September 18
By Mehdi Sepahvand –- Trend:
Over the past month, Iran’s security forces discovered 3,892 kilograms of illegal drugs, Judiciary spokesman Qolamhossein Mohseni Ejei said.
Of that, 1,425 kilograms was heroin, he said, Mizan news agency reported September 18.
Iran's police seized about 902 kilograms of various drugs including opium and morphine in armed clash with smugglers in the country's southeastern province of Sistan and Baluchestan on August 23.
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.