJs, and employees of nightclubs,\" he said. \"In 2004, the drug control service opened about 80 criminal cases on the sale of drugs in nightclubs,\" Chuvayev said. (Interfax)