Baku, Azerbaijan, Feb. 8
By Umid Niayesh - Trend:
Iran's police seized over 970 kilograms of various drugs from smugglers in the country's central Alborz province.
Police forces found 820 kilograms of hashish and 150 kilograms of opium, which were embedded in a truck, Alborz Police Chief Bakhshali Kamrani Saleh said, the official IRNA news agency reported Feb. 8.
"The cargo was destined for Alborz province from one of the southern provinces," Kamrani Saleh said, adding two people were arrested in the operation.
He further said that over seven metric tons of drugs were sized in the province from the beginning of current Iranian calendar year (March 21, 2014).
Iran is situated on a major drug route between Afghanistan and Europe, as well as the Gulf States. The Islamic Republic shares about 900 kilometers of common border with Afghanistan, over which 74 percent of opium is smuggled.
About 237 metric tons of various drugs, including 190 metric tons of opium, 35 metric tons of hashish, 5.4 metric tons of heroin, 5.3 metric tons of morphine, and one metric ton of methamphetamine were seized in Iran in the first half of the current Iranian fiscal year (March 21-Sept. 22, 2014).
It was reported that some 500 metric tons of drugs were seized in the country during the last Iranian fiscal year (March 21, 2013 to March 21, 2014).
The fight against drugs annually costs Iran about $1 billion, according to the official estimates.
The statistics also say there are about two million drug abusers in Iran.
Follow the author on Twitter: @UmidNiayesh