...

Iranian police kill 4 drug smugglers

Society Materials 25 February 2015 15:22 (UTC +04:00)
Iranian police killed four drug smugglers during an armed conflict in the country's southeastern province of Kerman near the city of Jiroft on Feb. 25, the province's police commander, Hossein Chenarian said.
Iranian police kill 4 drug smugglers

Baku, Azerbaijan, Feb. 25

By Umid Niayesh - Trend:

Iranian police killed four drug smugglers during an armed conflict in the country's southeastern province of Kerman near the city of Jiroft on Feb. 25, the province's police commander, Hossein Chenarian said.

Police seized over 1.5 metric tons of opium from the smugglers during the operation, Chenarian said, Iran 's official IRNA news agency reported.

Three hand grenades, three Kalashnikov guns as well as one rocket-propelled grenade and satellite phone were discovered in the car of the killed smugglers, the police commander added.

The smugglers were trying to carry the cargo to central Iran, Chenarian said.

Iran is situated on a major drug route between Afghanistan and the Gulf States and Europe. 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 were seized in Iran during 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 ending 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 users in Iran‫‫.

Edited by CN

Follow the author on Twitter: @UmidNiayesh

Latest

Latest