MOSCOW(Reuters) - Russian police battling fish smugglers have deployed a cat to sniff out contraband, including Caspian Sea sturgeon, the fish that produce Russia's world-famous caviar.

　　A police control post in the southern Stavropol region adopted Rusik one year ago; the cat now helps officers conduct spot checks on vehicles, the Itar-Tass news agency reported on Tuesday. The cat had distinguished itself with an outstanding nose for fish. "The cat finds it in any hiding place," Itar-Tass quoted a police spokesman in Stavropol as saying, adding that Rusik was fed confis-cated fish.

　　Several species of fish in the Caspian Sea, on Russia's southern border, have become endangered since the collapse of Soviet rule led to a sharp rise in fish smug-gling.