'IS receives $1 bn annually for delivering Afghan heroin'

The Islamic State (IS) Sunni radical group has been receiving more than $1 billion annually for deliveries of Afghan heroin, according to Russia's Federal Drug Control Service (FSKN), media reports said Saturday.

"According to our figures, the IS is receiving up to $1 billion annually for delivering Afghan heroin," FSKN director Viktor Ivanov said in a statement on Friday, Pajhwok Afghan News agency reported.

In November, the FSKN said that over half of Europe's heroin supplies come from the terrorist group through Iraqi territory, parts of which are under IS control.

"This is a threat not only to our country, but also European security," Press TV quoted Ivanov as saying. According to him, the money from drug trafficking is likely becoming a "huge financial sponsorship" for the IS.

Drug smuggling is a renewable source of funding for the insurgent group, the watchdog said.

In addition, drug routes across the Gulf of Aden to the African continent have encouraged numerous pirate gangs, the FSKN said in the statement.

The sale of oil and antiquities as well as ransom from abductions are three other sources of revenue for the IS, it added.

The IS has captured large areas in Syria and Iraq. The group is notorious for numerous human rights abuses, including abductions and brutal killings.