The paw of a bear killed in Russia and sold by wildlife traffickers in China can fetch prices around $50 (1,500 Rubles).

Source:  Andrew E. Kramer, “At Russia-China Border, Bear Paws Sell Best,” New York Times, June 29, 2010.

The United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime estimates that there are 450 criminal organizations in Russia with some 12,000 members.

Source: UNODC, “The Globalization of Crime,” Chapter 5: Heroin, June 2010.

An estimated 40,000 North Koreans are working in Russia under forced labor conditions, according to the United States Department of State.

The men and women are primarily working in the logging industry.

Source:  US Department of State, “Country Narratives: Russia,” Trafficking in Persons Report 2010, June 2010.

70 metric tons of heroin is sold each year within Russia, creating a market worth $13 Billion.

Source:  Alexei Anishchuk, “Russia calls for crackdown on Afghan drugs,” Reuters, June 9, 2010.

Russian President Dmitri Medvedev stated that in the years 2001 to 2009, nearly one million people under the age of 35 have died around the world from overdosing on heroin from Afghanistan.

Source:  Peter Fedynsky, “Russia Urges Global Struggle Against Afghan Heroin,” Voice of America, June 9, 2010.

Bribery in Russia is worth $300 Billion, according to Transparency International.

Source:  Konstantin Rozhnov, “Foreign firms to pledge not to give bribes in Russia,” BBC News, April  20, 2010.

In 2010, there were 4 million orphaned or abandoned children in Russia.

Source:  Scott Simon, “From Russia, With Love,” NPR, April 17, 2010.

According to the World Wide Fund for Nature, up to 19 percent of wood imports into the European Union in 2006 was illegally harvest timber, with a large portion of the illegally cut timber coming from Indonesia and Russia.

Source:  Liz Gooch, “Malaysian Loggers Try to Improve Their Image,” New York Times, April 9, 2010.