Baku, Azerbaijan, Sept. 28
By Fatih Karimov – Trend:
Iran's police seized some 440 kilograms of various drugs in the country's capital city of Tehran.
The drugs, including 163 kilograms of opium and 277 kilograms of hashish, were seized from smugglers in the southern district of Tehran during a special operation, the chief of the Tehran's counter-drug police department, colonel Mohammad Bakhshandeh said, Fars news agency reported on Sept. 28.
Bakhshandeh further said that two smugglers were arrested during the operation.
Iran is situated on a major drug route between Afghanistan and Europe, as well as the Persian Gulf states. The Islamic Republic shares about 900 kilometers of common border with Afghanistan, over which 74 percent of opium is smuggled.
The fight against drug trafficking annually costs Iran about $1 billion, according to the official estimates.
The statistics also say there are about two million drug users in Iran.